The Yankee Doodle Mouse

There is no doubt in my mind this was one of the better early Tom and Jerry cartoons. Even with its decidedly curious and somewhat ironic title. The Yankee Doodle Mouse is extremely good all the same, with a great story and a very patriotic ending. The animation is fantastic, the visual effects are dazzling especially with the US flag and the music score here is one of my favourite soundtracks on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Even more impressive were the sound effects, they were really authentic, and the sight gags are brilliantly timed and all of them work superbly. Overall, even with the curious title, but it is for me one of the better early Tom and Jerry cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Hanna-Barbera's dynamic cartoon duo, Tom and Jerry, dominated the Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film category during the 1940s, beginning with June 1943's "The Yankee Doodle Mouse." It was the first of seven Oscars the rival cat and dog took home, and was the first of four straight trophy wins for the two. Produced during World War Two, "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" uses the conflict as an allegory to the battle between Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. Set in the basement of Tom's owner, the Oscar-winning cartoon follows the cat in his pursuit of Jerry, only to be defeated by the diminutive mouse at every turn. The WW2-themed cartoon opens with Tom discovering Jerry's abode behind a hole in the wall labeled 'Cat Raid Shelter.' The rodent uses his entire cache of weaponry of common items found in the household, capped off by firecrackers. Included is the mouse's arsenal are his 'hen grenades' (eggs), champagne corks fired off as artillery shells, and a cheese grater converted into a jeep, where Jerry drives it under Tom's belly, spilling blood everywhere.

"The Yankee Doodle Mouse" was the third Tom and Jerry cartoon to be nominated for the Academy Awards. The pairs' 1940 animated film debut "Puss Gets the Boot" and 1941's 'The Night Before Christmas' were both previously Oscar nominees.

This is a Tom & Jerry "war" cartoon with Jerry in the war mode pulverizing hapless Tom. Right from the beginning when he's tossing "hen-grenades" (eggs) to the end, he's using all kinds of objects as warfare. There are bunch of clever references to war slogans but modified, such as "That Friendly Rat May Tell The Cat" as one of the old warnings to use to give folks about being careful who you talk to, etc.

Jerry, complete a bottle-cap for a helmet, also dive-bombs the poor cat, riding paper airplanes with firecrackers, until he's finally shot down but he parachutes with a bra and lands safely. He even uses smoke screens by dragging a bag of flour along the ground. - whatever he can think up to win the "war." It's all clever and very funny.

This is non-stop action with a patriotic ending. I have no argument about this winning an Academy Award for best animated short.

This cartoon was the first of seven Oscar winners in the Animated Short category. While it is the least of the seven, in my view, it speaks more to the quality of the others than to any weakness in this particular cartoon. Sort of "Jerry Goes To War", it is a reflection of the times and is very well executed and funny. Shows frequently on Cartoon Network. Recommended.

This cartoon is perfect excellent slapstick violence. Love that they used house filled objects to kill each other in a war.