While most of the Tom and Jerry films of this era are well established classics that all cartoon fans are familiar with, A Mouse in the House is the rare hidden gem of this time period. It is a shame this film is not better known because it is a delightful cartoon.
In this film Mammy Two Shoes is upset that there is a mouse in the house, even though she has two cats, Tom and Butch (the only film in which the two live in the same house). She states that whichever one of her cats catches Jerry can stay, while the other will be kicked out.
This is simply a wonderful cartoon. The premise itself is delightful. While Tom and Butch fighting over Jerry is incredibly simple, it leads to a nice twist on the usual Tom and Jerry formula that pays off quite well. There are plenty of great gags throughout the whole film. Like many of the great Tom and Jerry cartoons, the execution of the gags is just as funny as the gags themselves. One of the best bits is near the start of the cartoon. Tom and Butch are looking everywhere and under everything for Jerry. Jerry sees this and joins in the search. This gag is already funny, but it is made even funnier by the character animation on Jerry. The playfully inquisitive look on Jerry's face as he looks around is truly hilarious. The sequence where Tom and Butch have their gun duel is as funny as anything ever put in a Tom and Jerry short. However, it is greatly enhanced by the wonderful "evil" expression on Tom's face as he tries to cheat. This film also moves at a wonderfully fast pace, packing gag after gag. This keeps a great comic energy throughout the cartoon that is simply a lot of fun to watch. Once again this is enhanced by the wonderful score by Scott Bradley. The ending of this film is also fantastic and provides a wonderful twist on the audiences' expectations.
Part of the reason that this film is not more well known is because it has not aired on regular television in quite a long time. While today few, if any, of the Mammy Two Shoes shorts air today (due to the character being considered a racial stereotype), this one stopped airing on TV much earlier. The reason for this is one scene near the end. Earlier in this cartoon, both Tom and Butch disguise themselves as Mammy from the back to fool the other. When later in the film both of them come across the real Mammy (from the back), they assume it is the other cat and start whacking her in the rear end. Since this scene is integral to the plot and simply couldn't be edited out (the way a quick blackface gag earlier in the film could), the cartoon was simply not aired.
The following are exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Hearld. "Mouse in the House: Tom and Jerry Cartoons — Above average laffs in this good mouse cartoon. - Stanley Leay, Stanley Theatre, Galena, Ill." "MOUSE IN THE HOUSE: Tom and Jerry Cartoon — These gay fellows are very popular here and it is a great pleasure to show so good a cartoon as this. - Jussi Kohonen, Kino-Halli, Kotka, Finland." The later of these reviews comes from an issue dated April 2, 1955. This is much later than the cartoon was released but perhaps the film arrived in Finland around the mid-50's or perhaps since the exhibitor, who obviously likes Tom and Jerry, purposely got older Tom and Jerry films for the theater to play them there. The very same page features 2 exhibitor's review from the same exhibitor. Both of these are for feature length films, Orchestra Wives (1942) and Lucky Me (1954). A Mouse in the House would be reissued to U.S. movie theaters in 1964, along with 14 other Tom and Jerry shorts.
Motion Picture Exhibitor, 1963.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/A_Mouse_in_the_House
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
In this film Mammy Two Shoes is upset that there is a mouse in the house, even though she has two cats, Tom and Butch (the only film in which the two live in the same house). She states that whichever one of her cats catches Jerry can stay, while the other will be kicked out.
This is simply a wonderful cartoon. The premise itself is delightful. While Tom and Butch fighting over Jerry is incredibly simple, it leads to a nice twist on the usual Tom and Jerry formula that pays off quite well. There are plenty of great gags throughout the whole film. Like many of the great Tom and Jerry cartoons, the execution of the gags is just as funny as the gags themselves. One of the best bits is near the start of the cartoon. Tom and Butch are looking everywhere and under everything for Jerry. Jerry sees this and joins in the search. This gag is already funny, but it is made even funnier by the character animation on Jerry. The playfully inquisitive look on Jerry's face as he looks around is truly hilarious. The sequence where Tom and Butch have their gun duel is as funny as anything ever put in a Tom and Jerry short. However, it is greatly enhanced by the wonderful "evil" expression on Tom's face as he tries to cheat. This film also moves at a wonderfully fast pace, packing gag after gag. This keeps a great comic energy throughout the cartoon that is simply a lot of fun to watch. Once again this is enhanced by the wonderful score by Scott Bradley. The ending of this film is also fantastic and provides a wonderful twist on the audiences' expectations.
Part of the reason that this film is not more well known is because it has not aired on regular television in quite a long time. While today few, if any, of the Mammy Two Shoes shorts air today (due to the character being considered a racial stereotype), this one stopped airing on TV much earlier. The reason for this is one scene near the end. Earlier in this cartoon, both Tom and Butch disguise themselves as Mammy from the back to fool the other. When later in the film both of them come across the real Mammy (from the back), they assume it is the other cat and start whacking her in the rear end. Since this scene is integral to the plot and simply couldn't be edited out (the way a quick blackface gag earlier in the film could), the cartoon was simply not aired.
The following are exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Hearld. "Mouse in the House: Tom and Jerry Cartoons — Above average laffs in this good mouse cartoon. - Stanley Leay, Stanley Theatre, Galena, Ill." "MOUSE IN THE HOUSE: Tom and Jerry Cartoon — These gay fellows are very popular here and it is a great pleasure to show so good a cartoon as this. - Jussi Kohonen, Kino-Halli, Kotka, Finland." The later of these reviews comes from an issue dated April 2, 1955. This is much later than the cartoon was released but perhaps the film arrived in Finland around the mid-50's or perhaps since the exhibitor, who obviously likes Tom and Jerry, purposely got older Tom and Jerry films for the theater to play them there. The very same page features 2 exhibitor's review from the same exhibitor. Both of these are for feature length films, Orchestra Wives (1942) and Lucky Me (1954). A Mouse in the House would be reissued to U.S. movie theaters in 1964, along with 14 other Tom and Jerry shorts.
Motion Picture Exhibitor, 1963.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/A_Mouse_in_the_House
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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