Mouse Cleaning (1948)

 

Mouse Cleaning is one of the least seen Tom and Jerry films and this is a shame as it is a real gem. 

The premise of this film is incredibly simple. Tom (while chasing Jerry) tracks mud into the house. His owner then tells him, to clean up the mess and if it gets messy while she is gone, Tom is out. Jerry overhears this and decides the best way to get revenge on his rival. So, while Jerry goes around the house trying to make a mess, Tom follows him trying to stop the mouse.

This type of plot had been done before with Tom and Jerry and it would be done again. In fact, the plot is quite similar to the very first Tom and Jerry cartoon, Puss Gets the Boot (1940). However, it has rarely been done as well as it is here. The timing in this film is truly fantastic. William Hanna was a master at comedic timing and this film features him at the top of his game. Probably one of the best examples of this is the scene with Tom catching all the falling eggs. This is such a simply gag but the perfect timing makes it very funny, especially with a wonderful topper gag at the end. This cartoon also does a wonderful job simply building on ever gag before. The film gets more and more over the top as it goes along. Because of this it gets funnier and funnier with each gag. One of my favorite moments is when Jerry takes a donkey into the house. What makes this gag so funny, is that no donkey has appeared earlier and the introduction to this gag makes you think Jerry is welcoming Tom's owner back. The element of surprise here is simply perfect. While Tom and Jerry can often be predictable, this is one gag that few would see coming. Adding to the fun is the wonderful character animation on both Tom and Jerry. Both characters feel completely real here, and you can see them thinking through their every move. A real highlight though is when Tom does a big Tex Avery style take. It is over the top, but also fits the character and the situation perfectly. Scott Bradley's music is also very energetic and fun. It also complements the action on screen perfectly making it much funnier. 

This is one of the only four shorts where you briefly see Tom's owner's head. The other shorts are Part Time Pal (1947), A Mouse in the House (1947) and Saturday Evening Puss (1950). The film appeared in the "Other Great Cartoons" appendix of Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. It is the only other Tom and Jerry cartoon to appear in this appendix and there is only one Tom and Jerry cartoon was included in the main list of 50 cartoons, The Cat Concerto (1947). 

The reason this cartoon is so little seen is because of one blackface scene. In this scene, not only does Tom's face appear black but he also talks in a stereotypical voice, that is inspired by black actor Stepin Fetchit. This scene is also integral to the film's ending making it so it can't be cut out. Because of this, the cartoon is rarely (if ever) seen on TV and is sadly one of the few Tom and Jerry shorts not available on DVD. If you want to see the cartoon though, you can watch it here.

Below is the movie poster for this film. This is as typically ugly as you might expect from a Tom and Jerry movie poster. 

Professor Tom (1948)

 

When watching the Tom and Jerry films, what really stands out is just how many variations the filmmakers were able to come up on a simple formula. Though nearly all of these cartoons revolved around a cat chasing a mouse, most of them come up with fun little twists. This is one of the reasons you can watch quite a few Tom and Jerry short films back-to-back without them becoming too repetitive. The same cannot be said of some other theatrical cartoon series and this is part of what makes Tom and Jerry truly special. 

In this short film Tom is teaching a smaller cat (who is known by many Tom and Jerry fans as Topsy) the art of catching a mouse. Jerry however does his best to persuade the smaller cat that cats and mice should be friends. And no matter how hard Tom tries to teach this smaller cat to catch Jerry, the smaller cat simply doesn't get the idea and is more interested in being buddies with the mouse. 

This is a very fun cartoon. The relationship between Tom and Topsy is perfect. While this film is full of good slapstick gags, the best humor comes from the smaller cat's complete obliviousness to what Tom is trying to teach him and Tom's frustration at this. One of the best jokes comes from Tom being unable to communicate to hit Jerry with the vase and being hit by the vase himself. What makes this scene so funny is the character animation on the smaller cat as he is trying to figure this out. Another joke that works brilliantly due to the character animation is Topsy being stuck between a couch and a table. What makes this gag so funny is that Topsy, obliviously keeps running (without moving anywhere) until Jerry pulls him out. The pure oblivious determination on his face is truly hilarious. Also adding to the fun of this film is the character animation on Tom whenever Topsy and Jerry act as best friends. His frustration at this is not only funny but it makes him feel more real to us because we have all felt the same frustration when trying to communicate something, when the other person simply doesn't get it. The scenes between Topsy and Jerry may be very cutesy for Tom and Jerry, but it works very well, because it fits the characters and the story perfectly. Plus, how this cutesy animation meshes with the more violent gags only makes the gags funnier. 

Roles would be reversed in a later short, Little School Mouse (1954), where Jerry would try to teach another mouse how to fight against a cat with similar results. The storyline for Professor Tom would be used again in the Hanna-Barbera TV Pixie and Dixie cartoon, Jinks Junior (1958). In that cartoon Mr. Jinks is teaching his son how to catch "meeces," but his son is more interested in being friends with Pixie and Dixie. Animation from Professor Tom would be reused in the later Tom and Jerry short, Matinee Mouse (1966). 

This cartoon would be reissued to movie theaters in 1956 and again in 1965. The credited animators were Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. 

Below is the movie poster for this film. It is not great, but it is better than many of these posters. 

Old Rockin' Chair Tom (1948)

 

This short film returns to a plot device we haven't seen in a little while. This is when Tom and Jerry must team up against a greater evil. 

In this film Tom again fails to catch Jerry. This causes him to be replaced by a new cat, Lightning. Lightning is a very fast cat and easily kicks Jerry out of the house. Tom and Jerry team up to get rid of this new cat. 

This is very fun cartoon. From the very start this whole film moves at a very fast pace. The opening scene is so energetic and fun that it immediately draws you into the action (once again Scott Bradley's wonderful music plays a major role in this). There are some very good slapstick gags here. Many of the best gags come not from the slapstick violence but from little character moments. One of my favorites involves Lightning about to kick Jerry out, only for Jerry to stop him and kick himself out. The character animation on that gag is wonderful and makes it a highlight of the film. This is not to say that the scenes of slapstick violence aren't also delightful. An extended gag involving an iron and a magnet is slapstick violence at its best. The punch line of this gag is wonderful and puts a nice twist on the ending we are expecting. This whole extended gag sequence is also enhanced by Scott Bradley's energetic renditions of The Trolly Song (from the feature length MGM movie, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)) and The William Tell Overture. Not only is this music a lot of fun to listen to but it also makes the onscreen action even funnier. The character of Lightning is also a lot of fun. The sheer speed that he runs is a great gag and helps this film's sense of energy. He also works incredibly well as a threat to our heroes and there is a joy at seeing them get the better of him. What also makes this film work better is that he is a thief who steals the food from the house when Tom and Jerry are outside. This helps make Tom and Jerry very sympathetic and easy to root for as they try to dispose of him. 

The design for Lightning is an orange cat, about the same size and build as Tom. This design would be reused in later Tom and Jerry films whenever there was a group of cats needed. This orange cat design would also appear in the Spike and Tyke spin-off film, Scat Cats (1957) as well as the later Tom and Jerry TV series, The Tom and Jerry Show (2014) and Tom and Jerry in New York (2021). This design also appeared in the direct to video movies, Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! (2022) and Tom and Jerry: Snowman's Land (2022). However, in the subsequent uses of this cat design, the character doesn't show any signs of the incredible speed here, which means cartoon fans can debate whether this is the same character. 

One scene from this film has been censored on TV airings. This is when Lightning dresses Tom up to look old and Tom's owner says, "take good care of poor old Uncle Tom". TV airings would take the word Uncle out. 

This short film would be reissued to theaters in 1955 and again in 1965. 

Heard on the soundtrack of this film is the pop tune, I’m Sitting on Top of the World. This song was written in 1925 by the songwriting team of Ray Henderson (music), Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young (lyrics). Al Jolson recorded in 1925 and it became a major hit for him. Jolson would later perform the song in the feature film, The Singing Fool (1928). Other artists who have recorded this song include the Melody Shieks, the Radio Franks, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Jerry Lewis, Doris Day, Aretha Franklin, Brenda Lee, Dean Martin (this was the title track of a 1973 album for him) and Dizzy Gillespie. Below listen to Al Jolson and Dizzy Gillespie's versions of this song. 






Below is a movie poster for this cartoon. Once again, the MGM cartoon continue to have some of the ugliest movie posters. Just look at the foot kicking Tom and Jerry out.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-musical-up-roar-1947-49/

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Old_Rockin%27_Chair_Tom

The Truce Hurts (1948)

 

Tom and Jerry films often adhered to a formula, but quite often they would also break or subvert this formula. The Truce Hurts is one of the best examples of this. 

In this short film, Tom, Jerry and Spike the bulldog (called Butch in this cartoon) are once again fighting. Spike (or Butch) states that the three should sign a peace treaty and put their differences aside. They start off this truce by being the best of friends. However, keeping it doesn't seem to be as easy as they first thought. 

This is such a fun cartoon. Despite the characters calling a truce, there are still plenty of good gags to be found here. The over politeness between each of them is truly hilarious. This is especially true when they each try to get some sort of upper hand of each other, while pretending to be polite (which is especially shown whenever they try to "share" food or milk). Also, the sight of Tom brushing Jerry's teeth in the morning is delightfully silly. This film also has a good amount of the typical Tom and Jerry slapstick here. The trio fighting with a pipe, frying pan and a baseball bat before their truce is one of the most delightfully over the top depictions of cartoon characters fighting. Just the sheer glee of violent slapstick and wonderful timing make this simple moment truly hilarious. This is also an image that is often burned in the minds of many cartoon fans. This wonderful scene would later become a major part of the Boomerang TV channel's advertisement for showing Tom and Jerry cartoons and this clip would also be used in a later Tom and Jerry cartoon, Matinee Mouse (1966). Yet what really makes this film work so well is the sheer fast paced energy that never lets up. It is hard not to get caught up in this pure comedic momentum. 

Scott Bradley's musical score is once again, just as much fun as the action on the screen. This infectiously fun music not only perfectly matches the action on screen but even enhances it. As well as his original music, Scott Bradley also incorporates music from MGM's live action feature films. Heard here are The Worry Song from Anchors Aweigh (1945, which features a cameo by Tom and Jerry as a live action Gene Kelly dances with an animated Jerry) and We're Off to See the Wizard and Over the Rainbow from Wizard of Oz (1939).

In most TV airings of this film, there is a gag cut out. In the original version after the meat truck splashes mud on Tom, Jerry and Spike, the trio appear in blackface. This gag was also cut out of the original Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1 DVD but was included in later reprintings of the DVD. In the 1960's an edited version of this cartoon aired on TV. This version covered the trio's big reddish lips and removed the pigtails. This way it looked as if they were simply covered in mud rather than in blackface. 

This film was reissued to movie theaters in 1956 and was one of 15 reissued in 1964. 

Below is a movie poster for this cartoon. While not perfect, it is definitely better than some of the other Tom and Jerry posters. 

 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truce_Hurts

https://lantern.mediahist.org/