Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse was another Tom and Jerry film nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Its competition included, Chip an' Dale (1947, Disney), Pluto's Blue Note (1947, Disney), Tubby the Tuba (1947, George Pal Puppetoon) and Tweetie Pie (1947, Warner Brothers). The Oscar would go to Tweetie Pie, which would mark the first Oscar for a Warner Brothers cartoon. Tweetie Pie also has historical significance because it is the first film to pair Sylvester and Tweety. In that cartoon Slyvester is actually called Thomas.
In this film Tom is trying to enjoy a nice saucer of milk, when Jerry keeps drinking from it. Tired of Jerry drinking from his saucer, Tom attempts to poison his milk and set it out for Jerry. However, this has an unintended effect as instead of being poisoned Jerry turns into a muscular monster. Jerry then uses his newfound strength to get the best of Tom.
This is simply a wonderful cartoon. Like many of the best Tom and Jerry films, what makes this cartoon work so well is not only the gags themselves but the wonderful delivery. The character animation here is simply wonderful and is just as funny as any of the gags. The transformation scenes with Jerry are fantastic and the biggest laughs come from the hulking way Jerry walks towards Tom after transforming, the look on Tom's face when Jerry drags him through the safe and the character animation with Jerry when he realizes he returns back to normal. Many of the gags here are quite excellent as well. I especially love the waffle iron gag and Tom's way of getting out of the fridge. Both of these are laugh out loud hilarious. This cartoon also has a simply wonderful ending gag. This film also keeps a wonderful energy going throughout. The action never lets up and because of this, there is not a moment when the viewer is not having fun. Adding to this energy is another wonderful score by Scott Bradley.
The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Frightening Satire To prevent Jerry from drinking milk from the refrigerator, Tom brews a deadly potion. Instead of polishing off the rapid rodent as intended, it imbues him with super-mousean powers and for a while the familiar cat-after-mouse chase is reversed. When the brew wears off the familiar routine begins once again, with amusing, if frightening results. Some pretty strong stuff for kids but amusing overall." I don't know about you, but I was able to handle this cartoon just fine as a kid. This film was reissued to theaters in 1955.
This monstrous version of Jerry appears in the 2003 video game, Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers. Monster Jerry (as he is called in this game) is the final boss for multiple of the characters. If you beat him with the eagle (from Flirty Birdy), you can unlock him as a playable character.
Tom and Jerry would return to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's TV cartoon series, The Tom and Jerry Show entitled See Dr. Jackal and Hide (1975). In that episode Tom and Jerry work as assistants in Dr. Jackal's lab and are terrified when Dr. Jackal turns into a monster.
Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://lantern.mediahist.org/
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Mouse
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