Tom, you see, was smugly satisfied he tricked Jerry out of the house. But the sound of a snowy windstorm makes him concerned for the mouse’s fate. He gently allows a way for him to get back into the warm home. There’s a brilliant use of non-sound here. There’s a brief period of silence to emphasize the fact that nothing is happening; Jerry is not coming back inside. It signals something is wrong.
Tom investigates. He does a head-shake shock take. Jerry has become a mouse-cream bar. Look at how well Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera use colour. Scott Bradley plays a reedy version of “Silent Night” in the background.
Tom shakes the snow of Jerry and, like a rotisserie, warms him up. Check out the shading here. Again, a marvellous use of colour.
Of course, Jerry is going to be okay and the two become friends for Christmas.
This is a wonderfully expressive cartoon from start to finish. The watercoloured backgrounds are terrific. Quite rightfully, this short was nominated for an Oscar.
I just watched this again the other day, and I agree with you on every count. A perfect Christmas cartoon.
ReplyDeleteAnd then Silent Night segues into “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear” (which is what actually contains the line “Peace on earth, good will to men”). I knew this lesser known carol growing up with Johnny Mathis' rendition of it.
ReplyDeleteA lovely Christmas cartoon, very much in the spirit of the season. As opposed to Herman and Katnip's Christmas cartoon, which celebrated the holidays with Katnip decorated like a Christmas tree and plugged into an electrical socket via his tail. Those guys at Famous always seemed to be working the extreme ends of the spectrum. Either syrupy, gloppy sentimentality or grotesque, repellant violence.
ReplyDeleteIn a cartoon from before the 70's (I think TWO episodes) Tom and Jerry worked together to deal with a runaway baby that babysitter Jeannie was charged with, but was chatting on the phone. (P.S.: I wonder if Jeannie was used as Inspiration for Judy Jetson (and for that matter if the baby might have inspired Elroy).
ReplyDeleteOne of the all-time greats. A must for every Christmas cartoon collection.
ReplyDelete