Johann Mouse

Jerry the mouse, here known as Johann Mouse lives in the house of Viennese composer Johann Strauss. Every time Johann plays his music, the mouse can't help but waltz to the tune. So when the master is away the cat learns to play music. But the servants hear Tom playing and soon enough Tom and the mouse are playing for the Emporer. This short won an Oscar for best cartoon short subject in 1953 and it's easy to see why, because while it's not hilarious, it is amusing, charming, and will bring a smile to your face. This amusing animated short can be found on disc 2 of Warner Brother's 2-DVD Spotlight Collection set.

My Grade: B+

This cartoon quite rightly won an Oscar and is probably one of the top two or three best that they did. With narration by Hans Conreid (one of the best voices for narration work and particularly for animation work), this also features Strauss's music to advantage and is just a delight to watch. Somewat static animation because of a sorybook framing device, but it's still a marvelous idea in conception and execution. Most highly recommended.

Narrated in storybook fashion by Hans Conried, this cartoon tells of a mouse (Jerry, as Johann Mouse) who, living in the same house as Viennese composer Johann Strauss, loves nothing more than to waltz. The problem is that, whenever he emerges to dance, the cat (Tom) tries to catch him (although never succeeding). When Strauss leaves home for a few days, the cat teaches itself how to play the piano (in six easy lessons) to lure the mouse from his mouse-hole. When the curious house servants see the cat and mouse playing and dancing together, news spreads to the palace and the pair are commanded to perform.

An absolutely charming tale, with a wonderful classical soundtrack, Johann Mouse sees Tom once again taking to tinkling the ivories with hilarious results. The scene at the palace is absolutely wonderful, the cat and mouse performing together to a delighted audience providing some really good laughs, making this a well-deserved winner of an Oscar.

This "Tom and Jerry" short from 1953 "Johann Mouse" was a classic and Oscar award winning cartoon. The tale has the little mouse Jerry who's away living the good life in a castle like palace of one composer named Strauss and the waltz is played! However Tom cat has made his way to the house for more of the same old same thing and ways of doing and that is the chase is on! However the cartoon twist when Tom takes up playing the piano and Jerry takes up dancing then they later do this in front of a crowd which enjoys the duo. However the deal is it doesn't last as these two were meant to be rivals as the chase continues the charm and fun is felt which is supported well by the music for this short.

I am a rabid fan of animated shorts and I have long marveled at the choices the Academy made in the 1940s and 50s for the Best Animated Short Oscars. Amazingly enough, not very many were earned by Looney Tunes shorts (though they were clearly the best of the era) and often lesser films were given the award. Oddly, while the films tended to be rather repetitive, Tom and Jerry alone won about as many Oscars as all the Looney Tunes shorts combined. Now I do agree that many of the 1940s Tom and Jerry shorts had great animation, but why so many Oscars? Well, one reason is that their shorts that featured classical music cleaned up--with CAT CONCERTO and JOHANN MOUSE taking the prize. It seems that combining classical music with cartoons was a sure recipe for success in this time period. And, wonderful classics such as OPERATION RABBIT (one of the best Looney Tunes shorts ever) and HASTY HARE (with Marvin the Martian) didn't even get nominated for the 1953 Oscar!

So let's get to JOHANN MOUSE. There are a few things going for it. It is a nice departure from the usual locale and plot of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It also is rather cute. But on the negative side, this animation is of an inferior quality compared to the product of the 1940s--with far simpler backgrounds and character animation. Also, the story lacks the hard edge that many expect from Tom and Jerry. I'd say that even compared to other Tom and Jerry cartoons, it's not among the better films. Just my two cents worth.