Salt Water Tabby (1947)

 

The Tom and Jerry films continue their winning streak with Salt Water Tabby. 

In this film Tom is ready for a nice day at the beach, when he spies Toodles. He flirts with Toodles until he realizes that someone is eating the food inside of Toodles' picnic basket. Taking a look inside he sees Jerry eating her food. Tom tries to stop Jerry and the two begin to have a battle on the beach with Tom trying to get the better of Jerry and Jerry trying to ruin Tom's chances with Toodles. 

This is simply a fantastic cartoon. Though it very much follows the established formula for these films, the beach setting allows for all sorts of very clever gags. Not only are many of these gags are laugh out loud funny, but there is not a single gag that misses. This film is also full of wonderful character animation. Many of the best bits of character animation comes from Tom flirting with Toodles. Tom's sheer self-confidence and complete obliviousness to the fact that Toodles is no interested is simply wonderfully conveyed through this animation. As soon as we see this two together, we fully understand the personalities of both these characters making both of them feel real to us. Probably the best moment of character animation is after Jerry puts a seashell into a sandwich Tom is eating. This is really only a moderately funny gag in and of itself. However, watching Tom try to act nonchalant and like he is actually enjoying the sandwich in front of Toodles is downright hilarious. This is another example of the character animation in a Tom and Jerry short greatly enhancing a gag. Not to be left out, Jerry gets a wonderful bit of character animation with the smug look on his face as he makes Tom eat sand. Again this is a decent gag that becomes very funny through the animation. This film also shows how perfect Bill Hanna's timing was by this time period. This is one of the fastest paced Tom and Jerry cartoons. There is gag after gag with little time between. However the pace works perfectly with the action. At no point does the action ever feel rushed and at no point does the pace take away from letting these character's personalities show. 

The bathing suit that Tom wears (yes, I know he wears a bathing suit to the beach despite being unclothed most of the time) in this film would later reappear in the later Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon, Muscle Beach Tom (1956), in a beach-based level of the 2003 video game Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers and in an episode of TV's Tom and Jerry Tales entitled Beach Bully Bingo (2006). A clip from this film would appear in the later Tom and Jerry short, Smitten Kitten (1952). 

The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Salt Water Tabby: Tom & Jerry Cartoon - Another hit in our most popular cartoon series. For my money, these have Bugs Bunny wiped off the face of the map. - George E. James, Ojai Theatre, Ojai, Cal."  

The credited animators on this short were Ed Barge, Michael Lah and Kenneth Muse. The cartoon would be rereleased in theaters in 1954 and again in 1963. 

Box-office, 1963

Here is the movie poster for this cartoon. While I would hesitate to call this a good poster, it is honestly quite better than the average movie poster for this series. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Salt_Water_Tabby

 

Smarty Cat (1955)

 

Smarty Cat is the fourth and last cheater cartoon of the original Hanna and Barbera era. The term cheater cartoon refers to a short that relies heavily on clips from previous films. This short film features clips from Solid Serenade (1946), Cat Fishin' (1947) and Fit to Be Tied (1952). There is a bit of new animation of Tom whistling after seeing his girlfriend in the window. 

In this short film, Tom's cat friends come over to visit. Butch brings along some home movies he took of Tom getting the best of Spike the bulldog. 

This is a typical cheater cartoon. The clips shown are wonderful and quite funny even without the full context. For their last cheater, the Hanna and Barbera team picked some truly wonderful clips to use. When it comes to the quality of the clips used, this is one of the better cheater films. However unfortunately the new footage is kept to a minimum. The basic connecting storyline is charming but very little time is dedicated to it. Because of this the cartoon is fun to watch but seems pointless today, when you can watch the other cartoons in full whenever you'd like.   

The credited animators on this film are Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Michael Lah. This is Michael Lah's first animation credit on a Tom and Jerry film since Salt Water Tabby (1947). The credited background artist is Vera Ohman. Vera Ohman's work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera reaches past just the Tom and Jerry cartoons. She also worked on such Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, Quick Draw McGraw and The Yogi Bear Show as well as some of the Loopy De Loop theatrical shorts. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach.  Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) and the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. This marks the 95th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall. Despite his large amount of screentime, Spike has no dialogue in this short. This would be the first short to feature a generic MGM cartoon end title rather than the typical Tom and Jerry one since Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943). Meanwhile a reissue of the Tex Avery cartoon, Slap Happy Lion (1947) would erroneously feature a Tom and Jerry end title. Smarty Cat is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3. 

Despite many of the Tom and Jerry shorts having gone into the Cinemascope format by this time, this film was made in the standard Academy format. There would only be one more Tom and Jerry cartoon of the classic Hanna and Barbera era to not be in Cinemascope after this.

 - Michael J. Ruhland 

Muscle Beach Tom (1956)

 

Nine years after Salt Water Tabby (1947), Tom and Jerry return to the beach in this short film. The storyline between the two cartoons is even quite similar. Both involve Tom trying to find a little romance at the beach, only to get into a fight with Jerry. Tom even wears the same bathing suit (yes, I know he wears a bathing suit to the beach, despite normally not wearing clothes) in both films.   

In this short film Tom is taking his girlfriend to the beach. When Tom carelessly places his things down on top of Jerry, the two get into a big slapstick fight. However, this is not the only obstacle that Tom has to face as Butch (the black cat) is trying to steal Tom's girl. 

This is an excellent cartoon and one of the duo's best CinemaScope outings. This is the rare film from this time period that can hold its own against the duo's 1940's output. Like the duo's 40's output, this cartoon offers one great sight gag after another. Some of these gags made me smile, some made me chuckle and some made me laugh out loud. Some of these gags are even quite clever (the one with the crab sticks out to me). The opening even makes a clever use of the CinemaScope format with a long pan across the beach with a series of cute little gags featuring cats working out. Due to the CinemaScope format, we can see multiple of these gags at once, making the scene all the more charming. Another gag that makes perfect use of the format involves Butch dancing while Tom has is digging a ditch for Butch to fall into. Giving this gag a larger portion of the screen helps make it all the funnier as we have room to watch Butch dancing and Tom impatiently waiting for Butch to fall in at the same time. This is a rare Tom and Jerry short of this period that makes full use of CinemaScope to do what the filmmakers couldn't do in earlier films. The film also benefits from a great Scott Bradley score that is simply a joy to listen to. 

Scott Bradley's score includes as snippet of the song I Got Out of Bed On the Right Side from the feature length movie, Dangerous When Wet (1953), which featured a cameo by Tom and Jerry. The lyrics to this song (which we don't get to hear here) were written by Johnny Mercer (I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande, Too Marvelous for Words, Blues in the Night, On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, Moon River). The music was written by Arthur Schwartz (I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan, Dancing in the Dark, That's Entertainment!). 

The credited animators on this film are Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist here. Robert Gentle would not only work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera on these theatrical shorts but also many of the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons. He worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. A clip from Muscle Beach Tom would appear in the background (on a TV) in the made for TV Tom and Jerry short, The Mansion Cat (2001). This marked the 101st Tom and Jerry short overall.

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 4, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2, Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 4 and Tom and Jerry's Summer Holidays as well as the new Blu-ray set, Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection and the Laser Disk set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II. 

The Tom and Jerry Wiki states that the female cat here is Yvonne Jockalong, a love interest for Tom that appeared in three episodes of TV's The Tom and Jerry Show (The Ski Bunny (1975), Beach Bully (1975), The Tennis Menace (1975)). While the cat here has a very similar design, I remain skeptical about this being the same cat.

The Ski Bunny

A cartoon called Muscle Beach Droopy (1991) would appear on an episode of TV's Tom and Jerry Kids. This short would not feature Tom and Jerry but as the title suggests would star Droopy instead. In that cartoon Droopy and his son Dripple would take a trip to the beach, where loudmouthed bodybuilder Hunk Hardbody is trying to impress the ladies. However, the ladies are so charmed by Droopy that Hunk gets very jealous. 

Muscle Beach Droopy

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

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

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Muscle_Beach_Tom

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-musical-up-roar-1954-57/

Smitten Kitten (1952)

 

This short film is a "cheater" cartoon meaning that it is a short that uses clips from previous Tom and Jerry films. This cartoon uses clips from The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945), Solid Serenade (1946), Salt Water Tabby (1947) and Texas Tom (1950). 

In this short film, Tom falls in love with a female cat. Jerry's evil side (a green devil looking version of Jerry) tries to convince Jerry to break up the romance by reminding the mouse of how bad things go for him whenever Tom falls in love. 

This is one of the weaker cheater cartoons. The main problem with it is that most of the clips from previous shorts (with the exception of one), are not exactly the strongest moments from those cartoons. Those previous shorts are real classics, but you would never know from the brief clips used here. As for the wrap around segments they are mostly devoid of gags themselves with the end joke being the only new gag here. The new scenes don't even give Tom something new to do. The saving graces of this film are that the ending gag is quite funny and the clip from Solid Serenade is a great clip. 

The little green devil version of Jerry had previously appeared in the short, Springtime for Thomas (1946).  This character would later appear in a 2014 episode of The Tom and Jerry Show called Pranks for Nothing. This character would even be a playable character in the 2019 mobile game, Tom and Jerry Chase. He also appears (though he isn't playable) in the 2000 Gameboy Color Game, Tom and Jerry in Mouse Attacks! Tom and Jerry fans will immediately notice that his Jimmy Durante inspired voice is the same as Spike the Bulldog. By this point that voice had been used by Spike only in a few cartoons and back when people saw these films only in theaters many audience members would not have seen those previous shorts. So, while this is obvious to us now, it was not to most anyone watching the short back then.

Perhaps because there is so little new footage, Kenneth Muse is the only credited animator. The short would be reissued to theaters in 1958 and again in 1966. 

Below is the movie poster for this film. What the heck even is Jerry here?

-Michael J. Ruhland