The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off (1965)

 

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off marks the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be produced by Chuck Jones but not directed by him. In Leonard Maltin's landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon, Maltin states, "Jones' agreement with the studio brass enabled him to launch other projects for theaters and television. He handed directing assignments on Tom and Jerry to Abe Levitow, Ben Washam, Jim Paiban, and Tom Ray, freeing himself to work on two unusual shorts - The Dot and the Line and The Bear That Wasn't." I am glad he did as I love The Dot and the Line (1965). Easily Jones' most popular and endearing non-Tom and Jerry project for MGM was the TV special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). For many, including myself, it doesn't feel like Christmas without watching that TV special.

  The director would on this short film would be Jim Pabian. Jim Pabian is a name that is less known than other Tom and Jerry directors. This is for an understandable reason as much of his work on classic cartoons was uncredited. A rare on-screen credit for him was on the feature length movie, Snoopy Come Home (1972). Though The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off was his first time directing a cartoon for MGM, he had previously worked at the studio as an animator on many of the cartoons of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. He had previously worked with Harman and Ising on their Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for Warner Brothers, and he would even work on the one Silly Symphonies cartoon Harman and Ising made for Disney, Merbabies (1938). Jim Pabian was not the only Pabian working for Harman and Ising as his brother Ton Pabian also worked for them. Animation historian Devon Baxter noted, "One perplexing footnote in the annals of animation history concerns the Pabian brothers. Both James Anthony Pabian (born April 14, 1909) and Anthony Albert Pabian (born March 3, 1914) referred to themselves as 'Tony,' though James often adopted the name 'Jim.' According to Rudy Ising, the two brothers often traded their namesake on a regular basis at Harman-Ising." Because of this sometimes one brother would be credited on studio documentation where another brother actually animated. The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off marked Jim Pabian's only time directing a Tom and Jerry cartoon, though he would receive a story credit on the Chuck Jones directed Haunted Mouse (1965).    

Despite Chuck not directing this film, it still has a Coyote and Roadrunner feel to it. There is no real story here outside of Tom chasing Jerry. Rather the film is made up of various spot gags. The final gag involves Tom dressing up as a girl mouse to attract Jerry but instead he attracts a whole plethora of mice that won't leave him alone. This gag is very much borrowed from the ending of Chuck's Roadrunner cartoon, Ready.. Set.. Zoom! (1955). 

This is a fun but flawed little cartoon. Once again, the gags are charming rather than funny. Despite this some of them are very clever. I always loved the gags with Tom laying food in front of Jerry's mouse hole. Though borrowed from another cartoon, the ending gag is a very strong one. For the most part the animation is quite good here and the characters are their usual fun selves. 

However, there are three moments that fall flat, that have always kept me from enjoying this cartoon as much as I should. One is a gag involving a door that doesn't even make sense by cartoon standards. Another is that often Tom accidently gets a fish in his mouth, he immediately removes it. Tom has shown in previous cartoons that he likes to eat fish, so why would he do this, when his goal is to eat Jerry. The last is the most glaring visual error in the history of Tom and Jerry. Jerry's disguise in one scene very obviously disappears for a few frames. It is rare to find such an obvious error in a Tom and Jerry film and this makes it stand out all the more.  


The credited animators on this film are Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. The credited background artist is Robert Gribbroek and the credited layout artist is Maurice Noble (who also receives a co-director credit). Chuck Jones and Jim Pabian both receive a story credit. Eugene Poddany has a music credit. The title of this film is a reference to Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, which received a movie adaption in 1958. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection as well as the VHS set, Tom and Jerry: Blue Cat Blues and the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. This marks the 137th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

Resources Used

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

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merrit and J.B. Kaufman. 

The Animated Movie Guide Edited by Jerry Beck.

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/The_Brothers_Carry-Mouse-Off 

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mgms-alias-st-nick-1935/

Bad Day at Cat Rock (1965)

 

Bad Day at Cat Rock marked the 136th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall and the 9th directed and produced by Chuck Jones. 

Like the previous couple of Tom and Jerry shorts, this film adheres to spot gag format similar to that of Chuck Jones' coyote and roadrunner cartoons. This time Tom is chasing Jerry on a construction site. The climax of this film features Tom using a beam on top of a rock as a see saw, planning to throw and a rock on the other end to get tossed into the air to catch Jerry, who is up high. He tries this multiple times each with varying (though equally unsuccessful) results. This climax has a similarity to how the coyote would attempt various times to use a catapult to capture the roadrunner in To Beep or Not to Beep (1963). 

This is one of Jones' best Tom and Jerry cartoons. The surreal opening gag is a bit of a misfire. That type of surreal gag may have worked in one of Chuck's one-shot cartoons for Warners but feels out of place in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Luckily everything after this works wonderfully. Even the opening credit scene is quite creative with Tom having fallen down the sewer and using a match to find his way back up. This opening credits scene has a great sense of atmosphere as well as some great background art. Once we get back to the construction site most of the gags work quite well. Though not all of them made me audibly laugh, I thought they were all clever and fun. A construction site is a great setting for a chase cartoon, and this film takes full advantage of that. The film also saves the best for last with a series of similar gags that all made me laugh. This cartoon also features one of Eugene Podday's best and memorable Tom and Jarry scores.   


The credited animators on this film are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley and Dick Thompson. Eugene Poddany receives a music credit. Phil DeGuard is the credited background artist. Mel Blanc receives credit for vocal effects (there is no spoken dialogue). The title of the cartoon is a reference to the movie, Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) starring Spencer Tracy and directed by John Sturges. The film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 3 and Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble as well as the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons and the VHS set, Tom and Jerry: Bad Day at Cat Rock. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Tom-ic Energy (1965)

 

Like Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life (1965), this Chuck Jones directed short film once again has a similar feel to Jones' earlier coyote and roadrunner cartoons. This is heavily due to most of the film featuring our two main characters running at great speed (employing character animation very similar to that of the aforementioned characters) and the film's spot gag structure. The main differences though are that the film takes place in an urban environment, Jerry actively fights back against Tom and other characters briefly become involved. 

Again, there is no real storyline here. The film is rather a collection of very spot gags that revolve around Tom chasing Jerry. We begin with the chase underway, and the chase is still underway when the film ends. 

This is a fun little cartoon. It may have never made me laugh out loud, but it did keep me entertained from start to finish. The cartoon moves at a very fast pace and keeps a fun momentum going throughout. Though the gags may not be hilarious, they do fall flat either. Instead, they are simply more charming than actually funny. But there is no problem with cartoons sometimes making you smile rather than laugh. In true Chuck Jones fashion, it is the facial expressions and character animation that are this film's greatest asset. Though again, these expressions and character animation may resemble the coyote and roadrunner, they are quite effective and endear these characters to us. The facial expressions also make even the most basic cartoon gags kind of work. 

One gag here recalls another series of cartoons that Chuck Jones directed. Tom finds himself mixed up in women's clothes and a male cat quickly becomes infatuated with him. The male cat has a French accent and speaks much like Pepe Le Pew (enhanced by both characters being voiced by Mel Blanc). 

Eugene Poddany's score incorporates themes from the classic piece, Paganini's Moto Perpetuo (Op. 11). 

The credited animators on this short are Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson and Ben Washam. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist. Maurice Noble receives a co-director credit and Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese credit for the story. This is the 135th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall and the 8th directed and produced by Chuck Jones. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection as well as the Laserdisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons and the VHS set, Tom and Jerry: Professor Tom.

-Michael J. Ruhland