Flirty Birdy

'Flirty Birdy (1945)' is a 'Tom & Jerry' short film that sees the famous feline fight a rambunctious bird for the right to bite down on a homemade mouse-and-mustard sandwich. Most of the piece is dedicated to Tom dressing up as a hen to tempt his feathered friend into vulnerable position so he can smash his head in and steal his lunch. The bird takes one heck of a beating but still relentlessly pursues his would-be lover, which provides many funny sight-gags. Some of the piece's best moments come from Jerry playing the two predators off one another, which is always fun to see. Overall, the short is entertaining and well-animated. It's a solid entry in its series. 7/10

Tom the cat has to contend with a buzzard for the right to eat Jerry the mouse at first, then the vulture falls in love with him for some reason. Whenever a third character is in a Tom and Jerry short it can be hit or miss with me. Spike the dog is good, The black maid is good, the duckling is good sometimes. But this one, co-starring a love-stricken vulture as Tom's main foil is not one of the lesser Tom and Jerry shorts. While there are some laughs to be had, it just didn't seem to have that special something to make it one of the keepers. This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

My Grade: C

Foiled by a falcon? Well, it's some kind of bird, anyway. Tom is a half-second away from having a Jerry-sandwich, his jaws ready to clamp down on his mouse-burger when suddenly a big bird swoops down and takes the sandwich away. He, too, wants to eat Jerry. Both Tom and the big bird have bibs on and like Jerry with a little salt!

The two then fight over the sandwich, going through and inside tree stumps and limbs, around houses and just the neighborhood in general. Jerry, a confident mouse apparently, isn't fazed. Even when the bird adds mustard to him, Jerry takes the spreader and scratches himself gleefully with it! However cocky he appears, however, he always seems to disappear at the right moment.

This was another solid Tom and Jerry cartoon with Jerry evoking more laughs than normal. Tom is pretty funny when he dons his female disguise and starts flirting with the birdie to distract his attention. The eyelash sight gag was very clever.

Also in here is the standard eyeball-popping out of head scenes. I wonder how many times that was done in cartoons? It's always effective, despite the gag being used thousands of times. Here, the big bird's eyes pop out so far, they land on his beak like old granny glasses.

I will admit I have seen better Tom and Jerry cartoons, especially The Cat Concerto and The Two Mouseketeers but I have also seen much worse as well, Switchin' Kitten and Carmen Get It! spring to mind. Flirty Birdy doesn't deserve a place among the best, nor does it belong the worst. Instead it sits comfortably in the entertaining but could have been better category.

So what didn't work so well? Well the story is rather predictable and takes a while to get going, and when it does get going, it is pretty much the same thing, Tom and the hawk calling for desperate measures to devour Jerry in some way or other. Also while some of the gags are very amusing, seeing Tom as a lady hawk is funny if somewhat bizarre too, others are hit and miss, either being predictable like the story or not very well timed. Then the pacing is an issue, I just found it too slow.

However, there are a lot of good things. The animation is very nice, with colourful backgrounds and well drawn characters. And the music is energetic and quirky, not to mention memorable. The characters are fine too, Tom is devious and cunning and actually doesn't look too bad as a lady hawk, Jerry is sweet and equally cunning and the hawk is a good enough foil. The cartoon does begin and end well, and does have a fair amount of amusing, if not hilarious, moments. Overall, it is a good Tom and Jerry cartoon if not fantastic. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Tom is about to tuck into a delicious Jerry sandwich when a huge bird of prey swoops down and flies off with his snack. Not at all happy with having his sarnie stolen right from under his nose, Tom takes off in hot pursuit, determined to retrieve his mousy morsel.

As much as I love Tom and Jerry, I have got to say that this one is a bit of a stinker: the story is rather mundane; it introduces a badly conceived peripheral character that lacks charm; and it flogs the old 'dress the cartoon character up as a woman' gag to death.

In my opinion, 'Flirty Birdy' rivals 'Fraidy Cat' and 'Mouse in Manhattan' for the title of weakest Tom and Jerry caper thus far.