This short film is another example of a cartoon where Jerry befriends another animal and most help protect him from Tom. In this case it is Jumbo the Elephant. This marks Jumbo's only appearance in a Tom and Jerry cartoon (either theatrical or for TV). However, the character would appear in the mobile game, Tom and Jerry Chase. Jerry would however later befriend another elephant in the Chuck Jones short, Jerry Go Round (1966).
As this short film starts a circus train is passing by, and a baby elephant falls out. Jerry quickly makes friends with this elephant. Yet when Jumbo takes Tom's food (though he doesn't see the elephant), the cat becomes very angry.
This is an incredibly clever cartoon. While it starts off as simply another film where Jerry makes a new friend, it soon takes a very clever turn. The mind games that Jerry and his new friend play on Tom are not only very clever but they are laugh out loud hilarious. Not only are the gags very clever but they are perfectly delivered. Once again, William Hanna's timing is not nearly perfect, it is perfect. The wild takes that Tom does are truly hilarious. They are incredibly over the top but at the same time compliment both the story and the gags rather than detract from them. The ending gag of this film is especially wonderful and cracks me up every time. I also love how this cartoon is completely without dialogue, yet the great character animation makes all the characters seem completely real.
The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist, receiving his third screen credit on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would later reuse the gag of an elephant sucking up peanuts with his trunk and making them seem to march towards him in the Ruff and Reddy TV series during a storyline entitled Pinky, the Pint-Sized Pachyderm (1958). This short was released to movie theaters in 1958 and 1959. It is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2.
The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "JERRY AND JUMBO: Tom & Jerry Technicolor Cartoon — This is one of the best of this popular series. Will keep any audience in stiches. - Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Col."
The following movie poster is again a repeat of the poster we have seen the last two times, only with the title changed.
Resources Used
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Jerry_and_Jumbo
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-the-center-ring-part-17/
https://lantern.mediahist.org/
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