Piano Tooners

Having now watched a handful of these (human) Tom and Jerry (or Dick and Larry) cartoons, I have noticed several trends. Most of them - as in the case of this particular animated short:

Are a showcase for the music of the day. The music is usually upbeat, toe-tapping and fun to hear

Almost risqué in certain parts. Like Betty Boop, they like to draw cleavage on the women and show them in sexy outfits. It this short, a "supersized," shall we say, opera woman is seen putting on her panties and bra (behind a screen.) and then later her chest just about coming out of her dress as she sings.

They seem to like hundreds of mice suddenly appearing and doing strange things. Here, they are on the piano dancing and singing way for a brief time.

There is almost no dialog in these cartoons.

The segues are quick with no subtleties. All of sudden, the scene dramatically changes. For instance, in here the guys at home "tuning" their piano (and you should see how they do that!) and the next thing you know we see people jamming into their seats at a theater. It ties in, though, because Tom and Jerry are there and when the opera singer/piano player has trouble, these wild "piano tooners" come to the rescue...and entertain at the same time!

This cartoon can be seen on the DVD called "150 Cartoon Classics."

The Van Beuren Tom and Jerry (as said already not the famous cat and mouse, this is a human duo that lasted for just under 30 cartoons, 29 if memory serves correct, between 1931 and 1933) series was interesting but uneven and not easy to rate as an overall whole. At the series' best, the cartoons were good, very good in a few cases. At its worst, they were really bad.

'Piano Tooners' is not among the really bad outings, and is closer to the good if not quite very good or great ones. The story is basically a stringing along of musical interludes and gags and Tom and Jerry are slightly bland. It's the animation that fares weakest, it's never been a strong suit (often the weak link even) in even their best cartoons with a few exceptions like 'Wot a Night'. Describing the static movement, simplistic detail and erratic designs as primitive is being kind.

However, as to be expected, the music is outstanding. Even in the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons it was the best asset. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and full of energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

Moreover, the gags are also among the most consistently entertaining and well-timed of Tom and Jerry's cartoons, the piano tuning moments are deliciously bizarre (including a bad note being thrown down a toilet) and there are some surprisingly risqué moments with the female character Pflop.

The weirdness of 'Piano Tooners' atmosphere is impossible to not enjoy, being so inventively done and true to the absurdist style of the general humour of the cartoons and using it to full advantage. Timing is done very well and the Pflop character makes an amusing impression.

Overall, deliciously bizarre and well done despite in particular the primitive animation. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Piano Tooners (1932)

** (out of 4)

Tom and Jerry (not the cat and mouse) are trying to tune a piano but keep having some trouble in it. They must fight the mice that are inside of it as well as the bad notes (think music note). Once the issues with the piano are settled it is sent to a concert hall where a woman with very large breasts begins to sing but more problems rise up.

PIANO TOONERS is the second film I've seen from this Tom and Jerry series and while I haven't been overly impressed with either one, at least they are a bit different than what you'd normally see from animation during this era. The animation itself is okay; it's not horrible but it's far from being good. The second portion of the film deals with the concert and I must admit that the high-pitched voice of the singer was rather annoying. I think that was the point but it just wasn't funny. There's a scene with a large woman trying to get to the middle of a row that got a mild laugh.