The Mansion Cat (2001)

 

The Mansion Cat was a rare Tom and Jerry short to be made for the Cartoon Network and Boomerang TV channels rather than for theaters or as part of a TV series. That may lead you to wonder why I am including it on this blog which is dedicated to the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts. It is because, according to Wikipedia and few other arguable sources, it received very limited theatrical release in Latin America. Regardless of whether this is true it is the last Tom and Jerry short William Hanna worked on. He passed away before the cartoon aired and the short features a dedication to him at the beginning. This seems like reason enough to include it here.  

In this short, Tom's owner is leaving on a trip and tells Tom to make sure nothing in the house is damaged.  

Despite the cat and mouse duo's creators being involved this is a weaker short. The pastel style of artwork is kind of off putting. The backgrounds are often too sparse and empty. Most of all this art style simply does not fit these characters or this type of pantomime comedy. We have not only seen the gags in this cartoon before, but we have seen them done much better. That is because both the art and the timing are off, killing any chance these gags had of being funny.   

The credited director and writer of this short is Karl Toerge. This is Toerge's only time working with Tom and Jerry. He worked as a storyboard artist on such animated TV shows as Ghostbusters, BraveStarr, The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog, Garfield and Friends and Baby Looney Tunes. He was a one of the directors on the direct to video movie, Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000). He also directed episodes of the animated TV shows Slyvester and Tweety Mysteries, Ape Escape and Dinosaur Train. William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Diana Ritchey and Linda Simensky are the executive producers. Joseph Barbera also receives a story consultant credit. James T. Walker is the credited animation director. The same year this cartoon aired, Walker directed the direct to video movie Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001). Karl Toerge and Brian Chin are the credited background artists. Kevin Frank and Jim McLean are credited for character animation layouts. Martin Crossley and Star Wirth are the credited xerographers. Joseph Barbera voices Tom's owner. 

Only one more cartoon to go folks.