Barbecue Brawl (1956)

 

In some ways, this short film can be considered a follow up to the earlier Tom and Jerry cartoon, Pup on a Picnic (1955). The two films have a similar premise about Spike and Tyke trying to have an outdoor meal and Tom and Jerry interrupting it. The cartoons also both featuring pretty much the same ending gag. 

This short film begins with Spike wanting to treat Tyke to an outdoor barbecue. However, Tom and Jerry's fighting ends up ruining their barbecue. 

Like many Tom and Jerry films of this period, this cartoon is more charming than actually funny. There is only one gag that made me audibly laugh here (the giant steak shrinking to a very tiny one). However, this despite a lack of real laughs, this cartoon is a lot of fun. Spike and Tyke are wonderful here and there is a real sweetness and charm to their interactions with each other. This is a rare cartoon where Tom and Jerry are really supporting characters in their own cartoon, however due to some strong character animation (even if the animation itself was getting more limited by this time). I especially love how when Jerry is hiding in the pepper and later the bread, these objects move in a way that seems to have Jerry's personality. This cartoon also benefits from some very strong background art. When viewed in the right aspect ratio, the background art is simply lovely to look at. I especially love the trees that look like a beautiful minimalist painting. The suburban atmosphere to much of the background art also gives this film the feel of Hanna-Barbera's early TV output and the same charm can be found here.  

The credited animators on this film were Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle, and the credited layout artist is Dick Bickenbach. Gentle worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. This is the 104th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

This cartoon is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 4, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3 and Tom and Jerry: Pint-Sized Pals as well as the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II and the new Blu-ray set, Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection.

This marks the first MGM cartoon with the sound recorded in Perspecta Stereo. Every subsequent MGM cartoon was recording using this method. 

Like many of the Tom and Jerry cartoons that were released in the widescreen CinemaScope format, this film has often been cropped when shown on TV. There was an especially bad example of this that aired on TV in the 1990's, which only showed 1/3 of the picture making much of what was happening indecipherable. Luckily with the new Blu-ray set that came out this year, we can watch this film looking beautiful.  

Blue Cat Blues (1956)

 

Note: This review contains spoilers. 

Even for those who don't watch Tom and Jerry on a regular basis (I don't know what is wrong with those people either) may be familiar with Blue Cat Blues. You may have seen online a picture of Tom and Jerry sitting on a railroad track with text saying something like, "The last episode of Tom and Jerry ends with Tom and Jerry killing themselves." The film being referenced here is Blue Cat Blues. However, the claim that this is "the last episode" is ludicrous, and someone just started stating that for shock value. There were a few more Hanna-Barbera directed Tom and Jerry films after this and of course the series would continue under other hands after that. That being said, this is truly a cartoon that ends with our two main characters killing themselves. However, this is handled more as a form of dark humor than a conclusion for these characters' adventures.   

In this short film, Tom is sitting on the railroad tracks waiting to die. Jerry recounts how he ended up like this. We see Tom fall in love with a female cat. However Butch also falls for the same cat. Butch however is rich while Tom is poor and therefore Tom is unable to compete with him. When his girlfriend decides to marry Butch, Tom decides to kill himself. Jerry laments that it is sad that Tom couldn't have a faithful girl like he does. However, when he sees that his girlfriend has just married another mouse he joins Tom on the railroad tracks. 

Though the storyline of Tom and Butch fighting over a girl cat, this is a very unusual film for the duo. Here, Tom and Jerry are best friends, rather than rivals. Also, this is a rare Tom and Jerry short with spoken words through nearly the whole film. The dialogue comes from Jerry's inner monologue. Also, unlike usual much of the humor revolves around this monologue instead of being told completely visually. For instance, at one moment Jerry states that Tom flipped his lid, and we see the top of Tom's head literally flip. 

This is not one of my favorite Tom and Jerry shorts. This is mostly because of both the depressing ending and the focus on dialogue rather than the usual slapstick. I don't however think this is a bad cartoon by any means. There is a lot that actually works here. There are a couple good gags here including the gag of Tom "drinking" and the including of a slavery clause when Tom signs for the car. Scott Bradley's musical score is also wonderful here and I love the sleazy jazzy version of Frankie and Johnny that becomes the girl cat's theme. I also feel that Tom and Jerry are very likable here and as always Butch works very well as a rival for Tom. Still, I feel the final gag is too depressing for a comedy short and that some of the puns here are much too obvious. 

Frankie and Johnny is not the only song that Scott Bradley uses on the soundtrack. He also uses the song I’ve Got a Feelin’ You’re Foolin. This song was introduced in the movie Broadway Melody of 1936 (1936), where it was performed by Frances Langford. The song was written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. This is the same team that wrote such songs as Broadway Rhythm, You Are My Lucky Star, All I Do Is Dream Of You, Singin' in the Rain, You Were Meant For Me and Temptation. Many of their best songs can be heard in the classic movie musical, Singin' in the Rain (1952). This song has also been recorded by such artists as Eddy Duchin, Anson Weeks and the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. 

The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle and the credited layout artist is Dick Bickenbach. Gentle worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. This marked the 103rd Tom and Jerry short. 

This short film appears on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 4, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1, Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 3 and Tom and Jerry: No Mice Allowed, the VHS sets, Tom and Jerry: Festival of Fun and Tom and Jerry: Blue Cat Blues, the Laser Disc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II as well as the new Blu-ray set Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection. This cartoon is also a bonus feature on the Blu-ray for the western, The Fastest Gun Alive (1956). 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-musical-up-roar-1954-57/

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Cat_Blues

Down Beat Bear (1956)

 

One of the best things about watching the later William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directed Tom and Jerry shorts is seeing how they anticipate the work that Bill and Joe would soon be doing for TV. Many of the early Hanna-Barbera TV work would feature cartoon characters that were heavily inspired by popular TV and movie personalities. This short film features a pre-cursor to that with a bear who is visually inspired by Ed Norton the character Art Carney played on TV's The Honeymooners. One of the Hanna-Barbera studios most popular early TV stars was Yogi Bear, another bear inspired by Ed Norton. The two cartoon bears even wear identical hats. Of course, Bill and Joe's first primetime TV series, The Flintstones would also be inspired by The Honeymooners. 

In this short film, Jerry is trying to listen to the radio, while Tom keeps trying to turn it off. Eventually the two hear about a bear that escaped from the circus. He is a dancing bear and will dance whenever he hears music. There is a big reward for this bear. Of course, the bear shows up at Tom and Jerry's house. Tom sets his sights on capturing the bear and collecting the reward, but this becomes harder and harder when Jerry keeps playing the radio and the bear keeps dancing. 

This is another Tom and Jerry short of this time period that is more charming than actually funny. Still this cartoon is very entertaining. The bear is a very fun supporting character and the scenes where he dances with Tom are a lot of fun as well. I love the design of this bear, and the character animation of his dancing is fantastic (especially during the door gag). Also excellent is the character animation of both Tom and Jerry. The animation of Jerry happily dancing mocking Tom's predicament is delightful as is the great character animation of Tom being a reluctant dancing partner. The closing gag is also a great one. THe background art is beautiful to look at and the new CinemaScope Blu-ray (which lets us see it in the correct aspect ratio) shows just how handsome this film is. One only wishes the gags could have been funnier. 

One of the songs heard in this film is La Cumparsita, an Argentine tango that had been recorded in the U.S. by such artists as Hal Kemp, Tito Schipa, Eddy Duchin and Xavier Cugat. Below is Hal Kemp's 1933 recording of the tune. 




Also heard in this film is the traditional gypsy number, Two Guitars. Below you can listen to The Hungarian Zingari Orchestra's 1931 recording of the song. 





The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence and Lewis Marshall. Irv Spence animates the first shot of the bear dancing down the sidewalk and his first time dancing with Tom. Ken Muse animates the wonderful door dance scene. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle and the credited layout artist is Dick Bickenbach. Gentle worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. This marked the 102nd Tom and Jerry short. 

A version of the gag where Tom's head turns into various objects including a cymbal, a cowbell and a drum was used earlier in the short film, Saturday Evening Puss (1950). However, in the earlier cartoon, this happened to Jerry not Tom. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 4, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2 and Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 4, the Laser Disc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II and the new Blu-ray set, Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection. 

This film was submitted and screened for consideration for an Academy Award but was not nominated. The nominated films that year were all from the UPA studio, Gerald McBoing Boing on Planet Moo (1956), The Jaywalker (1956) and Mr. Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956). The winner was Mr. Magoo's Puddle Jumper, a fun but hardly outstanding entry in that series. This marked the only year when all the nominees were from the same studio, a feat not even Disney accomplished. You can watch the award be accepted below. 



-Michael J. Ruhland


Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1956/

https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2024/11/less-cowbell.html

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Down_Beat_Bear

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-musical-up-roar-1954-57/

Muscle Beach Tom (1956)

 

Nine years after Salt Water Tabby (1947), Tom and Jerry return to the beach in this short film. The storyline between the two cartoons is even quite similar. Both involve Tom trying to find a little romance at the beach, only to get into a fight with Jerry. Tom even wears the same bathing suit (yes, I know he wears a bathing suit to the beach, despite normally not wearing clothes) in both films.   

In this short film Tom is taking his girlfriend to the beach. When Tom carelessly places his things down on top of Jerry, the two get into a big slapstick fight. However, this is not the only obstacle that Tom has to face as Butch (the black cat) is trying to steal Tom's girl. 

This is an excellent cartoon and one of the duo's best CinemaScope outings. This is the rare film from this time period that can hold its own against the duo's 1940's output. Like the duo's 40's output, this cartoon offers one great sight gag after another. Some of these gags made me smile, some made me chuckle and some made me laugh out loud. Some of these gags are even quite clever (the one with the crab sticks out to me). The opening even makes a clever use of the CinemaScope format with a long pan across the beach with a series of cute little gags featuring cats working out. Due to the CinemaScope format, we can see multiple of these gags at once, making the scene all the more charming. Another gag that makes perfect use of the format involves Butch dancing while Tom has is digging a ditch for Butch to fall into. Giving this gag a larger portion of the screen helps make it all the funnier as we have room to watch Butch dancing and Tom impatiently waiting for Butch to fall in at the same time. This is a rare Tom and Jerry short of this period that makes full use of CinemaScope to do what the filmmakers couldn't do in earlier films. The film also benefits from a great Scott Bradley score that is simply a joy to listen to. 

Scott Bradley's score includes as snippet of the song I Got Out of Bed On the Right Side from the feature length movie, Dangerous When Wet (1953), which featured a cameo by Tom and Jerry. The lyrics to this song (which we don't get to hear here) were written by Johnny Mercer (I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande, Too Marvelous for Words, Blues in the Night, On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, Moon River). The music was written by Arthur Schwartz (I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan, Dancing in the Dark, That's Entertainment!). 

The credited animators on this film are Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist here. Robert Gentle would not only work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera on these theatrical shorts but also many of the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons. He worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. A clip from Muscle Beach Tom would appear in the background (on a TV) in the made for TV Tom and Jerry short, The Mansion Cat (2001). This marked the 101st Tom and Jerry short overall.

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 4, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2, Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 4 and Tom and Jerry's Summer Holidays as well as the new Blu-ray set, Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection and the Laser Disk set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II. 

The Tom and Jerry Wiki states that the female cat here is Yvonne Jockalong, a love interest for Tom that appeared in three episodes of TV's The Tom and Jerry Show (The Ski Bunny (1975), Beach Bully (1975), The Tennis Menace (1975)). While the cat here has a very similar design, I remain skeptical about this being the same cat.

The Ski Bunny

A cartoon called Muscle Beach Droopy (1991) would appear on an episode of TV's Tom and Jerry Kids. This short would not feature Tom and Jerry but as the title suggests would star Droopy instead. In that cartoon Droopy and his son Dripple would take a trip to the beach, where loudmouthed bodybuilder Hunk Hardbody is trying to impress the ladies. However, the ladies are so charmed by Droopy that Hunk gets very jealous. 

Muscle Beach Droopy

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Muscle_Beach_Tom

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-musical-up-roar-1954-57/