The Million Dollar Cat

The Million Dollar Cat (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

One of the classics in the series, Tom receives a telegram telling him that he's inherited a million dollars but he can only keep it as long as he doesn't hurt anything. Including a mouse. Tom heads to New York City where he's living it up but it doesn't take long for Jerry to show up and begin tormenting him. THE MILLION DOLLAR CAT is the one episode where I can say I really, really hated Jerry. I mean, he's just so vicious and cruel to Tom here that you can't help but hope something happens to him so that Tom can enjoy his life and money. This film features a lot of very funny moments but of course it's all building up to whether or not Tom flips out and gives up on the money. Very fast, very fun and certainly one of the best.

'The Million Dollar Cat (1944)' is a 'Tom & Jerry' short in which the former is granted a million dollars by his owner's eccentric aunt, on the condition that the cat harms no living creature - not even a mouse. Of course, this tantalises Jerry as much as the cash does Tom. Once the feline has moved into his new lifestyle, the tenacious little guy leeches off him. How much of this humiliation can Tom take? Well, that's where the fun of the film comes in. By restraining the cat's ability to clobber the mouse, the piece gives itself a unique challenge which it meets tenfold. It's entertaining throughout, with some great set-pieces and a streak of subversion. The beautiful animation leads to some terrific sight gags and the ultimate punchline is as satisfying as you'd expect it to be. In the end, this is probably one of the duo's best outings. 8/10

Tom gets interrupted from playing William Tell with darts (with Jerry being the poor victim with the apple on his head) when he gets a telegram stating his "eccentric Aunt Harriet" died and has left him a million dollars!

Jerry is all excited, too, as happy as Tom. How could that be? Well, points to the bottom of the telegram, which Tom didn't see. It said "all benefits will cease should the cat bring harm to any living thing EVEN A MOUSE."

Tom makes all the headlines in the New York City papers as he marches his way to a penthouse on Park Avenue. (Jerry has a mouse hole with a veranda on top that says, 1/2 Park Ave. He wears a top hat, tails, gloves, etc., too!)

However, as the story unfolds we get the message that "money doesn't buy happiness." Jerry hogs most of Tom's luxury items and food and each time the cat is ready to kill the mouse, Jerry pulls out the telegram reminding him he can't. It's driving Tom nuts. In the end, well, he'd rather be poor and happy by beating the crap out of Jerry.

In all, I would label it slightly below-par, laugh-wise. It looks like one of the earliest Tom and Jerry animated shorts. The artwork is not up to par and it just has a primitive feel to it.

Yet another delightful Tom and Jerry cartoon. The best? Probably not. The funniest? Same answer really. Entertaining? Very! In short I thoroughly enjoyed this cartoon. It did have a nice story, probably not the most original but is still effective, and the sight gags are very funny and inventive. What I loved most about The Million Dollar Cat though was the animation, the backgrounds were lovely, the colouring audacious, the characters well drawn and the skyscrapers wonderful and majestic to look at. True, there are better looking Tom and Jerry cartoons, but for its time it is perfectly reasonable. The music as always is energetic, while Tom and Jerry are both great as Jerry constantly reminds Tom "not even a mouse". Overall, very entertaining and well animated. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Tom and Jerry is a complete Classic and the Best Cartoon I have seen in my life, "The Million Dollar Cat" is a complete classic and possibly the Best Cartoon of the duo, I am not lying when I tell you that it is Excellent, surpassing Most of the Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons of the time.

The Story is quite good, Although not original enough to be considered its own, but ideally it has a good plot development, the Cartoon focuses on Tom, who is Surprised while Playing William Tell darts with Jerry, a Telegram arrives where Tom is told that if Eccentric Aunt Harriet has given him One Million Dollars!, But the Happiness does not last long when he reads that one of the conditions to keep the Money is "Not to Harm Any Living Being Again" so Tom has to resist the urge to beat Jerry.

After that we see Tom suffer in a thousand and one ways while Jerry has an incredible time, then Tom is fed up that Jerry is really enjoying the money instead of him, he decides to destroy the Telegram and return to his normal attitude with the Mythic Phrase "I'm throwin' away a Million Dollars... BUT I'M HAPPY!".

Tom is Possibly the most outstanding character here, After receiving the Million Dollars he fills himself with luxuries, bathes in Milk and has Exceptional Banquets, although Jerry gives him an infernal Torment to the point that Tom tried to burn down the Bathroom Door to finish with Jerry, but other than that, Tom is the character you're going to sympathize with the most in the cartoon.

One of the main attractions of the cartoon is the splendid animation that it has, both the House and the Exterior are Perfect, the city looks Beautiful as well as Tom's Car, the Movements are fluid and although the Designs of the Characters They are still somewhat rough, they are a great advance and they are becoming what they would be in the future.

The Music is Completely elegant and frenetic, first Tom Playing Darts a la William Tell and then Tom celebrating having won a lot of money, there are too many good scenes that would not be the same without the music, likewise, many MGM cartoons would not be the same without Scott Bradley really.

One of the things that I like the most about The Million Dollar Cat, was that it explores other environments, we are not in the Typical Rural House of Mammy Two Shoes, now we are in a more Urban environment (Possibly Chicago or New York) We see some Urban shots making this cartoon stand apart from the rest, these same Ideas would be Perfectly Implemented a Couple of Years Later with the Excellent, Mouse In Manhattan (1945), but continuing the theme, it's Interesting and cool to see the duo in a different setting to the usual.

The Cartoon itself, in addition to its Good qualities, expresses an Incredible Message and although quite well known, it expresses it in a good way, We see Persevering Tom suffer due to not being able to fight Jerry, we see him desperate and endure all that Torment until he simply explodes destroying the telegram and voluntarily rejecting the Money, therefore, we see that Tom really did not need the money to be happy and the only thing he needed was to do what he liked!.

The Million Dollar Cat is Possibly the Best Cartoon I've seen of the Cat and Mouse Duo and that's Too Much, I never decided which was the Best but I think this is one of those chosen for that position, but as I said, a complete classic which is basically Perfection reflected in a Cartoon, Animation is Brilliant even beating Disney, Music is elegant and fun as ever and adds a lot to the cartoon, Story is a Great Improvement over previous Cartoons and You can see a better job in the Script, Bill and Joe apply several Gags that really work and the Cartoon itself is Basically Perfect.

For everything I've said above, The Million Dollar Cat gets an incredibly deserved 10.