Sufferin' Cats!

As Tom and Jerry's creators get fully into their stride, so the duo become more and more like the cat and mouse we all know and love. Sufferin' Cats sees the cartoon's style developed even further, with the content becoming more 'violent' and the characters more defined—unfortunately, the story is the one weak element to this episode, with the whole thing being nothing more than a huge frantic chase scene (which is fun, for a while at least).

There are some quite funny visual gags, and a fine example of the old 'devil on the shoulder' routine, as Tom deliberates whether he should cut Jerry in two—in order to share the mouse with an alley cat with whom he has been competing—or plant the axe's blade in his rival's head (my 4 year old son actually found this bit disturbing). But on the whole, this short is a distinctly average offering.

Tom the cat has got Jerry the mouse on a fishing line and is toying with him much to Jerry's chagrin. So after he gets away he runs into a cat that scares Tom. Jerry think he's saved onto to realize that the second cat just wants to eat him himself. What follows is classic slapstick as the two cats fight over who gets the meal. But they both get their just desserts in the end. Tom and Jerry are in their top form here and are a delight to watch as they ALMOST are (the feature film where they're best pals is horrid, but I digress).This hilarious cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

My Grade: A-

Sufferin' Cats is a rather basic cartoon. A very basic rivalry between Tom and another cat (Meathead in this case) and Jerry playing both sides. The cartoon is very solid all around, with some funny jokes, some good animation, and fine backgrounds. The cartoon is just a little bland, mostly because of how it aged. This type of plot, Tom's rivalry, is better developed in later cartoons, with more success than this one. This makes this cartoon kind of worse, at it is now a subpar cartoon when compared to later tries. While done better, Sufferin' Cats is funny, and quite unique in the 1943 shorts.

Two cats fighting over Jerry? Yup, that's the case here. Tom is just tormenting his buddy but some stray outside means to have Jerry as part of a submarine sandwich. Jerry tries to smooch up to each cat, playing up to one to stay away from other. That only works once for each cat.

After that, this is just one big chase scene, but that's par for the course for a Tom and Jerry cartoon. What's different is that there are two cats chasing the mouse. Thankfully, for Jerry's sake, the cats are also beating each other up while trying to hold onto the elusive mouse. Finally, Jerry starts producing pain for both cats, something he's used to doing to poor Tom.

All in all, it makes for a fairly wild eight minutes, with most of the laughs in the second half of it, particularly when Tom is about to chop Jerry in half, but then gets another idea whispered in his ear from "the Devil." As always, the devil's advice winds up to be the wrong kind

I adore Tom and Jerry and always have done. Sufferin' Cats is not one of my favourites though, seeing as it is an early T&J I was expecting the sense that they were still finding their feet and that was the case here. The story here is very routine, I do agree with those who have said that Sufferin' Cats is little more than one big chase, while the first half is not as funny or as crisply paced as the second, which is where the fun begins. The gags in the second half are genuinely funny on the other point of view, the standout being Tom battling his devil conscience and it goes pear-shaped from there. The ending is amusing as well. The animation is clean and beautifully drawn, while the music adds so much to the effectiveness of the gags and is orchestrated in such a vibrant way. All three characters are great, two cats fighting over one mouse is not a new idea but done in a very entertaining way here, and have inspired interplay between them. Tom and Jerry themselves are true to personality, and the second cat is a good contrast to Tom. All in all, not a classic but fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox