Fraidy Cat

Fraidy Cat is definitely different compared to most other Tom and Jerry shorts. Being a little more spooky and horror oriented compared to other shorts. But that makes this one unique, a curiosity, and fun. This short is great. The spookier nature makes it very enjoyable, with the radio show and Tom's constant reactions being a highlight for me. The voice acting for the radio show was great, and it was an entertaining start. The rest of the short is great. Jerry's attempts to scare Tom with the vacuum ghost were great, and the scene of all of Tom's lives coming out and biting him was hilarious. Even the end, with Jerry losing along with Tom, was entertaining and different from other shorts. The only downside is how slow some of it can be, but the spooks and differences compared to most shorts make it an entertaining watch.

Tom is listening to a spook story on the radio (a form of entertainment I wish was still around) and is so wound up by the possibility of ghosts, that he jumps in fright at every sound. Taking advantage of this for his own personal fun, Jerry tries to freak Tom out by playing pranks on him, the main one being sticking a white sheet on a vacuum cleaner and pretending it's a ghosts. Obviously Tom becomes aware of Jerry's cruel tricks in the end.

It's very mildly funny though nothing really spectacular happens. I can really only recommend this to very young children as there is no real intelligence or wit to entertain an adult. Tom still looks a little rough, as he did in the early stages of his characters animation. Mammy-two-shoes shows up, but on the version I saw she was dubbed to make her sound more PC, as was common with Tom and Jerry cartoon manipulation in the early 90s.

Here is a Tom & Jerry cartoon that is perfect for Halloween. I know it's not very creepy, but it has the 'trick' as in "trick or treat," as Jerry did to Tom with the window blind and the vacuum cleaner with a collared shirt hanging on it to make it look like a ghost. But I still like to put it on my list of Halloween cartoons.

In this short, Tom is listening to the "Witching Hour," a ghost-story program on the radio, and is being frightened by the horror story being told. Tom begins to experience the dramatics about halfway through the story (hair standing on end, heart leaping into throat, icy chills on spine). And Jerry, having observed everything and laughing to himself, thought he had increased Tom's fears by scaring him.

I love the ending. It was a little funny. And you know, this short is the first of four cartoons in which Tom attacks Mammy Two Shoes; the others are A Mouse in the House, Part-Time Pal, and Nit-Witty Kitty. And also, this short is the first of twenty-five cartoons where Tom speaks too. So anyway, I love this short.

Fraidy Cat (1942)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining short has Tom listening to a scary radio program so Jerry decides to have some fun with this by making it appear that the house is haunted. This is the fourth film in the series and certainly the best up to this point as there are a great number of laughs to be had. The highlight is certainly the look on Tom's face when he believes he's seeing a ghost for the first time. Another great moment happens when Tom's "nine lives" are scared out of him. This was a very creative sequence and one with plenty of great laughs. The animation was also extremely good throughout and there's never a down moment as the action and laughs keep coming one after another.

This "Tom and Jerry" short from 1942 "Fraidy Cat" is one that builds up to some suspense chase and cat and mouse drama slowly! Tom is listening to a radio broadcast of the "Witching Hour" and the story has scared him, never fear his little mouse rival Jerry takes advantage of this and start to play ghost and phantom thru out the house! As the curtains blowing put fear in Tom it's like he feels chills and thrills all thru the night air! This episode is different and a little slower and may not be one of the best still it's memorable for it's ghost like and scary theme.