The Lonesome Mouse

Jerry gets Tom thrown out of the house by the black maid. With the

cat now out of the picture, Jerry is initially overjoyed, but soon

realises that without him his life is no fun. He therefore calls a

truce with Tom to try and get him back in the house.

One of the first things you notice is that Jerry and Tom talk in this!

Not something that was used very often in the series, I know, but I

bet it shocked a few people who were not used to it (especially

those that had not seen that awful 1991 Tom & Jerry: The Movie).

This is also the landmark cartoon where Tom started to become

less hairy than in the previous cartoons of the series.

Not an enormously great cartoon to start with, but picks up a little

later on. Be warned that anyone that lived in the Second World

War may find a certain political allusion involving the picture of

Tom's face on his basket offensive.

Jerry successfully gets Tom kicked out the house, but soon discovers that life just ain't the same without a cat trying to eat you all of the time. The cheeky rodent approaches Tom with a plan to return things to normal: Jerry will run riot, causing havoc around the now feline-less house, and Tom will rush in to save the day, proving his worth to Mammy Two Shoes.

Despite the rather dull sounding plot, this episode is actually pretty funny, with Jerry pulling some hysterical faces at Mammy in order to scare her (which results in her dropping loads of items in fear, including her false teeth, a set of dice, and a cut-throat razor!), and lots of great visual gags. It might not be the most groundbreaking of the cat and mouse's adventures, but it's one of the funniest.

Plus, this one has got to be worth watching just for the 'Hitler' joke and the fact that Tom and Jerry get to speak!

This is not one of the better Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it is a reasonable one. The plot is very simple yet predictable, and there are times when the art work isn't as good as it could have been.

However, there are some really inspired visual gags, such as Tom and Jerry poking Mammy Two Shoes in the bottom with a knife and fork, the "Hitler" joke, Mammy Two Shoes dropping several items like false teeth in fear and the end when Tom "double-crosses" Jerry. I also liked Jerry singing "Happy Days are here again" and his really cute and funny facial expressions. And very briefly, Tom and Jerry speak, personally I didn't find that a problem as it was brief. Asides from the gags, another outstanding component was the music, it was a lot of fun and very playful.

Overall, not absolutely brilliant, but worth seeing. It's Tom and Jerry, what's not to like? 8/10 Bethany Cox

What I like about Tom and Jerry cartoons is that they are unpredictable, unique, and mostly funny. This one is right in the middle somewhat - unique, but not too funny. Just lots of running and chasing around. Always like hearing Mammy Two-Shoes, though.

Grade B-

This has a lot of noteworthy points. First, it's a cartoon featuring Mammy Two-Shoes. Second, as a short made during World War II, there is a visual political joke in the early going. Third, and most significantly, the two stars speak, something generally avoided, for good reason, the characters are funnier and less complicated silent. There is a nice touch of enlightened self-interest, when Jerry helps Tom get back inside, because he finds life less exciting without the mayhem. The temporary truce/partnership ends when gluttony rears its porcine head. But that's okay-there has to be a rivalry, doesn't there? That's the whole point to this one in the first place! Very good short and worth watching. Recommended.