The Cat Above and the Mouse Below

In full disclosure, I was never a big Tom and Jerry kid since I found I got the same or better gags from Sylester and Tweety - and by this time we had Itchy and Scratchy and those bits and episodes took the general concept into the satirical stratosphere - but even when Chuck Jones and Maltese are recycling gags from the Rabbit of Seville and the other Ooera short where Bugs conducted that bastard Leopold to his demise it's a lot if sharply timed comic hijinks and loaded with personality. Maybe that last part is a thing for me, that Jones understood how to get more impact-filled performances from his performers while Hannah/Barbera at least some of the time were less exacting. The attitude also counts and Jones understood how to implement it by this point. Or I have my preferences and that's enough. But I like the above and below idea and it's played through with style and a quickness and it doesn't overstay its welcome.