Tot Watchers

This makes me sad as I love Tom and Jerry, at their best(which was late 40s to middle 50s) their cartoons were close to or were masterpieces. Tot Watchers is far from Tom and Jerry's worst, it is far better than the abominable Gene Dietch cartoons(then again almost anything is) but at the same time it is not an example of them in their glory days. The music of course is outstanding, and apart from the poorly drawn baby I did like the colourful if not always fluid animation. The end gag is quite amusing, and Tom and Jerry are still likable characters, though Tom is the only character that you feel any shred of sympathy for. Unfortunately, I didn't find Tot Watchers all that funny. Apart from the ending being amusing, I spent most of the cartoon actually worrying about what would happen to the baby which really detracted from my enjoyment. The story started with a concept that would either work or wouldn't, and instead of interesting it got increasingly formulaic and dull. The side characters are poor, the baby is little more than a plot device and a completely bland one at that, and Jeannie the babysitter is annoying. Overall, for Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry this was a disappointing swan-song. But at least it was better than what was going to come. 5/10 Bethany Cox

By this point Hanna and Barbera had gotten pretty lazy about Tom and Jerry. The animation isn't so good; it's worse than when Jones did them in fact, and the cartoon just isn't funny. The baby crawling in and out of danger is a gag that isn't funny to begin with and rapidly becomes downright mind numbing, and the baby sitter beating Tom and Jerry just irritates me. Compared to Deitch it isn't too bad; it doesn't seem like a Tom and Jerry themed nightmare you might have, but it shows how far they'd fallen from their glory days.

A mother leaves her baby in the care of teenage babysitter Jeannie while she goes out for a couple of hours, during which time the girl spends most of her time on the telephone, chatting to her friends. While Jeannie is busy gabbing, the baby crawls out of its pram and into several precarious situations, only to be saved in the nick of time by Tom and Jerry.

Tot Watchers doesn't appear to be very popular with the other reviewers here on IMDb, but while it is certainly no classic, I enjoyed it more than the last few T&J shorts (Royal Cat Nap, The Vanishing Duck and Robin Hoddwinked). I like how the little nipper repeatedly gets into potentially fatal scrapes only to be saved by the cat and mouse at the last moment—it reminds me a lot of those Roger Rabbit shorts where Roger has his work cut out for him looking after Baby Herman.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

N.B. This was the last Tom and Jerry cartoon produced and directed by Hanna Barbera. The next batch of T&J capers would be made on the cheap in Czechoslovakia by director Gene Deitch.

Cat and mouse duo Tom and Jerry get caught up in the problem of the negligent babysitter Jeannie not looking after a baby properly.

This leads to all sorts of mishaps, but that is all I can say without giving too much away. What I WILL say, however, is that this was the last of the 114 Tom & Jerry cartoons that had the involvement of their original creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Ever since the first of this series, 'Puss Gets The Boot', was released in 1940, this duo have won seven Oscars for best cartoon, and got nominations on many other occasions. Not a bad legacy for such a fine series, wouldn't you say?

It's odd to watch hundreds of Tom and Jerry cartoons from the 1940s and early '50s and then see a "culture change" with characters, furniture, cars, the music and the overall artwork that is "so 1950s." Here, "Jeanie," a baby-sitter, has the ponytail, dress and classic mid-'50s look. She lies upside on the wide, low couch talking on the telephone, etc. - you know, all the '50s things. Janet Waldo has a lot of lines in here, as the gabby teen on the telephone, who stops talking every 30 seconds to go hit Tom on the head for bothering the baby. Of course, Tom is just trying to do the right things and keeps getting blamed or falsely accused of bothering the infant. You have to feel sorry for the poor cat.

That's the theme of the cartoon: the baby wandering off all the time, Tom saving it but then getting pelted on top of the head. I can't say, for justice sake, I enjoyed the storyline, nor was in that funny, but the cartoon was well-drawn and a real nostalgia piece for the period.

This cartoon is noteworthy for being the last William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced Tom and Jerry cartoon. It is presented in the widescreen CinemaScope and is part of Disc 2 of the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume Two DVD.