Cat Fishin'

To me, the absolute best Tom and Jerry cartoons were made in the 1940s. Those in the early 50s were also excellent, but starting about 1955 or so, the quality steadily went downhill. That is until the began making excremental cartoons in Czechoslovakia called Tom and Jerry but where made by people who'd never seen the originals and who also could not draw--with these, the decline was HUGE.

Okay, enough of my rant,...on to this review. Of the 1940s Tom and Jerry cartoons, this is one of the best because it has spectacularly wonderful animation (in particular the backgrounds and high quality animations of the characters)--better than Warner Brothers and Disney shorts from the same period. Plus, like most of the best of their cartoons, Spike the dog is present to provide an additional foil. Plus, I love the horrible way that Tom treats Jerry when he tries to use him for bait. It made me laugh quite a few times and never degenerated to schmaltz--it was just violent, funny and excellent throughout--just what you expect from the series.

A wonderful cartoon of exceptional quality and charm.

This is truly a Tom and Jerry Classic. All the usual ingredients are in it: the chase, the plan, the jokes and the danger, mixed with some magic to make an animation short picture believable enough to work with kids, for who these animation short comedies are actually made. But hey, I'm no kid anymore, but I do appreciate it. Maybe that's because I remember how I laughed when I was young with this one. Perhaps the children of today will have fun with the 'Teletubbies' tomorrow. I don't know. If you ask me, 'Teletubbies' are not as good as 'Tom and Jerry' or 'The Muppet Show'. Nowadays, the young people is served with everything on it, no imagination can develop in the mind of the children at all. It's a pity. Kids should have more imagination and fun, like they witness in this 'Cat Fishin''.

Even if the story is rather predictable, Cat Fishin' is still very entertaining. It moves quickly, has exquisitely rendered animation and fun music. And Tom, Jerry and Spike seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, though you feel really sorry for Spike, particularly when the fish abruptly wakes him up. But it is the barracuda-like fish who steals the show from under the three lovable characters, as he foils Tom's fishy exploits in a vicious kind of way. The ending is appropriate and entertaining as is usually the case with Tom and Jerry. Overall, occasionally predictable, but a lot of fun, that is elevated by the antics of the fish. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Spike the dog is guarding a watering hole, but he appears to be sleeping on the job. So Tom the cat uses the chance to sneak in hoping to get a little fishing in, using Jerry the mouse as bait of course. But thanks to an over eager fish who wants the mouse badly things don't go as planned. As the fish inadvertently wakes Butch up to get the drop on Tom. I mentioned in an earlier review how I didn't really like the Buzzard/Vulture in Flirty Birdy, well the same can be said about the fish in this one. It's an OK short, but not one of the better ones. This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

My Grade: B-

Tom goes fishing and plans to use Jerry as live bait to catch the fishes.

First he has to evade Spike the bulldog. That is easily done as he is snoozing allowing Tom to past by.

However Jerry is unwilling to be fish food, it leaves both Jerry and Spike with a sore head.

This is a frenetic cartoon with a better relationship between the cat and mouse pair.

It is Spike who is the antagonist along with some of the fishes.

The animation is good with some funny sequences.

Kids will certainly enjoy this cartoon. Adults might find it a little too straightforward lacking a little bit of zaniness.