This is yet another Tom and Jerry film to be nominated for an Oscar. Its competition this year was For Sent-imental Reasons (1949, Warner Brothers), The Magic Fluke (1949, UPA) and Toy Tinkers (1949, Disney). The winner was For Scent-imental Reasons which is still considered today as one of the best Pepe Le Pew cartoons. While I like all the cartoons nominated, I admit to having a special fondness for Toy Tinkers which is possibly my favorite film that pits Donald Duck against Chip and Dale.
In this film, an egg rolls out of its nest, while mama woodpecker is away. The egg rolls into Jerry's home, home and hatches there. Since the first thing the baby woodpecker sees is Jerry, he assumes that Jerry is his mama. Jerry tries to return the little woodpecker to his nest, but the little woodpecker just wants to follow Jerry. Unfortunately for the little woodpecker, when he pecks on Tom's chair and breaks it, he has an angry cat after him. Jerry then tries to protect the woodpecker from Tom.
This is one of the rare instances of a 1940's Tom and Jerry short that actively tries for sentimentality and cuteness. This would become more common in the Tom and Jerry films of the 1950's but the 40's shorts tended to focus more on over-the-top slapstick violence. However unlike some of the later attempts to mix sentimentality in the Tom and Jerry formula, this film is works very well. One of the reasons for this is that the woodpecker is cute without feeling consciously cute. This is to say that it doesn't feel like the filmmakers are trying too hard to make the character cute. I think we have all seen cartoon characters, that feel like they are trying so hard to be cute that they come off as annoying. That is not the case here as the cuteness feels completely natural. The film also works very well because the humor is not sacrificed for the sake of cuteness. The slapstick involving Tom and Jerry is simply excellent. There may not be as many slapstick gags as in some previous cartoons, but the gags are just as funny and wonderful here. The gags also can be as over the top and violent as we have come to except without getting in the way of the sentimental story. These two components are mixed expertly. The result is a film that is sentimental and cute, while remaining a true Tom and Jerry short.
This film would be remade using the same animation and soundtrack as The Egg and Jerry (1956). The difference between the two was that The Egg and Jerry was made for the wider CinemaScope process.
The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ray Patterson.
Below is a movie poster for this cartoon. It is surprisingly much better than the average movie poster for this series.
Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Hatch_Up_Your_Troubles
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