Fraidy Cat

After a more pleasant last outing, 'Fraidy Cat (1942)' reestablishes the iconic duo's entirely antagonistic relationship by having Jerry fall directly into his role as initial aggressor (as he would so often be in later films). Here, he decides to terrify Tom when he sees the cat shaking in his fur while listening to a spooky radio broadcast. Using an old nightgown and a vacuum cleaner, the mischievous mouse sets about pranking his unsuspecting prey. Of course, Tom eventually gets wind of the wind-up and fixes to do more than just scare his opponent to death. The flick has some funny sight gags and its animation is as scrumptious as you'd hope from these earlier shorts in which Tom is more cat-like and raggedy. It's a well-animated outing that's lively and has a lot of spirit to it. However, it just feels fairly standard overall. The premise isn't particularly clever and the piece lacks a satisfying ending to tie things together. It also features some off-screen animal abuse (which sounds to be more than the typical feline-on-rodent slapstick we all know and love) which leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Having said all that, it's still an entertaining effort overall. It isn't one of the pair's best outings, but it's definitely not one of their worst.

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.

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.

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.

Sure, this short has its moments and the animation is OK. The score is also fine with music arranged on what happens on the screen. It's not the worst Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Because Tom and Jerry don't speak these cartoons have to rely on visual gags and there's the problem with this cartoon - the writing. The gags are mostly not very funny and they're stretched too long. For example the first two minutes are spent showing Tom listening to a ghost story and being spooked by it - sounds boring and that's what it is.

About the previous reviewers... What were they on - and where can I get it? The plot outline in the main page is correct. There's a short gag about Tom's nine lives being 'sucked out' of him; there's also a short chase after Tom has figured out that Jerry is just trying to scare him. The only thing I agree with them is that the cartoon is "good and fun for the kids"! :)