Puppy Tale

This a very "cute" cartoon with a little puppy that will win you over right away.

The pup one of a half dozen put in a burlap bag and thrown in a river by some heartless idiot. Jerry happens to hear the splash, rescues the dogs and all but one runs away. The little pup who stays licks Jerry and follows him home. At first, the mouse doesn't want any part of him, but soon he changes his mind and tries to find a comfortable spot for him in the house. Unfortunately, the dog wants milk (Tom's) and a nice bed (Tom's) and you can see where that's headed.

This cartoon oozes charm, even to the point where Tom has a change of heart, too, and becomes a good guy. It also has enough jokes (fairly clever sight gags) to make it entertaining all the way. It's also very nicely drawn with beautiful colors.

I'll be honest: what I love most about Tom and Jerry cartoons is the creative ways in which the characters inflict pain on each other. Some of these cartoons eschew this violence in favour of cuteness, and these leave me less impressed. Puppy Tale is one such example.

It is late one night and Jerry sees a sack thrown from a car into the river. Pulling the sack from the water, the mouse discovers that the bag contains a litter of unwanted puppies, all but one of which scamper away. The last pup follows Jerry, and makes himself at home, drinking from Tom's bowl and sleeping in his bed.

Exasperated, Tom throws both the mouse and the dog out of the house, but when the weather turns bad, his conscience gets the better of him, and he goes out into the storm to find them. While outside, Tom is blown into the river by a gust of wind, but is rescued by Jerry and the pup. Tom decides to let the pair back into the house, after which the pup goes to the door and calls his siblings to join him.

It's all way too saccharine for my liking.

I am a fan of Tom and Jerry, always have, always will be. That in mind, I loved Puppy Tale. It is a bit on the short side, but there are so many things to like about Puppy Tale.

The cartoon is very cute, the little puppy is just adorable and would probably melt even the iciest of hearts. Puppy Tale is also full of charm and heart. The ending is proof of that, Tom's change of heart brought tears of joy to my eyes, and the whole story construction is done with plenty of heart. It is very funny as well, I do find Puppy Tale more charming and touching than funny, but there are some great sight gags.

That's not all. The animation is wonderful, fluid, colourful and just a feast of colour to the eyes. The music is both beautiful and energetic, while Tom and Jerry both delight. All in all, a beautiful cartoon, with enough to satisfy anybody really. 9/10 Bethany Cox