The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off

I've really struggled with the titles of the last few Tom and Jerry cartoons, the puns bearing no relevance whatsoever to the content. This one is no different: why is it called 'The Brothers Carry-mouse-off' when it has nothing at all to do with the famous philosophical work of Fyodor Dostoyevsky?*

Almost as annoying as the irrelevant titles is Chuck Jones' totally misplaced humour. From the dumb opening scene in which Jerry is seen to have a secret swimming pool that folds away into the carpet at the press of a button, to the terrible 'expanding mallet' gag, to Tom dressing up in a convenient cat-sized mouse costume, the The Brothers Carry-mouse-off is a laugh-free dud, veering dangerously close to Gene Deitch levels of suckiness.

*Perhaps there was a deeper meaning to this cartoon that I simply missed, but I sincerely doubt it.

Yeah sure the cartoon may be a little boring, but I still like it mainly because of the music and animation which that isn't actually that bad. And plus someone named Jim Paben directed this cartoon (Yes, it isn't Chuck Jones if you didn't know that already) and it was his first shot at during a T&J cartoon and like I said it really isn't that bad if you think about it.

DANGER! DANGER! IF YOU LOVE TOM AND JERRY, AVOID THIS!! This is one of those shorts that makes you wonder if watching three or four hours of cartoons a day might be a waste of your time. Clearly the people involved in the creation of this garbage were wasting their time, since they had no clue what they were doing. It's like a tone-deaf marmoset tried to compose an aria.

I recorded this in the middle of a Tom and Jerry marathon... it's so painfully awful, starring two characters with only a passing resemblance to the real T&J, that I hit fast-forward after about 90 seconds. An abomination that never should've seen the light of day.

One star for spelling "Tom" and "Jerry" correctly, and one for coloring within the lines.

I watched this Chuck Jones-produced (and Jim Pabian-directed) Tom and Jerry cartoon recently on a Scandanavian Airlines flight. I may or not have previously seen this on a "Tom and Jerry Show" on a weekday late afternoon during the late-'70s when I was a pre-teen kid coming home from elementary school. Anyway, as usual, Tom pursues Jerry with mischief on the latter's part and the former often losing, as a result. Pacing is what you'd expect from Jones with pretty funny gags throughout. Perhaps not as hilarious as creators Hanna-Barbera's efforts from the previous decades but these Jones efforts are worth a look, just the same.

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off is far from the best Tom and Jerry cartoon, but it isn't the worst either. Also, while it is flawed, I actually didn't think it was that bad.

The story is predictable, the animation isn't always brilliant, some of the backgrounds are nice but there are some revealing continuity errors and the cartoon is too short.

However, it does move briskly, the soundtrack is nice and upbeat and there are some inventive sight gags. And seeing Tom and Jerry once again is a delight, Tom doesn't look himself, but as far as I am aware they didn't distort their unique personalities like they did in the Gene Dietch cartoons.

Overall, not brilliant but actually it isn't bad. 6/10 Bethany Cox