Mouse in Manhattan

Tom & Jerry were a defining part of my childhood. I could spend hours watching T&J shorts on Cartoon Network when I was younger and to be honest, this is my favourite; was then and still is now. As a kid, I would always get excited when this short came on TV.

Mouse in Manhattan is not a traditional Tom & Jerry short at all; there are no chases or the carnage you would usually associate with Tom & Jerry. It begins with Jerry leaving his life in the country in favor of the bright lights and Broadway of New York City. Tom only appears briefly at the beginning and at the end but Jerry leaves him a note showing that the two could be friends from time to time. The rest of the cartoon involves Jerry's escapades in the Big Apple and plays out like a silent film with Jerry succumbing to the odd pratfall in the vein of Keaton or Chaplin; it's all such fun to watch. Take the moment when Jerry is dancing and ice skating with the dolls on the table; could a piece of animation be more beautiful? During the short things go from really romantic to really dark quick but it all ends well. They still throw a black face joke in there with Jerry's head being put into a container of shoe polish. I can tell you right not that these moments were left intact when showing these cartoons on the UK Cartoon Network and Boomerang when I was a child.

The locations Jerry visits in New York such as Grand Central Station appear very empty but who cares, just look at the beauty of it! Those painted backdrops have such scope to them. What really makes Mouse in Manhattan perfection, however, is the music. You might recognize it from the opening credits of My Man Godfrey but this rendition of" Manhattan Serenade" I feel is superior and I doubt could ever be topped. Tom and Jerry shorts always evoke nostalgia in me but Mouse in Manhattan just evokes that feeling to a far greater degree.

And this is coming from a big fan of theirs, honestly I loved Mouse in Manhattan. It is not their funniest or zaniest, but visually it is by far one of their best. Plus I love it, because it was one of my all-time favourite cartoons when I was a child. At 18, I still adore Mouse in Manhattan for several reasons. It has a very nice and simple story, and while it isn't laden with humour like Yankee Doodle Mouse for example there is some nice strong humour abundant. And the sentiment was there too, not cloying in any way but actually quite moving in spots. The soundtrack is gloriously upbeat and rousing, while the animation, with the colours, landscapes and backgrounds is drop dead gorgeous. Also Tom and Jerry are both on top form here. Overall, in my opinion this is one of Tom and Jerry's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Mouse in Manhattan (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is one of the lesser Tom and Jerry shorts as it pretty much has the mouse going solo. The short starts off with Jerry leaving a note saying that the country life has him bored so he's off to the big city. Once in the big city he enjoys what he sees but soon realizes that it can be scary. As I said, this short pretty much has a brief appearance by Tom at the start and end so it's basically a showcase for a solo Jerry. The end results aren't bad but there's no question that there aren't too many laughs and at times you can't help but wish the cat was around to jack up the action. I will say that the animation is extremely good and I really liked all the details during certain scenes including the skyline when Jerry is dancing on the table.

Tom and Jerry is undoubtedly one of the Best Series in all of History, although it is not spared from having bad Shorts, but that is not the case here!.

Mouse In Manhattan is possibly one of the best Tom and Jerry Shorts and enters my Top 20 best shorts, visually it is splendid and impressive as any Tom and Jerry cartoon from those years.

The plot is Original but simple, Jerry gets fed up with country life and goes to Manhattan at the bottom of a Subway and when he arrives in Manhattan the Fun is not lacking!.

Tom has almost no appearance in the short, he only appears in the beginning and in the end, but making a short only starring Jerry is interesting and at the same time too much fun!.

The animation is wonderful, one of the best animated shorts of the entire series, the backgrounds are exquisite in detail and too wide, which makes your eyes marvel, the movements are Incredibly Fluid, the character designs are Impressive and adding the animation and how colorful the short is make the short a Visual Wonder.

Scott Bradley makes masterful music that fits very well to the Sensation of a city of the 40s and at the same time it is impressive to Listen, of course it is not his best work in the Series those would be The Cat Concerto, Blue Cat Blues, Cat Fishing etc. But his work in the short is impressive.

For everything that is obviously a perfection, one of the best in the entire series and surpasses any Short from the era of Chuck Jones, Gene Deitch and the other television series, and this is saying a lot! Everything is basically perfect and to any Fan of animation and especially of Tom and Jerry I recommend them 100%.

As I had already said in the previous point, this is basically Perfect, its Great animation, Backgrounds and Colors are pleasant and very beautiful, the Great music of Scott Bradley does its thing, resulting in this Audiovisual marvel.

For everything I said before, this short gets a well-deserved 10!.

This cartoon has T&J living a quiet life out in a cosy country cottage. Tom is bored with country life and decides to leave for the Big Apple one night. Writing a goodbye note to Tom, he catches the next train to his new, exciting life.

When he gets there he discovers that Manhattan is not so inviting to small rodents. Everywhere he goes, from Grand Central to posh dinner parties, he is tormented with the rude idiosyncrasies of big city life. Eventually landing in a dirty alley, he is run out of town by an army of hungry stray cats.

Back the cottage, the still sleeping Tom (who does nothing else in this cartoon) has not yet read the note, which Jerry promptly tears up before going back into his mouse-hole. Better the Devil you know huh?