Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tom and Jerry:1951


"Slicked-Up Pup" is one of many cartoons that involves Jerry trying to frame Tom in order to get him in trouble. This time the trouble comes in the form of Spike the bulldog.


After inadvertantly knocking Spike's newly-bathed son into the mud, Spike warns Tom that if his son does not remain clean, there will be a thrashing administered.


Jerry, of course, does everything he can to get the puppy dirty and make it look as if Tom was the culprit. Tom repeatedly has to clean the puppy from Jerry's constant sabotage.


Jerry tricks Tom easily into a game of tic-tac-toe...using the puppy's body as the game board, and forces Tom to take a mud-dipping and a tomato to the face in order to shield the puppy from any potential grime. Tom thrwarts Jerry's ink-dousing attempt, only to accidentally dump the ink on the puppy himself.


As Tom tries to paint the puppy his natural color, Jerry switches the paint buckets causing the cat to turn Spike's son into a technicolor nightmare. The water hose is switched to dispense tar and Tom is forced to pass the puppy off as a chicken. Spike wises up and saves his son from the washing machine, only to throw the defeated feline into the machine instead.
I will never get tired of Tom's wild "takes", accompanied by his shrieks of terror, that are littered throughout the Tom and Jerry series.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Tom and Jerry:1950


The best Tom and Jerry cartoons are the ones that really stay away from any kind of story and just feature the cat and mouse beating the tar out of each other.


Such is the case with "Cueball Cat". Tom is playing pool in an empty billiards hall and Jerry has the misfortune of living within the pool table.


The gloves come off quickly. Both Tom and Jerry take thier knocks in this one, an equally painful competetion which is always nice to see.


Jerry is crushed and run down by numerous billiard balls, while Tom swallows more than his share of them. Jerry has a cringe-worthy encounter with a pool cue tossed javellin-style by Tom, and the mouse returns the favor by giving Tom a licking with an extremely flexible pool stick.


Tom gets 86'd (literally) and Jerry gets a good impression from the 8 ball. Fire hoses, hand injuries and a well-placed needle make for moral-free cartoon fun.