The Cat's Me-Ouch (1965)

 

The Cat's Me-Ouch marks the last Tom and Jerry cartoon of 1965, which was a surprisingly strong year for the cat and mouse duo. 

In this cartoon Jerry decides to send out for a ferocious bulldog, when he sees an ad in a catalogue. However, it turns out the dog is about the same size as Jerry. Tom at first laughs at this tiny bulldog but it still ends up making the cat's life miserable.

This is a fun little cartoon. The premise of the tiny bulldog is a very clever one and a new one for Tom and Jerry. The bulldog is a fun little character and is greatly brought to life with some charming character animation. The character animation of both Tom and Jerry is excellent too, reminding us why we love these characters. As per-usual Eugene Poddany's music is great and fits the action perfectly.

However like in many of Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry films, the gags are often more clever than actually funny. On paper there is nothing wrong with these gags and they do have a charm to them. However, they never elicit any actual laughter. 

The credited animators on this film include Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam and Ken Harris. Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones share a writing credit. Maurice Noble gets a co-director's credit. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. Eugene Poddany gets a music credit. June Foray and Mel Blanc get credit for vocal effects (there is no spoken dialogue). This marks the 142nd Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

In the scene where Jerry imagines a big bulldog chasing Tom, there is reused animation from Tom-ic Energy (1965). The tiny bulldog here greatly resembles that of the big bulldog in Tom-ic Energy and Much Ado About Mousing (1964). The tiny bulldog would later be used in Purr-Chance to Dream (1967). 

This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection and Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection as well as the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons and as a bonus feature on the Blu-Ray for the Elvis Presley movie Harum Scarum (1965). 

-Michael J. Ruhland