Mouse Cleaning

Tom & Jerry are one of my favorite characters from Hanna/Barbera along with Penelope Pitstop and Scooby Doo.

This short is a fairly good, and it has a couple of good gags like Jerry scattering ash from the ash tray in a way like a marching band drum, and in the end where Tom in blackface does a Stepin Fetchit routine. Of course, cartoons from the 1930s to the 1950s contain gags that included stuff that appear to have racial or ethnic prejudice, which were a common place in American society at that time, so keep that in mind.

So like I had said, this is a fairly good short. But one last thing is that I didn't get the old horse gag, I mean what's it going' do? stink up the whole house? or crap everywhere?

*NOTE* 6/10 Stars for a mediocre gags and one that didn't make sense (to me)

Tom Cat is warned by his master: "If I find one dirty spot here in this house, we're going to be minus one cat around here." Jerry Mouse makes a mess to clean up and finally, the mouse fills up the house with coal.

Tom is given an ultimatum once again, he's out for good if the house is not clean when his master comes back from shopping.

OK, it's pretty much like the first Tom & Jerry short "Puss Gets the Boot", except for not breaking things it's about not dirtying things: Tom cleans and scrubs while Jerry does the exact opposite. It's not too hard to guess how it'll end...

The artwork is not bad if not anything to write home about and there are a couple funny sight gags, like Tom kissing his masters finger. Whenever these cartoons brought a new character to the screen (s)he had a purpose, be it a rival cat or a love-stricken buzzard. This one has a horse that could have been something but stays in the picture for 10 seconds doing nothing - either the writers lacked imagination or the animator thougth that a hay-eating-horse is the funniest thing on earth.

On a positive side Tom has probably never had a more feline moment when he goes to sleep and stretches his feet and toes. If you own a cat you'll know what I mean when you see the moment.

Although Jerry has tormented Tom in every cartoon, in this cartoon his anarchistic malice, especially pouring the ink into the cleaning water reminded me a lot of Harpo's pranks in those Marx films, where Harpo could shred unsuspecting peoples clothes and paperwork with a big smile.

So there. It's worth a look and not that bad as I may make it sound, just average.

I like Tom and Jerry a lot, and while I did find Mouse Cleaning entertaining, I did find it nothing special as well. The artwork is beautiful with some truly lovely background art and colouring, and the music is typically energetic. Most of the gags do work, particularly with Tom desperately tries cleaning up the house with Jerry making it increasingly difficult and Tom and Jerry are both fun to watch. What didn't quite work for me was the standard story, one or two moments where the pacing wasn't as secure as it could have been, the beginning particularly could have had less time to get started, and two questionable gags, one being the horse gag, which was rather lame, and the one with Tom covering himself in coal dust and the way he acts after, which is some proof of why I can be sometimes marvel at what cartoons can get away with. All in all, nothing special but it was entertaining. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Just rewatched this classic Tom and Jerry cartoon on YouTube. It's the one where Mammy Two-Shoes (voice of Lillian Randolph who I knew from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life as well as from the radio show "The Great Gildersleeve") threatens Tom eviction if she sees one spot in the house when she comes back. Naturally, Jerry will do everything to Tom so he gets his just desserts! When I first saw this in the late '70s on afternoon television, they actually showed the cat in blackface at the end and speaking in the now unacceptable dialect of the stereotypical Negro. Despite that, this is one of the most hilarious cartoons ever! I mean, it's so hilarious seeing Tom frantically cleaning up while Jerry the mouse sabotages him at every turn! William Hanna and Joseph Barbera really topped themselves with this one and perhaps one-upped M-G-M colleague Tex Avery as well. So on that note, I highly recommend Mouse Cleaning.