Fraidy Cat

Fraidy Cat is definitely different compared to most other Tom and Jerry shorts. Being a little more spooky and horror oriented compared to other shorts. But that makes this one unique, a curiosity, and fun. This short is great. The spookier nature makes it very enjoyable, with the radio show and Tom's constant reactions being a highlight for me. The voice acting for the radio show was great, and it was an entertaining start. The rest of the short is great. Jerry's attempts to scare Tom with the vacuum ghost were great, and the scene of all of Tom's lives coming out and biting him was hilarious. Even the end, with Jerry losing along with Tom, was entertaining and different from other shorts. The only downside is how slow some of it can be, but the spooks and differences compared to most shorts make it an entertaining watch.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the Tom & Jerry episodes I specifically talk about in this review aren't listed under one single title here, so the best I can do is just leave it under one of my favorite episodes of the era I had in mind typing out this rambling.

I will always have a soft spot for the Tom & Jerry circa 1967. I know that technically it includes three different eras: 1) The Classic MGM Theatrical Era (also known as The Golden Era) (1940-1958) created by the legendary William Hanna & Joseph Barbera. These two names will forever be imprinted in my brain. If I could, I would personally thank them for enriching my childhood with the most genuine laugh I've ever had. Every time I saw their names in the opening titles I knew the next 10 minutes will be GOLDEN.

2) The experimental period of the Gene Deitch Era (1961-1962). Thankfully, it only lasted for 13 episodes, but it wasn't as bad as some might percieve it to be. That being said, even as a kid I could see that something was off about these episodes and I wasn't a big fan of them - the animation was too jarring and dark for my taste, but I never skipped them on my bootleg DVD either - I was patiently watching them in eager anticipation of what I knew was coming next on this Tom & Jerry anthology disc of mine. No hard feelings towards Gene Deitch, though. This man had to produce all these episodes on his own from his little studio in Czechoslovakia.

3) And what was coming next was the Chuck Jones "Bronze" Era. It was almost as good as the episodes produced by William Hanna & Joseph Barbera.

Only when I revisited some of the episodes in my adulthood I realized what made Tom & Jerry so captivating - the music and sound effects. I can't think of any other piece of visual media that so heavily relied on the auditory aspect in its creation process - every frame is accompanied by the perfect selection of notes and sounds. I could argue that Tom & Jerry is actually more about what you hear than what you see, which is a crazy thing to say about a cartoon with barely any lines in it.

P. S. The reason I picked this episode is because out of over one hundred episodes of Tom & Jerry I've seen, this one stuck in my memory the most, especially the gag where a vacuum cleaner sucks all nine lives in the form of souls out of Tom. For some reason, this moment engraved in my memory like no other in the franchise - probably it's just that it perfectly encapsulates the very essence and absurdity of Tom & Jerry's humor.

P. P. S. Of course it's a shame what the franchise has turned into over the years, but that's beyond the scope of this little review and isn't reflected in the rating.

Tom is listening to a spook story on the radio (a form of entertainment I wish was still around) and is so wound up by the possibility of ghosts, that he jumps in fright at every sound. Taking advantage of this for his own personal fun, Jerry tries to freak Tom out by playing pranks on him, the main one being sticking a white sheet on a vacuum cleaner and pretending it's a ghosts. Obviously Tom becomes aware of Jerry's cruel tricks in the end.

It's very mildly funny though nothing really spectacular happens. I can really only recommend this to very young children as there is no real intelligence or wit to entertain an adult. Tom still looks a little rough, as he did in the early stages of his characters animation. Mammy-two-shoes shows up, but on the version I saw she was dubbed to make her sound more PC, as was common with Tom and Jerry cartoon manipulation in the early 90s.

Here is a Tom & Jerry cartoon that is perfect for Halloween. I know it's not very creepy, but it has the 'trick' as in "trick or treat," as Jerry did to Tom with the window blind and the vacuum cleaner with a collared shirt hanging on it to make it look like a ghost. But I still like to put it on my list of Halloween cartoons.

In this short, Tom is listening to the "Witching Hour," a ghost-story program on the radio, and is being frightened by the horror story being told. Tom begins to experience the dramatics about halfway through the story (hair standing on end, heart leaping into throat, icy chills on spine). And Jerry, having observed everything and laughing to himself, thought he had increased Tom's fears by scaring him.

I love the ending. It was a little funny. And you know, this short is the first of four cartoons in which Tom attacks Mammy Two Shoes; the others are A Mouse in the House, Part-Time Pal, and Nit-Witty Kitty. And also, this short is the first of twenty-five cartoons where Tom speaks too. So anyway, I love this short.

After a more pleasant last outing, 'Fraidy Cat (1942)' reestablishes the iconic duo's entirely antagonistic relationship by having Jerry fall directly into his role as initial aggressor (as he would so often be in later films). Here, he decides to terrify Tom when he sees the cat shaking in his fur while listening to a spooky radio broadcast. Using an old nightgown and a vacuum cleaner, the mischievous mouse sets about pranking his unsuspecting prey. Of course, Tom eventually gets wind of the wind-up and fixes to do more than just scare his opponent to death. The flick has some funny sight gags and its animation is as scrumptious as you'd hope from these earlier shorts in which Tom is more cat-like and raggedy. It's a well-animated outing that's lively and has a lot of spirit to it. However, it just feels fairly standard overall. The premise isn't particularly clever and the piece lacks a satisfying ending to tie things together. It also features some off-screen animal abuse (which sounds to be more than the typical feline-on-rodent slapstick we all know and love) which leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Having said all that, it's still an entertaining effort overall. It isn't one of the pair's best outings, but it's definitely not one of their worst.