Blue Cat Blues

'Blue Cat Blues (1956)' is a bit of an odd one. Its premise is so oddly, off-puttingly dark yet its execution is as charming as ever. It tells the tale of Tom's spiral into suicidal depression in a deceptively upbeat, generally jovial way. It's a bizarre choice, to say the least. Its overall effect is a strangely unsettling one. The actual short isn't entirely unpleasant, even providing a couple of laughs, but it culminates in a really dark overall experience. It's difficult to know how to feel about it, really. It's not bad but it's not great. 6/10

Shortly after Hanna-Barbera had taken over as producers for Fred Quimpy, they were allowed to experiment more with Tom & Jerry. One of the results is "Blue Cat Blues." In this short Jerry narrates Tom's struggles to win over the love of the cat next door. Who also has a thing for Butch! Even though this is the darkest and less humorous of the Tom & Jerry cartoons, I praise it for it's lovely style of direction.

4(****)out of 4(****)stars

The purpose of a Tom and Jerry cartoon is to make the viewer laugh, albeit with a heavy dose of sadistic violence, but this one is downright depressing. Tom is sat on some railway tracks, waiting for an express train to come and end his life. As Jerry recounts, the cat has a broken heart, having lost the love of his life to rival Butch, who has outclassed Tom at every turn. After turning to drink, the cat has finally decided that suicide is his only salvation.

Jerry thinks how lucky he is to have his girlfriend Toots, when he spots her in a car with another mouse, the vehicle displaying a 'Just Married' sign. Emotionally distraught, the mouse climbs onto the tracks to join poor Tom as a train whistles in the distance. Not exactly a barrel of laughs and consequently not one of my favourites.

Tom, who has fallen hopelessly in love with a lovely white female cat, seems to have the life of Riley until Butch, the black cat, sees her and wants to win her away from Tom. It all becomes a battle of what gifts the two male cats can give to her. Trouble is, Butch has more money to burn...

This has a very surprising and dark tone for a series that has been driven by humour (not that it has none), and so may not be a favourite for many fans. I have to admit it is not one of my favourites...

Not your everyday Tom and Jerry short for many reasons. One, there's a voiceover narration by Jerry, which is odd, because Tom and Jerry rarely speak. Two, the two are friends, which was also rare and seldom works as well as the more adversarial shorts do. Third, and most importantly, the cartoon is rarely humorous (by design) and the jokes here are dry chuckles with a little cough and a bubble of blood at the end. Think a Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Tim Burton. Not wholly successful, but it largely does work. The creepiest ending for an MGM short that I can recall. Not for everyone and proof that these shorts were never intended solely with children as the target audience. Well worth watching. Recommended with the caveats above.