Neapolitan Mouse

It's always nice to see Tom and Jerry in a setting other than a suburban house, and this one sees the pair on vacation in beautiful Napoli, where they meet Topo, a friendly Italian mouse who hates bullies. After helping Tom and Jerry settle their differences, Topo assists the pair (whom, in a neat meta moment, he recognises from their cartoon adventures!) in a battle against three Neapolitan dogs.

It's the usual knockabout nonsense with silly sight gags, but the beautifully rendered Neapolian backdrop adds something special to this one, making it a touch more special than many a T&J caper. The finale, which sees three large Italian cheeses sent wheeling after the three dogs is a delight, with the cheeses seemingly having a mind of their own: after sending the dogs into the sea, the cheeses stop, turn around and roll away.

This is not one of the better Tom and Jerry cartoons for several reasons. First, it was created after the quality of the cartoons (particularly the backgrounds) was dropped in the 1950s. The high-quality work of the 40s and early 50s is just not evident here and the cartoon just looks cheaper. Second, while the film starts off promising (with the two bashing each other's brains in), they soon meet up with a nice mouse that teaches them to be friends. Third, then most of the rest of the cartoon is sort of like a travelogue! The bottom line is, most of us watch the team because we want them to beat each other up and act...like animals! This kinder, gentler approach just lost me.

Granted, this is not an exceptional Tom and Jerry. I just happen to like it a great deal. It's a cute, exceptionally violent (and therefore standard) Tom and Jerry. The little mouse who shows Tom and Jerry around Naples is an interesting (and formidable) character and it is a bit different from the average Tom and Jerry. Besides, how many times to you get to see Tom scolded by a mouse in Italian?! Recommended

I love Neopolitan Mouse and consider it one of my all time favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons. It is exceptionally animated, with great music and it is both cute and funny. The animation is superb, Italy looks so rich and the colours are amazing whether on DVD or television. Neopolitan Mouse is one of the most visually stunning Tom and Jerry cartoons for me. The music is also outstanding, it has real Italian flavour, well it would do as Neopolitan Mouse makes good use of Respighi's Tarantella, and is playful and fun. The gags are great as well, it is not everyday where you see Tom scolded in Italian by a grey mouse and a very cute one at that, and the violence is still there. Tom and Jerry are both stellar and the Wolf is a fairly interesting side character. Overall, beautiful to watch and just an exceptional cartoon in general. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is one most interesting animated shorts (cartoons) I have ever seen. That's because it has a mixture of great visuals, a scenic "tour" of a city in Italy, the normal humor and a lot of charm.

The artwork in here is spectacular, one of the prettiest I've seen for a classic cartoon. We see both long-distance and closeups of Napoli, Italy, as Tom and Jerry hop off their cruise ship and visit the beautiful place.

Of course, it doesn't take long for the two adversaries to start going at it. While Tom is bashing Jerry with a frying pan, a local mouse comes to Jerry's rescue. Moments later, a local wolf (literally and figuratively) is beating up on Tom and the same mouse rescues him, too! "I don't like it when little guys are being picked on my bigger people," says the Neapolitan mouse.

The local mouse then recognizes who he has just saved: two celebrities, Tom and Jerry, from the American cartoons! He offers them a tour of his city, so off they go. We see the market places, fountains, the Teatro San Caro, Vesuvio, Nisida and more - all beautifully drawn.

The Italian mouse even serenades our visitors but then he's attacked by that wolf and two of his big buddies. Now it's time for Tom and Jerry to help him!

This was different from the normal scenario and a really nice short, leaving the viewer with a good feeling. Highly recommended!