Feedin' the Kiddie

Tuffy, the little orphan mouse, is always hungry as usual, and spots a table full of food! Jerry tries to help feed him, while Tom tries to stop them both in their tracks. This is another earlier Tom & Jerry cartoon that has been remade in CinemaScope; this time the 1949 Oscar-winning 'The Little Orphan' is getting the wider screen treatment with the less impressive backgrounds and colours. There have been some changes to this new version: Nibbles, as he was named in the original, is now named Tuffy; also, whereas the black maid made a very small appearance in 'The Little Orphan', this bit has been omitted for racial reasons. Even without these changes the original is much better...

I haven't seen 'The Little Orphan' of which many here are saying is a carbon copy, so can only judge on what I've seen.

And what I've seen is a fun cartoon short, with some very funny moments.

Another older Tom and Jerry cartoon—The Little Orphan (1948)—gets the widescreen CinemaScope treatment, meaning that we get almost identical action, but with slapdash, garish backgrounds that don't do the character animation any justice at all. It all seems so unnecessary.

N.B. Nibbles the nappy wearing mouse gets a name change to Tuffy, and is no longer an orphan, but Jerry's nephew instead.

The Little Orphan is one of my favourite Tom and Jerrys. Essentially a remake of that but in CinemaScope, Feedin' the Kiddie is entertaining but at the same time it's what we've seen before and done to funnier effect. That said, the gags, story and violence are still classic-style Tom and Jerry and amusing here if not as hilarious as it is in The Little Orphan. The music is outstanding, so much energy and character as well as beautiful orchestration. The characters are spot on, likable, cunning and cute. Sadly, this time around the animation quality I found to be disappointing in comparison, the backgrounds are not as smooth and some of the colours seemed rather too brightly-shaded.

In conclusion, Feedin' the Kiddie is entertaining, but at the same time it didn't wow me and is somewhat unnecessary. 7/10 Bethany Cox