Mucho Mouse

Madrid, Spain, and a local cat is outclassed by the brave, quick-witted, flamenco dancing mouse called El Magnifico (or Jerry, as we know him). Exasperated, the lady of the house sends for Tom, the World Champion mouser from the U.S. of A.

I've seen well over a hundred Tom and Jerry cartoons thus far and this is one of the weakest, the set-up nothing special and the antics old-hat. It might be set in Madrid, but there isn't much to distinguish Mucho Mouse from your average, predictable house-bound T&J caper, save for a little Spanish guitar, one small scene where Jerry plays toreador to the bullish Tom, and the fact that both the cat and mouse speak.

One of the few disappointing Tom and Jerry cartoons of the Hanna Barbera era.

This cartoon is notable for the fact that Tom and Jerry both speak - and in Spanish!

Jerry is El Magnifico, the uncatchable mouse. The local cat has given up and plays flamenco guitar while Jerry raids the larder. Call for the world champion mouse catcher - you guessed it - Tom So far an interesting idea, but Jerry emerges from every attempt unscathed. Part of the charm of Tom and Jerry is that you're never quite certain who will get the best of things, but this one is entirely too predictable.

However even the worst of the Hanna Barbera cartoons are at least watchable and better than most of the later efforts.

We are in Madrid, Spain, where an orange housecoat is unable to get rid of the mouse in the house. The cat is on the sofa one afternoon, playing flamenco music on his guitar. The mouse hears it, and comes out of his hole (where it says, "El Magnifico" over the outside of it) and begins dancing. The housewife comes out and is not happy. She chastises the orange cat (it's not Tom) for not getting rid of the mouse and for being lazy. The cat replies, "No one, absolutely no one can catch 'El Magnifico.'"

"Is that so,? says the woman. "Read this." She hands his a telegram that says, "Arriving today from the U.S.A. Guaranteed to catch El Magnifico. Signed, Tom, Olympic and World Champion Mouse Catcher."

Tom then arrives at the house, complete with trophy (with a flashing neon message on it!), string of medals and a translation book. The woman is thrilled and leaves the house, confident Tom will solve the problem.

Well, Tom is good but the mouse is, indeed, too tough as we see in this entertaining animated short. Hilarious, no, but it's funny and it's a "cute" cartoon. I liked the music, too.

(Note: There is an inference here that this 'toon is done is Spanish. That's not true; most of it is in English, at least on the DVD, "Whiskers Away," that I have where this is included.)

As people may already know, I am a fan of Tom and Jerry. I personally wouldn't consider Mucho Mouse one of the best, the story is a little too predictable and the cartoon is a little too short so those brings it down a notch. However, there are some great sight gags and writing and Jerry is a joy to behold, so the cartoon is never less than entertaining.

Mucho Mouse also goes at a cracking pace, and the characters are delightful. Tom is good, but it is actually Jerry who steals the show. The animation is beautifully done, especially in the colours and backgrounds. The music is also outstanding, I loved the flamenco-rhythms, which added to the cartoon's setting and authenticity.

All in all, a very entertaining cartoon without being one of the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

In my Review of Tom and Jerry I have realized that even before the Gene Deitch Era there have been disappointments, Much Mouse would easily expect that it would be about Tom being a bullfighter, but everything is spoiled when we realize that it is the same plot of always, but in another country.

Sure, there are slightly funny moments and good animation, but the plot is what I liked least.

This Cartoon has a Strong attention to Detail, In addition to being in Cinemascope, this cartoon used many more animators than usual, the title card is Great and well drawn, I would have loved if the Cartoon had been a bit like Neapolitan Mouse, action while showing us a different environment.

I loved the Backgrounds, Rich in Details and the Characters look good in the area, for some reason we see Joan as a Spanish, but that's the least of it, the Orange Cat is out there giving grace due to his laziness, the Movements They are Fluid and obviously the drop in quality of the series is noticeable, but here they tried to make an effort to improve the animation, and they achieved it moderately.

The Music is Good, a little Stereotyped but just as great as always, and of course, always energetic and exciting although as I said, a little stereotyped.

The voice acting is good, Tom trying to imitate the Spanish accent is hilarious, and coming from a Spanish-speaking country, it makes me curious to hear the characters speaking in Spanish.

I would have liked this cartoon to have been about Tom being a bullfighter or him and Jerry fighting in the streets of Madrid, luckily the animation and music is still great and it's easy to ignore the shortcomings of this cartoon, Tom and Jerry are still Nice characters and they show us that even being in a single room they are still hilarious 17 years after their start.

In itself, Mucho Mouse had a promising Idea but it was wasted, the Animation fixes some problems, it is detailed and the scenes in Cinemascope look great as well as the Movements and the character designs, I loved the rhythm of this Cartoon, It's not slow but not fast enough to leave you wanting more, it's a decent Cartoon and far superior to what came after.

For everything I said above, Mucho Mouse gets a 7.