Professor Tom

Tom, wearing a mortarboard, is teaching a kitten about the basic duties of the average house-cat, mainly mice and the hunting of them. But the kitty would rather sleep and is easily distracted. When Jerry makes an appearance Tom orders the kitty to kill, but he's completely hopeless and Jerry soon figures out a way to turn them against each other before the kitty ends up siding with him.

Not really much happens in this cartoon and nothing is really THAT imaginative. Tom doesn't even seem to get his usual terrifying injuries and only gets a minor beating in comparison. And why does it end with a cue from The Wizard of Oz?

This cartoon had plenty of "cute" moments but not that many genuinely-funny gags. Females would probably like this Tom and Jerry effort more than males.

On the very first scene, I thought to myself, "I've seen this before." However, I hadn't but I swear they had the same opening and premise with Jerry in the role of a teacher and little gray Nibbles being the student. Here, there is a little gray cat as the student. Anyway, we get the same pose at the blackboard with the teacher wearing the mortarboard hat. (Who wears those outside of Graduation Day?)

Tom is teaching the basics, and I mean basics "Mice live in holes.....cats chase mice," etc. The little one is bored, until Jerry interrupts and starts teaching his ideas. The young cat seems more responsive to him than Tom, which drives the latter crazy. The two little ones act as friends, which is not the way it's supposed to be!

As I said, "cute," but if you are looking for the normal Tom and Jerry laughs, you won't find it in this one.

Tom is teaching a kitten (yet another new character) the rules of being a house cat; as he tries his best to get his student's attention, Jerry the mouse does his utmost to disturb the lesson, even going so far as to teach the young cat that 'mice and cats should be friends'.

Tom, naturally upset that a mouse is undermining his authority, now tries to teach Jerry the error of his ways with the usual violent results.

It pains me to say this, but this cartoon is pretty much a laugh free zone, going for cuteness (with the mouse and kitten becoming friends) rather than delivering the hilarity fans have come to expect from the series.

And is it my imagination, or is this the second consecutive adventure for the guys that features inexplicable musical cues from The Wizard of Oz? Weird!

This cartoon can be found as a special feature on the DVD for the MGM feature "A Date With Judy". That's because many of the classic MGM and Warner Brothers films come packaged with several shorts--making it like going to the movies in the good 'ol days. In this case, they've included a Tom and Jerry cartoon--and a darn good one.

Tom is teaching a cute little kitten the art of being a cat. He teaches that cats HATE mice and must eat them. Then, he takes the kitten on a mice-catching trip, but the kitten's skills leave a lot to be desired--especially when the kitten LIKES Jerry!

The best thing about this and all the Tom and Jerry cartoons from this era is the animation. MGM's shorts often looked better than Warner Brothers or Disney's during this time--and this one is no exception--with exquisite backgrounds and nice character animation. The story is pretty good, too, and manages to strike a nice balance between begin cute and yet still being fun to watch.

If I had a minor quibble it is that Professor Tom starts off slow, but it is still very cute and entertaining with an interesting story which reads like a reversal of what happened in The Little School Mouse. The animation is very nice and colourful as pretty much always, the music is rousing, the sight gags are clever and inventive, the characters are funny and cute especially the little cat and it ends surprisingly and in a good way.

Overall, Professor Tom is not the best of the Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it is still very entertaining and works excellently on re watches. 9/10 Bethany Cox