High Steaks marked the first Tom and Jerry short of 1962 and showed that year getting off to just as poor of a start as 1961.
In this short film, Tom's owner (who is not Clint Clobber) is having a barbeque. Jerry smells the steaks cooking and decides to steal some. Tom tries to stop him but gets blamed for trying to ruin his owner's barbeque.
The main problem with this cartoon is the same as in Down and Outing (1961). While we are supposed to feel sympathy for Tom and like him as a character, seeing him suffer the brunt of the slapstick violence shouldn't feel this painful. Tom's owner here comes off as overly cruel to the point of unpleasantness. This makes one wonder why this guy even has a cat. Meanwhile some of the slapstick gags come off as painful rather than funny, the "Kooky Cola" gag being one of the worst offenders. This film also suffers from the same problems as most Gene Deitch shorts mainly the annoying and ill-fitting sound effects and the obnoxious musical score. I will admit that the drawings of the characters are getting better than the ones in the previous year, but this is hardly enough to make this cartoon worth watching.
Wáclaw Bedřicz receives credit as animation director, the first time such a credit was given on a Tom and Jerry short. The story credit goes to Larz Bourne and Štěpán Koníczek receives a music credit. This marks the 118th Tom and Jerry short as a whole. In one scene you can see on the street signs that this takes place on the intersection of Deitch and Synder referring to director Gene Deitch and producer William Synder. The plot of Tom and Jerry's fighting ruining someone's barbeque had been done before and much more effectively in Barbeque Brawl (1956). In that film Tom and Jerry ruin Spike and Tyke's barbeque. High Seaks is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Classic Collection Volume 5, Tom and Jerry: The Gene Deitch Collection and Tom and Jerry's Food Fight.
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| Box Office, 1961 |
-Michael J. Ruhland
