The Hollywood Bowl

I'm a BIG classical music buff, and "Hollywood Bowl" is one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons that entice people like me. The music of it was wonderful! If you classical music-illiterate folks have no inkling of who wrote the glorious music, this is the overture to a little opera named "The Bat" (Ha, ha; funny name for an operetta, huh?) by Johann Strauss the Younger.

Tom and Jerry were conductors who conduct the orchestra of cats. Jerry wanted assistance to Tom, but he denies it. This is better than any other T & J cartoons! If you love classical music, watch this; it'll laugh your baton off!

6 year olds, 85 year olds, geography teachers, members of the Royal Family, tramps, beggars, millionaires, everyone. Everyone knows Tom and Jerry. Everyone. It is a rare phenomenon. Wonderfully drawn, fantastic music effects, side-splittingly funny. Something so popular, there were attempts to ban it, at one point. How did they make it so good?

I'm going to put a lot of the credit at Fred Quimby's door, and give kudos to Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera as well. Every good Tom and Jerry cartoon had 'Produced by Fred Quimby' somewhere in the credits. The brief bit of trivia on him says that he was despised by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and he constantly got into arguments with them. All I can say is, whatever he did, however he got those cartoons produced, he did it perfectly, because every single one of them is well above average, and has more than a fair share of laughs.

After Quimby, the cartoons that were both produced and directed by Hanna Barbera were also of an excellent standard, although subsequent producers, particularly Chuck Jones, did the name of Tom and Jerry no good at all. When you think of Tom and Jerry, Fred Quimby's name on it is the seal of approval.

As far as the animation goes, the expressions in particular were just exquisite, and frequently were they the source of the many laughs that each and every episode contained. The way they could suddenly change. When Tom is conducting, watch for the part when Jerry keeps tugging at his tuxedo, and pleading with him. The urge was fortunately resisted to give Tom and Jerry proper, full-time speaking voices throughout Quimby's days in charge, instead just letting either character speak when it suited the part.

Up to a few weeks ago, I'd known Tom and Jerry as something to watch if it came on, because it was reasonably funny. But when I visited America recently, and watched Tom and Jerry for a full hour on the Cartoon Network every day, I realised just how good it was. The two best Tom and Jerry cartoons are 'Hollywood Bowl', and 'Cat Concerto'. They are the best cartoons in the Tom and Jerry range and considering all of Quimby's were excellent, that really is saying something.

How exactly it is that a cat and mouse who hate each other, and spend most of their lives trying to kill each other, stayed so successful, and NEVER lost ANY of the humour under Quimby, I will never fully know, and I think MGM may have pondered on it themselves (look for the episode 'Life with Tom'). The facts are: Tom and Jerry was started over 60 years ago, and Quimby's last was made in 1955. There were attempts to ban it, thanks to a woman named Mary Whitehouse, but she is dead, and Tom and Jerry lives on, as well known as it ever was. All that remains is for me to say good riddance to Whitehouse, and long live Tom and Jerry!

Tom is conducting an orchestra when Jerry, complete with tuxedo and baton, comes out and wants to do some conducting also. Typical Tom and Jerry chaos erupts periodically amidst the classical music wafting around them. The blend of music and mayhem is inspiring! An excellent cartoon, for the most part. Cartoon Network runs this one reasonably often. Most recommended.

After seeing The Cat Concerto and loving it, I saw Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl. This time Tom conducts the Die Flerdermaus Overture by Johann Strauss II(who also wrote On the Beautiful Blue Danube and Tales from the Vienna Woods), and once again Jerry is attracted to the music. The concept is simple but very effective, and the animation is truly excellent. I don't really need to explain how good the music is here, other than to say it is outstanding, you should see the whole operetta, it is really something, really cheered me up after a hard day it did. The sight gags are really original and extremely funny, with the ending a definite standout. And Tom and Jerry are both stellar here, you feel sorry for Tom at the end though. Overall, hugely enjoyable, a must see, and I do think "The Waltz King" would be proud! 10/10 Bethany Cox

As for me, this Tom and Jerry short is a bit of a letdown. While it is beautifully animated and exudes quality, I really don't like musical cartoons. This goes not only for the Tom and Jerry ones where they are performing on stage, but those of Bugs Bunny as well. Some people LOVE toons like the RABBIT OF SEVILLE or TOM AND JERRY IN THE Hollywood BOWL but they just don't appeal to me and I doubt they'll appeal to most people--particularly kids. Classical music performances and cartoons just don't appeal to everyone. Plus the Tom and Jerry formula is tampered with--it just doesn't look or feel right having them in this situation. However, despite all my complaining, it's still an excellent cartoon.