Sufferin' Cats (1943)

 

The idea of Tom fighting another cat for Jerry was an idea the series would use very often. Sufferin' Cats was the first Tom and Jerry film to use this story.

In this film Tom and Jerry are once again fighting. Jerry runs away from Tom, until he runs into another cat. Jerry starts a feud between Tom and this other cat.

This is an excellent cartoon. It may not be one of the best Tom and Jerry films, but that is because the other cartoons are so good. William Hanna was often in charge of the timing of these cartoons and here you can see just how good he was at it by this time. The timing is just perfect here. Unlike in Dog Trouble and Puss N' Toots there are plenty of jokes along with the great timing. The jokes are very funny as well. The animation is fantastic and the facial expressions of the characters get quite a few laughs. 

The animators on this film are Pete Burness, George Gordon, Kenneth Muse, and Jack Zander. All of who had worked on previous Tom and Jerry cartoons. This is the second cartoon in which they rightful receive screen credit (as well as Music director Scott Bradley). However Frank Graham who does the voice of the devil on Tom's shoulder does not receive any credit. It is worth noting however at this time no voice actor received on screen credit at any of the major Hollywood cartoon studios. Mel Blanc would break that unfortunate reality the next year by receiving credit for doing voices in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (though the other voice artists for those series still received no credit).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036399/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Fine Feathered Friend (1942)

 

With Fine Feathered Friend, finally people other than William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and Fred Quimby receive screen credit. Now credited as well are animators Kenneth Muse, Pete Burness (as Peter Burness), George Gordon, Jack Zander and Bill Littlejohn (who doesn't receive credit on the later re-issue of the film) and musical composer Scott Bradley. Most of these people had worked on previous Tom and Jerry cartoons, and it is good to see them finally credited for what they brought to the series. This was however the first Tom and Jerry short to feature Kenneth Muse as an animator (he had come from Disney where he animated for Pinocchio (the I've Got No Strings Number), Fantasia (he worked on The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment) and various Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons). He would stay with the Tom and Jerry series until Tot Watchers the last one Bill and Joe directed. Cecil Surry also animated on this cartoon but receives no credit.

In this cartoon Tom is chasing Jerry across a farm. Here Jerry uses a protective hen, to protect him from Tom.

This cartoon is well paced, and the animation is excellent. However like Dog Trouble and Puss N' Toots, this film features too few gags, to be considered one of the cat and mouse's best outings. However the gags that do appear in this cartoon are quite funny, such as when Tom accidently catches a little chick instead of Jerry. The cartoon is fun and the characters are quite likable. Also helping is Scott Bradley's great musical score. This may not be one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons but it is still a good one.

 -Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=3145

The Bowling Alley Cat (1942)

Tom and Jerry cartoons seem to have improving with each individual film (the kind of exception being The Night Before Christmas as that was an early masterpiece) at this point and this cartoon only helps set that trend.

This cartoon marks the firstTom and Jerry cartoon that does not take place inside house. This instead takes place at a bowling alley as hinted at by the title. The story however remains basically the same as tom spends the film trying to catch Jerry and failing at it.

This film not only showed an improvement over previous Tom and Jerry films, but the series reaching it's full height. This film shows the chase cartoon at it's best. Not only does this show the improvements in pacing that Dog Trouble and Puss n' Toots, but this cartoon features much more gags than both those put together. Every gag here works great. Jerry using a pin as a baseball bat, Tom turning into a pin, a mountain of cigarette ashes turning into a volcano, and Tom being used to make a strike is the series at it's best. This is the first Tom and Jerry cartoon without dialogue and it's never missed because the pantomime is so good. An early scene with Jerry skating on the bowling alley floor is extremely well animated and makes one think of later more elaborate scenes in Mice Follies and Mouse in Manhattan. Scott Bradley's music is also very important to why this cartoon works so well. Using train music as bowling balls are chasing Jerry is fantastic. 

The animators on this film include Pete Burness, Bill Littlejohn, George Gordon, Irven Spence, Jack Zander. All of them have been animators on previous Tom and Jerry cartoons. Unfortunately again only Bill, Joe and Fred Quimby received credit.

A fantastic cartoon and a must watch for every cartoon fan.

-Michael J. Ruhland


Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: The History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034547/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1