Zoot Take

Jerry performs a lovely little solo jive dance in The Zoot Cat (1944). The camera pans along with him as he meets up with Tom, dressed as hipster (1940s version). Tom looks ready to slip him some skin when the two realise who each other are.

Tom does a take. Jerry does a take. Then he zooms out of the picture. This is animated on ones. Jerry appears to be looking at the camera but that’s just an in-between as he turns his head.



Ray Patterson, Ken Muse, Irv Spence and Pete Burness got screen credits. Someone will tell you if this is Spence’s work.

If you’re wondering why the girl cat keeps calling Tom “Jackson,” that’s what hep cat musicians used to call each other back then. Sara Berner as the love interest lets out with a lot of ‘40s jive talk in this short. There’s more chatter in this cartoon than the average Tom and Jerry outing, much of it supplied by Jerry Mann.