Jerry nei guai

Tom once again attempts to trap Jerry, this time using a variety of ingenious methods which are described in his recent book purchase, entitled 'How To Catch A Mouse'.

An episodic T&J caper (as opposed to the usual, single, prolonged chase scene), Mouse Trouble is basically a series of quick fire gags, which sees Tom's different traps backfiring in amusing ways. I use the word amusing, because, unfortunately, they are very rarely hilarious, being way too predictable in their outcome.

This style of cartoon would be done much better (and again and again) years later by the brilliant Wile E.Coyote and Roadrunner.

This cartoon won an Oscar in 1944 and it's easy to see why. Tom tries to use a book's advice on how to catch a mouse. Which works out very well for Jerry, but not for Tom! I suspect that the book was written by a mouse-maybe even Jerry himself. Tom certainly comes out the worse for wear here. I almost feel sorry for Tom. Almost. A very funny (and violent, even for a Tom and Jerry!) cartoon that runs frequently on the Cartoon Network. Recommended.

Mouse Trouble (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

If you go through the Tom and Jerry shorts in the order that they were released you'll notice that 1944 had some of the greatest films. That trend continues here as Tom orders a book on how to catch a mouse, which he reads and tries to do but Jerry isn't going to go without a fight. This short is basically broken up into several chapters as Tom reads from the book, tries what it says and then moves onto the next chapter. For the most part this is just one violent attack on the poor cat after another and of course it's fast and funny. The highlight is certainly the sequence where Tom tries to use curiosity to catch the mouse. There's no doubt that the funniest thing is just that high-pitched scream from Tom.

One of Tom and Jerry's best shorts involves Tom ordering a book on how to catch mice. As Tom finds out, the advice is hardly fool proof and leads to some of the most memorable gags in the history of the cat and mouse duo. the toupee, the robotic female mouse, the pretending to read something uproarious gag, "Don't you believe it". It's all here. This short is excellence personified and a MUST HAVE for everyone with even a passing interest of Tom and Jerry shorts. This hilarious Oscar winning cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

My Grade: A+

I am a fan of Tom and Jerry, and have been for as long as I can remember. Mouse Trouble is not the best of their cartoons, but I like it. Where Mouse Trouble is not so impressive is in its predictable story and its somewhat obvious and generic title. However, the animation is very good for its time, with lovely backgrounds and the characters are drawn well. The music is wonderful too, as it nearly always it, while the sight gags are clever if quite violent too, particularly the one with the robotic female mouse and "Mice are suckers for dames". The pacing is good as well, while both Tom and Jerry are very entertaining. And I do agree, it does have a Roadrunner vs. Wile E.Coyote feel to it. Overall, I liked it, but I don't consider it a favourite like I do with The Cat Concerto, Mice Follies or The Two Mouseketeers. 8/10 Bethany Cox