Buddies Thicker Than Water is the 12th out of 13 Tom and Jerry cartoons directed by Gene Deitch and the 126th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall.
In this short film, Jerry is living in a mouse hole in nice apartment, while his friend Tom is outside freezing. Jerry lets him in the house to warm up. When the lady of the house comes home and finds Tom there, Tom pretends to have caught Jerry and throws Jerry out in the cold. The woman appreciates this and makes Tom her pet. However, Jerry seeks out revenge on his ex-pal.
This is one of the better Gene Deitch directed shorts. This is because rather than focusing on slapstick (which has always been a weak point for Deitch), it focuses on telling a story. The story itself is quite well written, and we sympathize and understand both Tom and Jerry. The shattered friendship between the two allows for some sentimentality that works surprisingly well. The short does not have any real laughs in it but because it is not a gag fest like most Tom and Jerry cartoons this is no big problem.
However, this film still does have some of the same issues that plague other Gene Deitch shorts. The soundtrack is awful. The sound effects are bizarre, ill-fitting and annoying. The music also never fully fits the action. There are also some poor drawings here and a strange rubbery feel to the characters.
The credited writer is Larz Bourne. Wáclaw Bedřicz receives an animation credit. The music is credited to Štěpán Koníczek. This marks the last Tom and Jerry short to use Scott Bradley's original version of the Tom and Jerry theme. The next cartoon would use a new version that incorporates elements of the opera Carmen, and the Chuck Jones cartoons would feature a new version of the classic theme. This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 5, Tom and Jerry's Winter Wackiness and Tom and Jerry: The Gene Deitch Collection.
-Michael J. Ruhland
