O Gato Medroso

Here is a Tom & Jerry cartoon that is perfect for Halloween. I know it's not very creepy, but it has the 'trick' as in "trick or treat," as Jerry did to Tom with the window blind and the vacuum cleaner with a collared shirt hanging on it to make it look like a ghost. But I still like to put it on my list of Halloween cartoons.

In this short, Tom is listening to the "Witching Hour," a ghost-story program on the radio, and is being frightened by the horror story being told. Tom begins to experience the dramatics about halfway through the story (hair standing on end, heart leaping into throat, icy chills on spine). And Jerry, having observed everything and laughing to himself, thought he had increased Tom's fears by scaring him.

I love the ending. It was a little funny. And you know, this short is the first of four cartoons in which Tom attacks Mammy Two Shoes; the others are A Mouse in the House, Part-Time Pal, and Nit-Witty Kitty. And also, this short is the first of twenty-five cartoons where Tom speaks too. So anyway, I love this short.

Fraidy Cat (1942)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining short has Tom listening to a scary radio program so Jerry decides to have some fun with this by making it appear that the house is haunted. This is the fourth film in the series and certainly the best up to this point as there are a great number of laughs to be had. The highlight is certainly the look on Tom's face when he believes he's seeing a ghost for the first time. Another great moment happens when Tom's "nine lives" are scared out of him. This was a very creative sequence and one with plenty of great laughs. The animation was also extremely good throughout and there's never a down moment as the action and laughs keep coming one after another.

Tom is listening to a spook story on the radio (a form of entertainment I wish was still around) and is so wound up by the possibility of ghosts, that he jumps in fright at every sound. Taking advantage of this for his own personal fun, Jerry tries to freak Tom out by playing pranks on him, the main one being sticking a white sheet on a vacuum cleaner and pretending it's a ghosts. Obviously Tom becomes aware of Jerry's cruel tricks in the end.

It's very mildly funny though nothing really spectacular happens. I can really only recommend this to very young children as there is no real intelligence or wit to entertain an adult. Tom still looks a little rough, as he did in the early stages of his characters animation. Mammy-two-shoes shows up, but on the version I saw she was dubbed to make her sound more PC, as was common with Tom and Jerry cartoon manipulation in the early 90s.

Sure, this short has its moments and the animation is OK. The score is also fine with music arranged on what happens on the screen. It's not the worst Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Because Tom and Jerry don't speak these cartoons have to rely on visual gags and there's the problem with this cartoon - the writing. The gags are mostly not very funny and they're stretched too long. For example the first two minutes are spent showing Tom listening to a ghost story and being spooked by it - sounds boring and that's what it is.

About the previous reviewers... What were they on - and where can I get it? The plot outline in the main page is correct. There's a short gag about Tom's nine lives being 'sucked out' of him; there's also a short chase after Tom has figured out that Jerry is just trying to scare him. The only thing I agree with them is that the cartoon is "good and fun for the kids"! :)

''Fraidy Cat'' is a Tom and Jerry short, I think it's very slow and a good cartoon for Halloween, Tom is listening to the radio, it's a horror story, Tom started look terrified, I guess Tom is very afraid and coward, I guess.

Jerry, of course, start to frightening him, That's much more funny, I guess, but Jerry is ended up scared by himself at the end. I wonder why.