Cat Fishin'

'Cat Fishin' (1947)' includes all the ingredients for a great 'Tom and Jerry' toon. There's the two leads, of course, but there's also Spike the bulldog, a guest-star fish and a somewhat silly concept. That concept involves Tom sneaking onto a guarded lake to fish using Jerry as bait; naturally, hijinks ensue. The piece is wonderfully animated, with lively splashes of water and frequent flapping fish complimenting the bouncy character work. The gags are fast and fun, straddling the line between the more conceptual style of the 50s and the pure visual delight of the 40s. It's an entertaining, perfectly escalating time. They just don't make them like they used to. 8/10

Tom sneaks into a secluded area for some fish poaching. The lake is guarded by Spike, but Tom has his same old tricks for taking care of him. In his bait box he has a captured Jerry, who he promptly disguises as a worm and casts into the lake.

Some horrible sort of Gator/Fish creature pops up and decides he'd really like to get a bite of Jerry, but he'll be damned if he's gonna let Tom catch him.

There are a couple of funny moments in this cartoon but it's mostly just generic stuff and recycled gags. The ending isn't really up to much either, it's all just plain uninspired.

Even if the story is rather predictable, Cat Fishin' is still very entertaining. It moves quickly, has exquisitely rendered animation and fun music. And Tom, Jerry and Spike seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, though you feel really sorry for Spike, particularly when the fish abruptly wakes him up. But it is the barracuda-like fish who steals the show from under the three lovable characters, as he foils Tom's fishy exploits in a vicious kind of way. The ending is appropriate and entertaining as is usually the case with Tom and Jerry. Overall, occasionally predictable, but a lot of fun, that is elevated by the antics of the fish. 8/10 Bethany Cox

To me, the absolute best Tom and Jerry cartoons were made in the 1940s. Those in the early 50s were also excellent, but starting about 1955 or so, the quality steadily went downhill. That is until the began making excremental cartoons in Czechoslovakia called Tom and Jerry but where made by people who'd never seen the originals and who also could not draw--with these, the decline was HUGE.

Okay, enough of my rant,...on to this review. Of the 1940s Tom and Jerry cartoons, this is one of the best because it has spectacularly wonderful animation (in particular the backgrounds and high quality animations of the characters)--better than Warner Brothers and Disney shorts from the same period. Plus, like most of the best of their cartoons, Spike the dog is present to provide an additional foil. Plus, I love the horrible way that Tom treats Jerry when he tries to use him for bait. It made me laugh quite a few times and never degenerated to schmaltz--it was just violent, funny and excellent throughout--just what you expect from the series.

A wonderful cartoon of exceptional quality and charm.

Spike the dog is guarding a watering hole, but he appears to be sleeping on the job. So Tom the cat uses the chance to sneak in hoping to get a little fishing in, using Jerry the mouse as bait of course. But thanks to an over eager fish who wants the mouse badly things don't go as planned. As the fish inadvertently wakes Butch up to get the drop on Tom. I mentioned in an earlier review how I didn't really like the Buzzard/Vulture in Flirty Birdy, well the same can be said about the fish in this one. It's an OK short, but not one of the better ones. This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

My Grade: B-