Tom wants to impress his girl so he bring her a present namely Jerry. The girl thinks Tom is too square and behind the times though, causing Tom to make zoot suit out of her curtains. She now thinks Tom is one hep cat, and invites him inside. However Jerry, not too happy with being wrapped as a present wants to sabotage Tom's romance.
Unlike many Tom and Jerry cartoons there is actually quite a bit of dialogue. William Hanna himself voices Tom and Sara Berner voices Jerry and Tom's girlfriend.
This cartoons features some fantastic animation. The film opens with Tom making himself look better through some great Pete Burness animation, and after that we are just treated to more and more great animation. The highlight of the animation came from a dance animated by Irv Spence, this animation is really funny and is just a joy to look at. There is specifically funny about them dancing but the way it's animated makes all the difference. The story of course all leads to Tom chasing Jerry which includes some high quality slapstick (including Jerry knocking Tom on the head with a shovel) animated by Ray Patterson.
Along with this the timing is just perfect. There is no doubt William Hanna was at this time one of the masters of cartoon timing. Every joke is timed perfectly to make the most impact possible. The film never feels too slow, and never feels too fast. The short is pretty fast paced though, but this just creates an amazing feeling of energy, and makes the whole film a delight to watch.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources UsedDVD commentary by Jerry Beck
