Tom y Chérie

For once, Jerry is not the spot of affection in his cartoons. Instead, we almost feel a bit of anger towards the mouse. In one of Hanna-Barbara's "Mouseketeer" cartoons, Jerry plays a captain Mouseketeer who keeps sending his young protege (Nibbles, to be exact) out with love letters to his beloved Lilli. Of course, every time Nibbles leaves the hole, he's confronted by Tom who wants to fight. This keeps up for a while, with Nibbles coming back more and more worse for wear. Finally, he delivers a letter to Jerry that says Lilli is leaving him. Jerry is heartbroken... for about two seconds, and pulls out a picture of his NEW girl-mouse. Nibbles is sent on another mission, but this time, he's had enough. "Engaurde? Engaurde? PHEW!" he spits at Tom as he walks down the lane to deliver the letter.

This is one of Hanna-Barbara's better Tom & Jerry cartoons, especially since it took a break from the basic "Tom chases Jerry, Jerry fights back" style we all grew to love. An absolute favorite of mine, no doubt about it.

The first thing that hit me with this cartoon is the brilliance of the colors, especially the purples and pinks. This is an extremely good-looking cartoon with bold colors and terrific artwork. Check out the floors and the walls for the shadows, light and details as well.

As for the story, we are back in the "Mouseketeer" days with Jerry and his little pal Nibbles writing love letters and reading the Mouseketeers Code, respectively.

Jerry has is subordinate mail the love letter but Nibbles can't go far because "the Cardinal's cat, a big pussycat, is outside with a big sword.....and I am too young to die," he reports. "Besides, I'm chicken."

At least the guy is honest, but Jerry has to remind him about the "Code" and the bravery that is part of it.

The funny stuff begins 20 seconds later with sight gags like Tuffy wearing a knight's head of armor (you have to see it) and various other ploys the young student uses to try to combat his bigger adversary. It's a "cute" cartoon more than funny, but certainly entertaining all the way.

This is presented in CinemaScope (about 2:35:1) widescreen, which was kind of cool to see, as is part of the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume Two DVD.

Mouseketeer captain Jerry repeatedly orders his young protégé Nibbles to deliver love letters to his girlfriend Lilli. Waiting outside for Nibbles is the cardinal's cat Tom, who is always on the lookout for a sword-fight and continually makes Nibbles task a lot harder.

How much you enjoy Tom and Chérie will depend on how much you like young mouseketeer Nibbles, for he is very much the central character in this episode. I can't abide Jerry's cutesy sidekick, so was already against this one, but I also found the repetitive gags sorely lacking and the animation not up to scratch (the backgrounds, in particular, look slapdash).

The ending is the only part I enjoyed, Lilli finishing with Jerry, only for the mouse to shift his affections to another female named Marie. What a player! Naturally, Nibbles finally loses his temper, refuses to fight Tom, and stomps off into the distance. Good riddance! (unfortunately, the little mouse would return for at least a couple more adventures).

Tom and Cherie is not the best of the "Mousketeers" cartoons, but it is very entertaining. This time, Jerry is more of a side character, and Tom is still his dastardly self. This time the true star of the show is Nibbles, who starts off running away from Tom and in the end stands up to him(I never thought he had that in him to be honest, so I was shocked, but in a pleasant way). The story is somewhat predictable and Tom's "En Gardes" can get repetitive, but for instance the animation here is absolutely wonderful with lovely colours and all the characters are drawn well. The music is a delight as well, sweet, lively and fun, while the visual gags range from amusing to hilarious. Overall, just a delightful cartoon, recommended! 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of a series of shorts where Tom and Nibbles are "the king's Mouseketeers" with Tom as their main foil (sorry). While this is not the best of them, I personally love this one, because I have a soft spot in my heart for Nibbles (the little mouse who gets all the hazardous duty here and none of the benefits) in this one. The ending is quite appropriate here. I don't blame Nibbles one bit, either. Well worth watching. Recommended.