Neapolitan Mouse (1954)

 

Neapolitan Mouse is one of those films that showed how William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were able to depart from the average Tom and Jerry formula while still staying true to what makes these cartoons so popular. 

This short film starts with your typical Tom and Jerry chase. Tom chases Jerry off a boat and into Italy. Their slapstick antics wake up an Italian mouse named Topo. At first Topo is annoyed by the noises. However, he soon recognizes Tom and Jerry from seeing their cartoons. He is a big fan of their cartoons and decides to show them around his home country. However, a group of bully dogs try to ruin their tour. 

This is a very charming cartoon. The filmmakers make the best use of the Italian setting. The background art is simply lovely to look at and really helps give this short a different feel from your average Tom and Jerry short. The supporting characters are also a lot of fun. Topo is a delightful character who adds a lot of heart to the short. I love these tough guys with a heart of gold characters and this one is a delight. I also love the fun moment where he recognizes Tom and Jerry from their cartoons. I like to picture cartoon characters as working actors just like the ones in live action films. This is one of the rare times a Tom and Jerry film has one of these moments and it is quite fun. The dogs have a fun design and make for great antagonists. If I had one complaint about this cartoon, it is that it never made me laugh out loud. The gags aren't bad here, they are just the type to make you smile rather than really laugh. 

The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Ray Patterson and Kenneth Muse. The credited background artist is John Didrik Johnsen. This one of the rare Tom and Jerry shorts he gets a credit on. For the most part he worked on the cartoons Tex Avery and Dick Lundy were directing for MGM at this time. A character is seen watching this cartoon on TV in the feature film, Starsky & Hutch (2004). The 2002 video game, Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers features a level called Ciao Meow, which is based off this short. The mobile game Tom and Jerry: Chase features Topo as a playable character. This cartoon is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection Vol. 3. 

The song Topo sings is the Italian romantic ballad Maria Marì. This song was composed in 1889 with music by Eduardo Di Capua and lyrics by Vincenzo Russo. Below is Luciano Pavarotti's recording of this song from his 1979 album, O Sole Mio - Favorite Neapolitan Songs as well as Dean Martin's 1947 swing version.

Mice Follies (1954)

 

Mice Follies is one of those Tom and Jerry films that will forever live in the mind of cartoon lovers. The moment where Jerry and Nibbles are skating on the ice to the tune of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Waltz (which animation fans might also know for later being used as the tune of the song Once Upon a Dream in Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959)) is one of the most memorable moments in all Tom and Jerry shorts. 

In this short film, Jerry and Nibbles used the refrigerator and the sink to create and ice rink on the floor. Thier dancing wakes Tom up and causes a big slapstick chase. 

This is one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1950's. It is easy to forget just how visually beautiful the MGM cartoons of this era were as many of them focused on slapstick comedy. However, with a short like this, it is impossible to ignore the sheer visual beauty. From the lovely opening scene with the water freezing slowly to the incredible character animation of Jerry and Nibbles skating this is a pure treat to the eyes. One of the reasons for this is the sheer attention to detail throughout. There was no need to have the characters' reflections in the ice, but this helped add a great amount of atmosphere. There is also a lot of creativity behind the visuals as well. The way Jerry and Nibbles make an ice rink on the floor is incredibly clever as is how they use different colored gelatin to create different colored lights for their skating show. Though this may not be as packed with gags as the duo's 1940's efforts, there are some truly funny moments here. One the I love is the way Tom avoids almost every obstacle with ridiculous ease, only to get overconfident and hit an obvious one. This gag works even better because of the great character animation and how over the top the ways he avoids some of these obstacles are. The cleverness and visual beauty really make this short stand out among the Tom and Jerry films. This is a 1950's short that is just as great as the 1940's Tom and Jerry cartoons.   

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence and Ray Patterson. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist. This cartoon is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1, Tom and Jerry: Pint-Sized Pals, Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 1, Tom and Jerry: Paws for a Holiday, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection: Volume 4, Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers and Tom and Jerry: Winter Tails. There is also a Looney Tunes cartoon named Ice Follies (1960), which stars the Honey-Mousers (a parody of TV's The Honey Mooners).  

This cartoon was referenced in the Powerpuff Girls episode, Ice Sore (1999). In that episode, Bubbles asks Blossum if she can turn the floor into ice, "like in the show." That this is a reference to this short is made more obvious by Bubbles stating that Tom and Jerry is her favorite cartoon. 

Baby Butch (1954)

 

By the 1950's the supporting characters were playing a larger role in the Tom and Jerry films. This included new characters and characters that had existed in the 40's films. Butch the cat had first appeared in the Hugh Harmon directed short, The Alley Cat (1941) and with Tom and Jerry in Baby Puss (1943). He had received large roles in previous cartoons, but Baby Butch is the rare short where he is the starring character and the only one in which he was the titular character.  

In this short film Butch disguises himself as a baby in an attempt to steal a ham from Tom and Jerry’s house. 

This is a charming little cartoon. It may lack the number of great gags seen in the best Tom and Jerry shorts, but it is still a delight to watch. The story is a fun departure from the usual car chasing mouse, yet it stays true to the simple slapstick that we all love. Like all the best Tom and Jerry shorts, there is barely any dialogue here, but we always know just what the characters are thinking. The character animation is excellent and helps make these characters more real to us than cartoon characters that convey their personalities through dialogue. Tom is especially lovable in this film (if more than a little naive) and Butch makes for a fun villain. Though this film may not have as many great gags as some the earlier Tom and Jerry shorts, it does have an excellent ending gag. 

The credited animators on this film are Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. Vera Ohman is the credited background artist. This is the first Tom and Jerry short that she got a credit on. Though she had previously got a credit on the Droopy cartoon, The Three Little Pups (1953). Her work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera reaches past just the Tom and Jerry cartoons. She also worked on such Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, Quick Draw McGraw and The Yogi Bear Show as well as some of the Loopy De Loop theatrical shorts. This cartoon is available on the DVD set, The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol.1. This marks the last Tom and Jerry film to get a theatrical reissue. It is the 84th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Little School Mouse (1954)

 

Little School Mouse is a semi-remake of the earlier Tom and Jerry short Professor Tom (1948). The biggest difference between the two films was that in this short, Tom and Jerry have switched roles. 

In this short film, Jerry is teaching Nibbles how to outwit cats in a school-type setting. However, Nibbles is more interested in making friends with Tom than outwitting him. 

This is simply a very fun cartoon. Though this is very similar to an earlier film, the role reversal makes it feel completely fresh. To have an entry in a cartoon series that had at this point been around for over a decade feel fresh is no small feat. It becomes even more impressive due to how at the same time this short stays true to the type of wordless slapstick that makes these shorts so popular. While this may not be the funniest Tom and Jerry short, there are some pretty strong gags here. However, what makes them work is more the execution than the gags themselves. When Nibbles gets his tail caught by the mechanical cat's paw, what makes the gag hilarious is how Nibbles keeps running like he is still moving forward completely unaware that he is not going anywhere. When Tom wakes up from his nap and hands Nibbles the cheese, what makes it funny is the character animation of Tom barely being awake and doing it without realizing what he is doing. Another strong bit of character animation is when Tom is overjoyed to get the bell as a gift. This is a rather standard gag, but the character animation makes it incredibly charming. 

The credited animators on this film are Irven Spence and Ed Barge. This marks one of the few shorts of this period not to have Ken Muse as a credited animator. This is the 83rd Tom and Jerry short. This cartoon can be found on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Vol. 2, Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases: Vol. 4, Tom and Jerry: Pint-Sized Pals, Tom and Jerry Classic Collection: Volume 4, Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble and Tom and Jerry: Merry Mice. This was the title cartoon of a Tom VHS Tom and Jerry in Little School Mouse. Artwork for that VHS can be seen below. 

Some of you may be aware that there is a current anime version of Tom and Jerry that can be found on YouTube (in my mind this should be playing on Cartoon Network but that is just my opinion). A recent short of this series entitled School Days (2024) is a remake of Little School Mouse. You can watch that cartoon below. It is cutesier than the classic Tom and Jerry shorts but there is a real charm to it. 

-Michael J. Ruhland