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.