Fine Feathered Friend

Tom and Jerry are on a farm, more specifically in a hen house, where Tom chases Jerry, Jerry fights back, Tom gets in trouble with a big hen, hen pecks Tom a few times, Tom runs away, Jerry hides in the eggs, Tom comes back, feels under the hen where the eggs are, Hen wakes up and pecks him more, on and on. You get the picture.

I liked how the hen arranged her eggs with a billiards' triangle and a few other sight gags but, to be honest, I didn't think the humor was anything noteworthy.

At least the Tom and Jerry cartoons are branching out from their beginning ones which all took place in a home with "Mammy Two Shoes," a big black maid whom we never saw except for her feet and calves.

The artwork is here is the standout feature of this, I thought. There are really nice drawings of the inside of this barn, beautiful brown colors.

Fine Feathered Friend (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Another fast and fun short has Tom and Jerry once again battling one another and this time a third party is brought into the mix. As Tom chases the beloved mouse, Jerry ends up finding shelter under a mother chicken who is constantly beating the cat to a pulp. As Jerry once again initiates Tom, the poor cat ends up crossing up with the chicken who makes him regret it. FINE FEATHERED FRIEND once again gets us out of the house as the cat and mouse fight outdoors and this leads to a lot of fun scenes. The highlight has to be the sequence where Tom grabs what he thinks is Jerry when in fact it's a baby chicken and of course its mother isn't going to be happy. There's a lot of fast action in this short and some very good laughs from the loud action.

'Fine Feathered Friend (1942)' is evocative of a simpler time in 'Tom and Jerry' history, one in which a fantastically animated cat chasing a fantastically animated mouse was enough to carry an entire short. While the premise is basic, the execution is far from it. By simply adding a protective hen into the mix, the piece elevates itself to extremely entertaining heights. It's chock-full of sight gags, beautifully bouncy animation and inventive set-pieces. It feels rather substantial considering its eight minute run-time, cramming more stuff into its slim frame than you'd think possible. It's always fun and often funny. It's very charming, too. 7/10

Fine Feathered Friend was a very solid Tom and Jerry cartoon, yes with a very simple story and a little leisurely in the pacing, but it is beautifully crafted and definitely worth seeing. The animation is of true beauty, really beautiful colours and every character and building is well drawn. The music is rousing and playful as pretty much always, and the sight gags are clever, well timed and look very painful. Tom is quite cunning yet as always he gets the worst of the violence, while Jerry is sweet and funny. Even the female chicken was a delightful supporting character. Overall, beautifully done and well timed in the gags. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A Brilliant cartoon, Tom and Jerry (and the hen) at their best in this fun filled farm frolic bashing! Tom tries to get to Jerry who is hiding in a barn with a not so friendly hen! Tom fails to get hold of Jerry in the end and instead accidentally cuts the feathers off the hostile hen! The hen retaliates and Tom gets what he deserves at the end by being slaughtered with the scissors by the hen!