By the time of Timid Tabby, the theatrical Tom and Jerry shorts greatly resembled the TV work that William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would soon be churning out. This short film is a great case for this as it could have easily been one of Bill and Joe's later Pixie and Dixie (from The Huckleberry Hound Show) or Pumpkin Puss and Mush Mouse (from The Magilla Gorilla Show) TV shorts. Like those TV cartoons, this short relies more on clever writing than on perfectly timed slapstick. However, while this film resembles their TV work, it resembles the best of their TV work.
In this short film, Tom's cousin George comes to visit. There is only one problem. George is terrified of mice. Tom tries to trap Jerry in his hole, but Jerry escapes and decides to have lots of fun scaring George.
This is a great cartoon and one of my favorite shorts of this era. The humor is not laugh out loud funny, but it is often very charming. Because of this whenever I watch this short, I have a smile on my face. Cousin George is a wonderful one-off character that plays perfectly off of Tom and Jerry. I honestly would not have minded seeing more of this character. This character and the basic storyline help make this a unique entry in an already long running series. Yet while this cartoon provides a break from the usual Tom and Jerry formula, it also keeps the charm and feel of a typical Tom and Jerry short. Though the animation was getting more limited by this time, the character animation is still quite strong. This animation again makes Tom and Jerry feel completely real to us without ever having to speak a word. The background art while not as elaborate as in the 1940's is still quite handsome and gives the short a likable suburban feel. The ending gag of this film is also completely satisfying.
The credited animators on this film are Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ken Southworth and Bill Schipek. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach, and the credited background artist is Roberta Greutert. Roberta Greutert would only receive credit on one more Tom and Jerry short, Happy Go Ducky (1958). However, she would work on such some of Bill and Joe's later work with the credit of Ink and Paint Supervisor. Some of her work for the Hanna-Barbera studio includes such TV series as Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, The New Adventures of Gulliver, Motormouse and Autocat, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Where's Huddles, Harlem Globetrotters, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and The Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show. She also worked on the Hanna-Barbera feature films Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (1964) and The Man Called Flintstone (1966). 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 marks the 106th Tom and Jerry short.
This short is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 5, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 1 and Tom and Jerry: No Mice Allowed! as well as the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II and the recent Blu-ray set Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection.
-Michael J. Ruhland
I like George a lot,too.With Bill Thompson's DROOPY (in turn Wallace Wimple as in the classic radio sitcom FIBBER McGEE version) voice.
ReplyDelete