Little School Mouse

Jerry is a qualified instructor in the art of outwitting cats and has a new pupil keen to learn his secrets: Tuffy (AKA Nibbles, that irritating baby mouse in the nappy). Jerry demonstrates each lesson before sending Tuffy out to try his luck, with the youngster usually being far more successful in his missions than his teacher. The last two tasks Tuffy achieves by being kind and polite to Tom. At the end of the cartoon, Tuffy is now the master, and Jerry the student.

For a cartoon co-starring Tuffy/Nibbles, one of the characters I like least in the T&J series, Little School Mouse isn't so bad, with a few laughs at Jerry's expense for a change (funniest moment being the mouse repeatedly swatted by a mechanical cat's paw operated by his student). Tom gets off rather lightly in the pain department for a change, and is even welcomed into Tuffy's class at the end, with Jerry forced to wear the dunce cap.

If Jerry is moonlighting here, he'd best not count on keeping his teaching position unless he already has tenure! Things don't run to form for Jerry as everything he tries to "teach" to "Tuffy" turns out badly for him (some of it rather painfully so) and in the end, the student is far more successful. I love the ending. which is 180 degrees opposite the typical Tom and Jerry! Good sight gags, a fair number centering around The Mouse Formerly Known As Nibbles. Well worth watching. Recommended.

This is a cartoon that I remember specifically from my childhood, and it was also one of my favourites. The idea is great, and is put to really clever use here. The gags are plentiful and all of them are on the money. Other components that make Little School Mouse a winner are the beautiful artwork consisting of detailed backgrounds and great character design and the lovely music. Tom is a lot of fun here, and Jerry plays it straight in the teacher role, while Nibbles almost steals the show because he is so cute here. And I remembered loving the ending, it was different but in a nice way. Overall, fun and a real winner from Tom and Jerry. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Jerry is teaching Tuffy about mouse tricks and how to perform them whilst avoiding trouble with cats, and demonstrates with Tom. Tuffy, on the other hand, seems to have better ideas on how to achieve this goal... This is really amusing, and Tuffy's consumption of cheese raises a smile! This is the first cartoon in which the grey mouse's name, Nibbles, was changed to the now-familiar Tuffy (source: Patrick Brion's: 'Tom & Jerry: The Definitive Guide To Their Animated Adventures').

I don't often mention the "direction" in these Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it's excellent here with some nice "camera" angles of the action. This is a good-looking T&J cartoon with a nice restoration job making it look even better, that restoration part of the "Spotlight" DVD collections.

As for the story, sometimes we get a variation of the house or mouse settings, meaning Jerry's residence. Normally, it's a suburban house that you see, or sometimes he's on a farm or elsewhere. Here, his mouse-home, so to speak, is not his normal, either, but a school room, complete with chairs, maps, chalkboard, etc. How this all happens, we don't ask.

Jerry only has one student, and it looks like Nibbles the Orphan, at least I assume the little gray mouse is him. I see from other reviewers here that they renamed the mouse "Tuffy." Anyway, Jerry is trying to teach him "Tuffy" the basics on how not to get caught by a cat. Jerry isn't the best of instructors, as we discover.

The bulk of the cartoon is what happens outside the "classroom" when the two go out for "lessons." Lesson number one is how to remove a cat's whiskers without waking him up. Hmmm....no wonder I usually feel sorry for poor Tom, who often is lying around minding his own business when Jerry does something like what's shown here!

Anyway, when all is said-and-done, the roles wind up a little surprising as far as the teacher and the pupil go, with a cute and unexpected ending.