Mouse Into Space (1962)

 

Mouse Into Space marks the first Tom and Jerry film of 1962, the fifth directed by Gene Deitch and 119th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall. 

In this short film, Jerry is annoyed with Tom and tired of fighting with his constant foe. He reads that there are no cats in space and deicides to volunteer for a space program for mice. With Jerry gone and no one to fight with Tom falls into depression and alcoholism. After drinking too much Tom accidently falls asleep inside the same rocket as Jerry is going to space in. 

This film is a slight improvement over the previous Gene Deitch directed cartoons. This film shows that while Deitch never understood the over-the-top slapstick humor of Tom and Jerry, he did understand the characters. He understood that Tom is not a villain but rather a very sympathetic character and this film actually makes us care for him. Deitch also understands that despite their feud, Jerry provides Tom with a purpose in life. Without having Jerry to fight with, Tom simply feels lost. The storyline for this film is also basically a good one. It provides a new take on the established formula and fits these characters to a tee. 

Despite these positives this is still a bad cartoon. The main offender once again is the music and sound effects. They are once again very distracting and ill-fitting. The sound effects alone are so ill-fitting that they take away from any effectiveness that any of the slapstick gags might have had. The slapstick gags also suffer from the characters often being a bit too rubbery, which takes any real bite out of them. The drawings of these characters are often very poor at times as well. 

This marked the first time Tom and Jerry went into outer space. During the era where the Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced by Chuck Jones, Tom and Jerry appeared in three shorts that took place in outer space. These films were O-Solar-Meow (1967), Guided Mouse-ille (1967) and Advance and Be Mechanized (1967). The duo would later return to space for the direct to video DVD movie, Tom and Jerry Blast Off to Mars (2005) and multiple episodes of the TV series Tom and Jerry Tales including Cat Nebula (2007), Spaced Out Cat (2007) and Martain Mice (2007).  

  Tod Dockstader receives a story credit. Štěpán Koníczek receives a music credit. Wáclaw Bedřicz receives a credit as animation director. The film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 5 and Tom and Jerry: The Gene Deitch Collection.