The Flying Cat (1952)

 

The Flying Cat marked the first Tom and Jerry film to be released in 1952 (and the 63rd short film overall). It also marked the second and last cartoon to co-star Jerry's little yellow canary buddy. The character had previously appeared in Kitty Foiled (1948). The Tom and Jerry Wiki (which calls this character Cuckoo) states that the red bird in Two Little Indians (1953) is the same character colored red but I personally don't see it. He does however have a small cameo in Hic-cup Pup (1953). Two cheater cartoons, Life with Tom (1953) and Matinee Mouse (1966) feature clips from his two co-staring cartoons but feature no new animation with the character. Unlike many other supporting characters in Tom and Jerry shorts this character would not appear much in the later Tom and Jerry feature length movies or TV cartoons.  

In this short film, Tom gets a hankering to eat the little canary and Jerry sets out to save his little buddy. The usual slapstick follows until Tom crashes into a room and finds a girdle attached to him. However, the girdle gives him a pair of wings and he discovers he can now fly. Now that Tom can fly, Jerry and the little bird need to keep on their toes. 

This is an excellent cartoon. In many ways this film is exactly what you might expect from a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It moves at a fast pace and the gags never stop. Meanwhile not a single word is spoken. All there is here is pure cartoon slapstick from start to finish. Every single gag here lands perfectly and this is truly a laugh out loud funny cartoon. William Hanna's timing here is not only near perfect, but it is absolutely perfect. When the film ends, I am always amazed that 7 minutes had passed by. Simply put this is the typical Tom and Jerry formula but done so perfectly that it truly stands out. Yet the adding of having Tom be able to fly, does add a tiny fun twist on the formula that really works. This is one of the best Tom and Jerry films of the 1950's. 

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ed Barge, Ray Patterson. Clips from this film would later be used in the Tom and Jerry cartoon, Matinee Mouse. Characters can be seen watching this cartoon in the movies, Strange Brew (1983) and Striptease (1996).

Below is the usual ugly movie poster for this film.