Hopefully by now most of you have overcome the delays for The Tom & Jerry Golden Era Anthology due to a supply shortage and Bezos.com’s own holiday shipping delays (proof of why we as a society need to support other entities). This will be the last breakdown review post, covering the non-Cinemascope cartoons of Discs 3 and 4. For a complete list of the contents in this blu-ray CLICK here.
The 1950s saw the art of theatrical animation in decline: the long-standing series unavoidably lost steam after so many years with the same characters; the filmmakers were reaching middle age and losing energy in the vacuum of production; the influence of UPA became an excuse to welcome the shrinking budgets; and some of the studios left shorts production altogether, which MGM did in 1957.
Tom & Jerry, however, remained as popular as ever, even if the “magic” was mostly gone in the ‘50s. The reliance on the “Jerry gets a cutesy ally” plot device comes up with repetition that’d make the corpse-with-flies Famous Popeye series blush, and too many are just “violent mayhem happens” without the vigor that made so many of the ‘40s shorts so entertaining.
Still, there are more than enough classics here to completely justify collecting the whole series. Irv Spence’s animation is always a delight, and Scott Bradley is contributing scores with more thought put into them that a barren cartoon like, say, Cat Napping deserves. Many are all-time fan favorites like Jerry’s Cousin, Mice Follies, Designs on Jerry, and Pecos Pest, and Lillian Randolph always gave the cartoons a shot in the arm with the frenetic Saturday Evening Puss, Triplet Trouble, and Push-Button Kitty being prime examples.
Here’s where we get into a lot of the masters that were done some thirteen years ago for the aborted Tom & Jerry Golden Collection Vol. 2 (and have found their way to streaming and MeTV), where the color grading work was just too crushed and dark, just like some sixty Looney Tunes cartoons done by hack colorists around the same time. They’re acceptable and better than not having them in HD, but it would have been nice to see these get some reworking (with actual whites) done, if not a complete reprieve. (Fit to Be Tied and Jerry and Jumbo are two that got new restorations, and they show what all of these cartoons should look like.)
Disc Three:
LITTLE QUACKER (Prod. #209)
Almost fittingly, the first Tom & Jerry release of the decade introduces the polarizing Quacker (voiced by comic Red Coffee), Joe Barbera’s cynical ploy to make his empire’s violent cartoons appeal to moms that works to this day. The saving grace is the climax involving a lawn mower. Interestingly, the MGM publicity department kept calling this character “Lucky Ducky”, as if it was a continuation of a very funny Tex Avery cartoon by the same name that puts all of H-B’s duck pictures to shame.
SATURDAY EVENING PUSS (Prod. #206)
“Mammy” steps out and Tom and his gang go ham, while the wet blanket Jerry tries to get some sleep with no luck. Another where nothing really happens but still manages to be an all-time classic cartoon which canonically muddles the question of whether “Mammy” is really the housekeeper or homeowner. “A party!? At my house!? Excuuuuse me!”
TEXAS TOM (Prod. #210)
Antics out west at a dude ranch, with Tom’s serenading coming by way of a record this time.
JERRY AND THE LION (Prod. #201)
A lion escapes from the circus and seeks Jerry’s help returning to the jungle. Frank Graham’s last cartoon role before his suicide in 1950, depriving us of further work from perhaps the most distinctive of all cartoon voice actors, after Mel Blanc, in the 1940s.
SAFETY SECOND (Prod. #212)
Jerry’s plans for a “safe and sane” July 4th literally blow up with Nibbles and Tom’s firecracker warfare. Like the earliest Our Gang shorts, the pint-sized characters are a lot funnier and less cloying when they cause endless destruction just to get where they’re going.
TOM AND JERRY IN THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL (Prod. #224)
Unmemorable musical violence that was obvious Oscar-bait and rushed through production to make the cutoff, but wasn’t even nominated. Has nothing on Bugs Bunny’s outing at the Hollywood Bowl the previous year.
THE FRAMED CAT (Prod. #214)
What would be a textbook generic cartoon with Tom framing Jerry for his theft with “Mammy”, and the mouse, in turn, framing Tom for his with Spike, becomes something insanely special for the finale when a magnet gets inserted into Tom’s ass.
CUEBALL CAT (Prod. #215)
Tom and Jerry afterhours at a billiards hall, resulting in some memorable distortions.
CASANOVA CAT (Prod. #216)
Reworking of Springtime for Thomas that illustrates just how much the energy was depleting from the Hanna-Barbera unit. Like Mouse Cleaning, this one was suppressed for an extended (and painfully unfunny) blackface sequence.
JERRY AND THE GOLDFISH (Prod. #219)
Jerry rescues a goldfish from Tom’s culinary exploits. Mike Barrier notes that H-B reused the exact model sheet from Rudy Ising’s The Little Goldfish for this one.
JERRY’S COUSIN (Prod. #220)
Exceptionally inspired, funny, and violent cartoon with Muscles Mouse helping Jerry with his cat trouble, resulting in a couple of the series’ all-time best bits: the brutal Hogan’s Alley opening set to Lydia, the Tattooed Lady (animated by Ken Muse), Tom gleefully destroying Jerry’s home with fireworks (animated by Ray Patterson), the realistically rendered bowling ball (Irv Spence scene), and Tom calling Dirty Work, Inc. while temporarily blind. Oscar nominee that lost to UPA’s trailblazing Gerald McBoing Boing.
SLEEPY TIME TOM (Prod. #223)
Tom’s late-night frivolity means trouble with “Mammy” and Jerry, with a couple of utterly hysterical attempts to keep, or at least appear, awake.
HIS MOUSE FRIDAY (Prod. #227)
The most racist entry in the series that doesn’t make any goddamn sense: so what if Jerry’s disguised as a cannibal, how is he any kind of threat to Tom at his size? Unfailingly unfunny.
CAT NAPPING (Prod. #229)
Painfully generic cartoon with limp gags set around Tom and Jerry fighting over a hammock.
SLICKED-UP PUP (Prod. #232)
Spike threatens Tom to make sure Tyke stays clean, or else. Ends with Tyke getting tarred and feathered and Tom thrown in a washing machine.
NIT-WITTY KITTY (Prod. #231)
“Mammy” strikes Tom on the head, and the cat gets amnesia and thinks he’s a destructive, cheese-addicted mouse. Proves that good staging can make even a pair of flying carpet slippers hysterical (animation by Ray Patterson).
THE FLYING CAT (Prod. #233)
The canary returns, and Tom uses makeshift wings to become the titular character. Has a placeholder for most painful moment in the series with Tom sawing a tree in half with his crotch (animation by Irv Spence).
THE DUCK DOCTOR (Prod. #235)
Quacker returns and can’t stop getting injured. The best gag involves Tom getting crushed by a sow’s ass (animation by Irv Spence).
SMITTEN KITTEN (Prod. #240)
Cheater cartoon with Jerry’s green/envious side showcasing all of Tom’s past romances, posing the question: how many of these things are really just the same cartoon with different titles?
TRIPLET TROUBLE (Prod. #238)
“Mammy” takes in a trio of hellion kittens who are more than a match for Tom and Jerry. The two team up and launch an aerial assault to give the brats a spanking.
LITTLE RUNAWAY (Prod. #242)
Jerry helps protect a seal from Tom, who wants the reward money for the pest’s capture. The highlight of the cartoon proves just how funny a dead dancing fish really is (animated by Irv Spence).
THE TWO MOUSEKETEERS (Prod. #247)
Another Great Sin of the Academy is this routine rehash winning the Oscar (and ironically for basically remaking another generic Oscar-winner) over John Hubley’s Rooty Toot Toot, one of the greatest and most unique cartoons ever made. The guy who beheads Tom is voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan (watch Chuck Jones’ Past Perfumance for more of Bryan’s fractured French).
FIT TO BE TIED (Prod. #243)
Remake of The Bodyguard that’s considerably funnier with Tom immediately forced into servitude, and the added dynamic of Spike getting leashed and tortured by the cat.
PUSH-BUTTON KITTY (Prod. #244)
“Mammy” employs the robotic mouse-catching skills of Mechano, who proves a bit too good at its job. “Mammy’s” last cartoon. For my money, save a handful of exceptional entries, her departure effectively marks the end of the series’ vitality. (Many participants in the collection’s accompanying Lady of the House documentary rightfully acknowledge all of the white replacements for Tom’s owner are beyond unmemorable and lame, and pose the question why the character can’t be revived more sensitively.)
CRUISE CAT (Prod. #252)
Mascot Tom pursues stowaway Jerry on a Hawaii-bound ocean liner. The dearth of ideas was never more painfully obvious than when the cartoon stops so the two can watch a clip from Texas Tom.
THE DOG HOUSE (Prod. #250)
Spike tries to build his dream home, and Tom manages to destroy each one in his pursuit of Jerry, with the destruction getting increasingly ridiculous (and hilarious).
Disc Four:
THE MISSING MOUSE (Prod. #254)
Historically significant as the only short from the original MGM cartoon studio not scored by Scott Bradley. Disney regular Ed Plumb fills in, giving this cartoon a chilling, spidery feel as it concludes with the destruction of the explosive white mouse and the whole city.
JERRY AND JUMBO (Prod. #256)
Hanna and Barbera borrow from nobody’s favorite Warner series Hippety Hopper for this cartoon, with a lost baby elephant disguising as a giant mouse, causing Tom to lose his mind.
JOHANN MOUSE (Prod. #266)
The last Oscar-winner in the series, a charming UPA-inspired “storybook” cartoon (narrated by Hans Conried) with Tom and Jerry living with Johann Strauss and becoming famous in their own right. Employs the services of pianist Jakob Gimpel, who also played the piano for Bugs Bunny in Rhapsody Rabbit.
THAT’S MY PUP! (Prod. #260)
Spike uses Tom to teach Tyke all about chasing cats. An idea revisited by Friz Freleng and Warren Foster in the much funnier, savage Pappy’s Puppy.
JUST DUCKY (Prod. #258)
Quacker can’t swim, so Jerry tries to teach him while evading Tom.
TWO LITTLE INDIANS (Prod. #262)
Scout leader Jerry and his two pint-sized charges wage war frontier-style with Tom.
LIFE WITH TOM (Prod. #264)
Cheater cartoon with Jerry writing the titular best-selling book, humiliating Tom worldwide. The best gag is Tom being so pissed he just rips off the side of the house to confront Jerry (animated by Ed Barge).
PUPPY TALE (Prod. #275)
More cutesy-poo stuff, this time with Jerry rescuing a litter of puppies from certain doom, and Tom having a change of heart. Personal note: this is the first Tom & Jerry I ever recall seeing as a kid. Amazingly, I still kept watching them. (I kid, there are many more cloying and less charming…)
POSSE CAT (Prod. #268)
Tom must catch Jerry to get a meal out of a trigger-happy cook (voiced by Stan Freberg).
HIC-CUP PUP (Prod. #270)
Hiccupping Tyke gets no peace thanks to Tom and Jerry’s endless noise.
LITTLE SCHOOL MOUSE (Prod. #273)
Superior reworking of Professor Tom, this time with Jerry as the teacher schooling Tuffy all about cat evasion and belling. Jerry gets several beatings, Tuffy gets Tom’s friendship.
BABY BUTCH (Prod. #277)
Butch poses ridiculously as a hungry waif to raid Tom and Jerry’s fridge… and the scam mostly works!
MICE FOLLIES (Prod. #279)
Last attempt at lyricism for the series, with Jerry and Tuffy freezing the kitchen floor and turning it into an ice skating rink, descending into the usual chaos once Tom finds out what they’ve done. Terrific use of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty Waltz”
NEAPOLITAN MOUSE (Prod. #281)
Cripplingly generic cartoon with chasing in Italy. Bob Gentle at least got a vacation there so he could get reference for his background paintings!
DOWNHEARTED DUCKLING (Prod. #283)
Quacker thinks he’s the ugly duckling and tries to commit suicide. For some reason, Jerry doesn’t let him.
MOUSE FOR SALE (Prod. #287)
Tom passes off Jerry as a white mouse to make quick cash, only to lose it to the lady of the house (June Foray), who uses it to buy Jerry back! Whitewashed in more ways than one, as it was originally written with “Mammy” as the human character, and an approximation of that version turned up in a Tom & Jerry Comics story.
DESIGNS ON JERRY (Prod. #292)
Tom’s blueprints for a better mousetrap come to life in this imaginatively art directed entry.
SMARTY CAT (Prod. #297)
Tom’s alley cat gang brings over home movies (old clips) to celebrate the cat’s triumphs over Spike. Proof that Solid Serenade and Cat Fishin’ were internally recognized as the series’ best, as this marks the third and second time respectively they were used in the cheaters!
PECOS PEST (Prod. #289)
Immortal classic with Jerry’s Uncle Pecos dropping in before his television debut and using Tom’s whiskers as guitar string replacements.
The Tom & Jerry Golden Era Anthology, despite some problematic transfers, is a triumph for classic cartoon presentation on home video. The collective effort was rewarded with astronomical sales that prove once again the timeless popularity of these characters and the demand for classic cartoons on physical media. Here’s hoping that the wise decision to include everything bodes well for a complete MGM Tex Avery box, not to mention revisiting Popeye the Sailor and Looney Tunes more comprehensively, or even the non-Avery/T&J MGM shorts at all.
THAD KOMOROWSKI is a writer, journalist, film restorationist and author of the acclaimed (and recently revised) Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. He blogs at 
As always, I Marvel at your careful reviews. I never knew that was Arthur Q. Brian doing the voice in “2 Mouseketeers“. I will definitely have to go back to that cartoon and give it a very careful listen.
I know they don’t interest you, but I wish you had gone ahead and reviewed the cinema scope cartoons. I’d always thought that “blue cat blues“ was a very interesting and alarming entry in that you get the idea that both Tom and Jerry were destined to commit suicide! This one features Paul Frees as a narrator. I only wish you could hear everything clear in the transfer. I don’t make this comment to squelch any sales of this set, but if you could hear all the sound effects as clear as you can hear the score in that particular cartoon, it is effective in its way. Yes, it is near the bleak end of the series, and maybe that’s why Bill and Joe decided to create such a plot.
Kevin – Thad reviewed the CinemaScope cartoons last February in this post; https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-thad-review-tom-and-jerry-the-complete-cinemascope-collection/
The Scope cartoons on that set are the exact scans used in this new release – thus there was no need to review them again. Go back and reread that post – YOU even contributed to the comments section there!
I happen to like His Mouse Friday. The blackface scenes are what makes this cartoon funny. I laugh every times I watch it.
Considering that the cat and mouse chase had already become cliche in the world of animation long before Tom and Jerry entered the scene, the longevity of the characters who are still popular today and still appear from time to time in new animated features, speaks volumes of the ability of Hanna and Barbera to develop memorable and long-lasting personalities. This catalogue underscores the versatility of the franchise.
According to both autobiographies, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera expected to go on making Tom and Jerry cartoons ad infinitum. Thus, when the “hammer blow” fell in 1957, neither was prepared for the shock of being suddenly out of the business of producing new animated theatrical shorts. Yet their survival in the industry is one of the great success stories of all time. Turning to television was a master stroke, which gave us Ruff and Reddy, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, and a certain canine star who lives on today. Interesting how their output shifted from characters who were essentially mute and silent most of the time to characters who required the skills of talented voice artists to bring them to life. Due, of course, to the lesser reliance on movement in animation and greater dependency on clever dialogue to carry the day. Considering that the T & J series was running out of steam, I for one am not sorry that Bill and Joe suddenly had to improvise. The classic Tom and Jerry cartoons are classics in their own right, and Hanna and Barbera went on to redefine themselves in a different way. For animation fans, it was a win-win. And today, with the current new releases of this classic material, we have a veritable smorgasbord of choices available to us–with hopefully more to come.
I have loved this series of reviews of this newly released set!
Just Ducky contains my all-time favorite sight gag in the series (which you sceencapped), when Quacker pops Tom’s head and it shrinks to a fifth of its original size. Makes me laugh EVERY time.
Other favorites in this batch include Texas Tom (“She said touch me and I’ll scream, so I tipped my hat and slowly rode away…”), Saturday Evening Puss (love that gag of Mammy taking the front door with her into the house!), and The Flying Cat (good use of Valse Brilliante).
Agree with most of your choices of which ones are the best 50s entries. Your description of Downhearted Duckling is funnier than anything in the cartoon. Cat Napping is saved from being completely meh by featuring the first appearance of the ants.
It’d be easy to read Neapolitan Mouse as Joe Barbera’s love letter to his Italian heritage, but his parents were Sicilian not Neapolitan.
I’ve enjoyed reading these reviews, Thad never disappoints.
Moreover, I am so glad that this set has apparently been a smashing success. Indeed, my go-to source for big-ticket purchases (Barnes & Noble) had to cancel my order due to lack of availability!
I can’t help but ponder what the future might hold though, and I’d like to take a moment and play devil’s advocate. This set was a collaboration between Warner Home Video and Warner Archive, correct? As Thad noted, the ‘pratfalls of a major corporation’ let us see rather clearly which parts of this were WHV’s work and which were WA.
Now WHV has their ultimate Tom & Jerry set. As far as I’m concerned, between this and all the other Wal-Mart compilations they already have, they need never touch T&J again. However, as Thad notes, there are still not just the remaining Tex Avery shorts but the rest of the MGM cartoon library, truly an untapped resource. Further, the pratfalls of this set, while by no means a dealbreaker, shows what happens when there is no movement on something for nearly a decade then all of a sudden we step on the gas.
If that stop-and-start mentality could somehow be mitigated (and looking at the H-B television collections I’d like to think that it has) then I have a beautiful vision: chronological sets of the MGM cartoons, from the Happy Harmonies to the CinemaScope years. One season of shorts to a disc, leaving space for some tastefully curated extras if desired/available.
Think about it, how else could you sell the Harman-Ising or Barney Bear shorts to the widest audience unless the T&J and Avery shorts for a given year were also nestled in there as a point of interest? Further, by going chronologically and only doing 10-15 shorts at a clip, there’s less chance of something slipping past quality control in terms of picture or audio and there could be time to fix the pratfalls that weren’t caught earlier. We know that some shorts as seen in this set and on the Avery discs are already as cleaned up and good-looking as they can possibly be, which makes the job even easier. Heck, maybe there would even be time enough to try sourcing non-reissue prints!
To those who would say ‘that’ll never happen!’ I simply point to this set’s existence and ask ‘did you ever think…?’
This has been a wonderful trip down Tom and Jerry lane, thanks yet again Thad. There’s still plenty of vitality in the series during this time, even if the novelty has worn off. I agree with the ones pointed out as classics in the post and above comments. This home video set is well worth seeking out.
Now here’s the real question…. when will you be reviewing the entire Herman and Katnip filmography? 😉
I’m more interested in him reviewing Deitch, Jones, TV Hanna Barbera and Filmation Tom and Jerry myself. 😉 XD
I would assume that most people value their sanity too much to willingly review the 1975 and 1980 TV versions of Tom and Jerry.
Love your reviews and insights, Thad!
Pretty interesting that the ‘maid’ character was originally going to star in “Mouse for Sale” until she was whitewashed due to the controversial reissue of “The Lonesome Mouse”. While pretty understandable, the energy and dynamic between the three characters (Tom, Jerry, “Mammy”) sadly becomes lost. Oh well, it’s fun while it lasted. Thank you Ms. Lillian Randolph!
Great reviews Thad. This batch includes a few of my all-time favorites. I love Mouse For Sale, with some great Averyesque reactions from Tom. Being that this is rather late in the series (1955) makes it even more remarkable. T & J in the Hollywood Bowl is also a favorite, with the great Die Fledermaus providing inspiration on the soundtrack (years ago, I had a beautiful 16 mm print of this). And what might be my favorite moment in ALL of Tom and Jerry comes from Cueball Cat, when the bridge stick flies down Tom’s throat, giving him “buck teeth.” (you provided the screenshot here) When Tom utters “Duuuuh,” I lose it every time.
It never occurred to me to compare “Jerry and Jumbo” to the Hippety Hopper series. To my mind, it has much more in common with the second (and final) of Paul Terry’s Half Pint cartoons, “The Elephant Mouse”, which preceded J&J by two years. Be that as it may, it’s one of my top favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1950s. I once had the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen, and it generated huge belly laughs from the audience. I’m glad that it’s been given a new restoration; it certainly deserves it.
I forgot all about “Elephant Mouse”! You’re absolutely right. I just rewatched it, and it’s positively stupid and demented, with plenty of deranged Jim Tyer animation. The Phil Scheib music really is 90% of the Terrytoons’ problem – if they had a more sympathetic ear like Winston Sharples doing the soundtracks, I firmly believe they’d have a better reputation.
But—the whole “giant mouse” schtick had been established by Warners in three cartoons by 1950, and Hippety Hopper was definitely being pushed as a “major” character by management (to the point of headlining at least two kiddie records), so I’m sure both the Terry and MGM people took notice and cribbed.
“Mouse Cleaning” sparked quite a discussion in our home. Oh, not because of what you’re thinking. The kids were puzzled about why someone was dumping a load of black and blue rocks into the basement.
One connection I just made thinking about this over the course of the day: would the loss of Frank Graham be the reason why Paul Frees suddenly pops up in several MGM shorts starting in 1950 voicing Cousin Muscles, Spike (in ‘The Framed Cat’) as well as Barney Bear and other incidentals.
With respect, Thad’s reviews are too nitpicky for my taste (overall recommendation aside) If we truly care about the longevity of physical media, fault-finding serves no purpose other than to undermine the cause we claim to care about, Personally, I appreciate, and thank George Feltenstein, and his colleagues for their continued efforts on our behalf! Long live physical media!
You keep saying I am too nit-picky, on literally all my reviews, but you never say why beyond a blanket condemnation. Do you think pointing out that the ‘50s Tom & Jerrys fall severely short of the standards of the ‘40s Tom & Jerry will endanger physical media? Or keep them all from coming out? Because, kinda too late on all counts – and they, uh, just put everything out anyway.
My main point here is it’s better to be appreciative, or thankful than be critical. Here’s what you said in part 1: “Dwelling on the few disappointments, though, misses that there has never been any kind of comprehensive home video collection where errors didn’t get through. Producers and fans need to resign themselves to the fact that even the most diligent job will have a few slip-ups when you’re talking about over a hundred short films, though the sting is worse when it’s on some of the best entries in the series. It’s not just about the severity of the errors” Specific? you know it!
So do these cartoons still suck?
“My main point here is it’s better to be appreciative, or thankful than be critical.”
So you’re not denying that the prints have issues at times but the solution from you is to…ignore them? Is ANY negative feedback bad? Even where big issues are present?
Also Kevin…Thad was talking about the QUALITY errors of the prints in that quote you posted. Not the shorts.
First off, I’m not ignoring anything. I’m choosing to focus on the positive aspects of these releases (being appreciative of them , rather than complaining about this, or that) Secondly, if you ever listened the Extras podcast, you would know what George Feltenstein, and his colleagues were at times dealing with second generation elements. As George has said, they did the best they could with what they had to work with Do you, or Thad ever ever acknowledge that? Have either you, or him ever said thank you to George, or WA for their efforts?
No, these are classics! They don’t suck!
“No, these are classics! They don’t suck!”
Even the cheaters?
The ones with the baby suck. A lot.
I always enjoy reading your insights on these films (we need more of them).
Looking at the Tom and Jerry’s of the post war years, they’ve always gave me strong Disney vibes (as most MGM cartoons have, save for Avery’s), particularly ones where Jerry befriends another animal (Some Barney Bears feel like Pluto shorts as well).
Was there any conscious effort to emulate the Disney sensibility by the MGM staff in this period, even though the latter wasn’t as influential as they were in the 1930s?
I have never, nor will I ever criticize the shorts, or this release! They are classics!
It never occurred to me that Mammy was a housekeeper or that she wasn’t Tom’s owner. Perhaps, to be more specific, I always assumed that Tom lived in Mammy’s house and was owned by Mammy. She may have worked as a housekeeper outside of her house, but she wasn’t the housekeeper in the house where Tom lived. I figured if someone else owned Tom, the power dynamics of her relationship with him would be different. For instance, Tom would have some understanding that she wasn’t the final word on decisions related to him. Also, she always seemed to be popping in and out of the house. She was probably going to work or shopping, or — as in the short you reviewed — going out to have some fun at the club. I’m not necessarily saying I disagree, but perhaps this short had an impression on me, Or by the time I was watching these as a kid, my intuition told me that Tom’s relationship with Mammy was owner/cat.
I’m not necessarily an advocate for bringing back Mammy as a character, but I enjoy her the most of Tom’s owners because she has a much more involved life than the other owners or house guests (I also enjoy the suburban couple who own he and Spike, the gun-happy southern, but loathe the little girl who wants to give Tom castor oil). I kind of wish that modern Tom and Jerry gave Tom a more menacing owner who was voiced by someone who has a certain menacing gravitas. The late Judy Tenuta or Wanda Sikes would have fit perfectly. The best owner dynamics come from their just wanting their housecat to be independent and not wreck the house.
The Mammy doc on the set gave me newfound appreciation for the character. Not that I ever held ill will towards her before, but it really made me realize that she was integral to the series. The subsequent owners weren’t nearly as fun or memorable.
Whenever she would shout “THOMAS!” in that aghast voice, that’s comedy gold.
” so what if Jerry’s disguised as a cannibal, how is he any kind of threat to Tom at his size?.”
I’m not bothered by it personally…after all Jerry DOES have a good wallop to Tom even in his small size (The Milky Waif?).
Then again I really enjoy Half Pint Pygmy…
Unfortunately, “Blue Cat Blues” is missing sound effects.