The Year of the Mouse

Another Chuck Jones T&J cartoon with an irrelevant title, The Year of The Mouse sees Jerry and an unnamed friend tormenting Tom by making him believe that he has uncontrollable suicidal tendencies. Eventually Tom realises the truth and traps the two mice. The End.

Uninspired, with Jerry and pal proving extremely unlikable, The Year of The Mouse is another of Jones's efforts that veers close to Gene Deitch levels of crapdom. If the idea of Jerry shooting Tom point blank in the face with a pistol makes you laugh, then go ahead, but this one left me stony-faced throughout.

I was surprised at how much I liked The Year of the Mouse. Now some Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons I have liked, but some while watchable were a tad disappointing, though pretty much all of them are better than any of the Gene Dietch cartoons. The story is a bit of a non-event and the cartoon is perhaps a little on the violent side, but The Year of the Mouse wasn't bad at all. In fact it was quite good. The animation is surprisingly better than it usually is, and the music is nice and jazzy. The sight gags on the whole are clever very funny and go at a fast pace, just seeing Tom bobbing up and down on the ceiling was amusing in itself and actually that is probably an understatement in itself. Tom and Jerry are good here, and I liked Jerry's friend. Overall, surprisingly good and one of the better Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Previously, I incorrectly stated that `Duel Personality' is the best Tom & Jerry Chuck Jones short. While it is still very good, there are three other Jones shorts that I had forgotten about that are a little bit better: `Year of the Mouse,' `Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life,' and `Love Me, Love My Mouse.' (With honorable mention going to `Cat and Dupli-Cat.') I may write on the others at a later date, but for now, I will focus on `Year of the Mouse.' The first thing to note about it is that it is actually a remake of a Hubie and Bertie Warner Brothers cartoon. Perhaps there were some gags left over that were never used in the original that Jones thought would work great in the context of Tom & Jerry. And I think they do. But to pull them off, Jones needed a second mouse, so instead of using Nibbles/Tuffy, he made one up (I don't know his name, if he even has one). Just like in the Hubie and Bertie short, these mice are playing mind games with the cat. Using a fishing pole, the chimney, and various knickknacks, they try to make Tom think he is going crazy. Some of the results, while a bit darker than what you expect, are quite hilarious. And Jerry's imitations of Tom's reactions are really funny. Now, I don't think the tunicate gag makes sense, but all the others have me laughing.

In comparison to the original, there is one thing the original does better and two that this one does better. The one complaint I have for this is that the set-up here is nonexistent. Jerry and his friend seem to be pranking Tom just for the heck of it. In the original, Hubie and Bertie was clearly trying to get rid of Claude because Claude was an expert mouser. The main thing that `Year of the Mouse' improves is the ending. In the original, Claude is chased out, though I always thought that was wrong, since the mice were invading Claude's home. Here, after a hilarious gag with a bow, the ending is just as it should be. The other thing this does better is that it is funnier all around. It's no `Cheese Chasers,' the only Hubie and Bertie short I love and a short that I believe is one of the top-ten funniest cartoons ever, but it's funnier than all the other Hubie and Bertie cartoons, I think. And that's all it really wants to be. Zantara's score: 9 out of 10.

If I'm not mistaken this is Chuck Jones' second attempt at a Tom and Jerry short and boy is his version VIOLENT! Compared to action/adventure cartoons, especially the ones from my generation this short is sissy stuff. But compared to any other animated short Tom and Jerry or not, this is perhaps one of the most violent ones. Regardless it's kind of funny but Tom shooting himself in the forehead was a little disturbing!

2(**)out of 4(****)stars

Not a bad Tom and Jerry film (entertainment), but not a good one (morally). This film depicts suicidal and murderous themes several times that are clever yet leaves you uneasy when you see them. The kind of humor you have to keep telling yourself that this is funny over and over, but in a twisted way. As an adult I can appreciate the cruel tit for tat exchange , but this is not a kiddie film and shouldn't be shown on Saturday morning as it was done. Overall, it's worth a watch but not with kids who wouldn't understand the fatal ramifications being depicted.