Besuch für Tom

Timid Tabby is a superb change of pace for the long-running Tom & Jerry series, in that we see another member of Tom's family and also for a change see Jerry get the worst of the varied encounters. George is Tom's cousin and is deathly afraid of mice, a fact Jerry exploits by scaring George all over the house. Tom, however, bashes Jerry at numerous points of the short, then teams with George to trick Jerry into thinking he's gone insane, leading to an appropriate ending.

George is voiced by Bill Thompson, which adds to the strength of the character's weakness. As George is drawn as a twin of Tom it allows the animators to animate dialogue into the design while leaving Tom mute; given the quality that neither Jerry nor Tom speak in almost every episode, allowing a character who looks like Tom to speak is an interesting angle.

This isn't one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons, but the concept is nice and they carry it out pretty well. The one downside is that the animation isn't nearly as good here as it was when Quimby was in charge. Much better than those wretched things with the babysitter and the baby though; with the exception of Deitch those are the low point of the series.

It was great to hear Bill Thompson again.

Thompson voiced my favorite character in the classic cartoon era: "Droopy." He had a unique voice and hilarious inflections in the characters he voiced in cartoons and in radio for many years. In this Tom and Jerry cartoon, he plays Tom's ultra-meek cousin "George," who is scared-to-death of mice. He comes to visit Tom and the latter tries to hide Jerry from him, so he won't freak out.

However, even though mostly it's Jerry who scares the poor cat, Tom gets in on the act early with some meanness himself. However, that quickly changes to where Tom begins to use his timid twin cousin to advantage.....to confuse and totally spook Jerry.

That last part - the final third - is very, very good with a great, satisfying ending!

The animation here is not as good as it could have been in my opinion, there are some very nice colours but the backgrounds especially lack the finesse and detail that were there in the Tom and Jerry cartoons when Fred Quimby was in charge. However, there is much to like in Timid Tabby. The music is terrific, catchy, lushly orchestrated and adds a lot to the quality of the humour. And the humour is of very funny quality, the violence is still within the spirit of Tom and Jerry and never falls into the trap of being too cartoonish or too sadistic and the gags are simple like the story but lively and clever. The pacing never lags and the ending is fitting. Timid Tabby is also different from most Tom and Jerry cartoons, Tom's cousin, who is terrified of mice, looks practically identical to him(you can mistake them for twins easily) and speaks and Jerry is the butt of much of the violence, which I don't remember happening before. These though are different in a good way, it was nice to have a change yet the basic spirit of the earlier cartoons remain. All the characters are likable, and Bill Thompson's vocals add a lot to the character of Tom's cousin. Overall, a different but very good cartoon that could have been even stronger with better animation. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This one, though no rousing barn-burner, won't put you to sleep either. It has a few good moments here and there. Tom's cousin speaks and though the voicework is uncredited and I don't know with anything even remotely approaching certainty who does it here, it does sound like the same voice that did Droopy, Bill Thompson. Don't bet on that, though-I don't know for sure, it just sounds like him and it is plausible. Decent cartoon that proves Tom has family too. Worth watching at least once. Recommended.