Mouse in Manhattan

This cartoon has T&J living a quiet life out in a cosy country cottage. Tom is bored with country life and decides to leave for the Big Apple one night. Writing a goodbye note to Tom, he catches the next train to his new, exciting life.

When he gets there he discovers that Manhattan is not so inviting to small rodents. Everywhere he goes, from Grand Central to posh dinner parties, he is tormented with the rude idiosyncrasies of big city life. Eventually landing in a dirty alley, he is run out of town by an army of hungry stray cats.

Back the cottage, the still sleeping Tom (who does nothing else in this cartoon) has not yet read the note, which Jerry promptly tears up before going back into his mouse-hole. Better the Devil you know huh?

Mouse in Manhattan (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is one of the lesser Tom and Jerry shorts as it pretty much has the mouse going solo. The short starts off with Jerry leaving a note saying that the country life has him bored so he's off to the big city. Once in the big city he enjoys what he sees but soon realizes that it can be scary. As I said, this short pretty much has a brief appearance by Tom at the start and end so it's basically a showcase for a solo Jerry. The end results aren't bad but there's no question that there aren't too many laughs and at times you can't help but wish the cat was around to jack up the action. I will say that the animation is extremely good and I really liked all the details during certain scenes including the skyline when Jerry is dancing on the table.

Those who choose to write off the Tom and Jerry series as a violence orgy should be directed toward any television playing this little jewel, which is practically a solo endeavour for the rodent half of the duo, and which suggests that Jerry's finest moments of dancing may not have been with Gene Kelly. See this one. Own it if you can.

There are no chases in this "short," which is a little strange only that the cartoon was part of a DVD that advertised Tom & Jerry's "greatest chases."

This is simply of story of Jerry running off to the big city. He sees Tom sleeping one day and leaves him a note that says: "Dear Tom, This country life is getting me down. I'm off for Broadway and the bright lights. Goodbye forever, Jerry."

Well, "forever" doesn't turn out to be long as the mouse finds out the glitz and glamor also has a lot of dangers that the quiet country doesn't have. This turns out to be a good moral lesson about "the grass being greener...."

There is some really nice artwork here. You really get the feel of New York City back in "the old days." Kudos to the animators here.

And this is coming from a big fan of theirs, honestly I loved Mouse in Manhattan. It is not their funniest or zaniest, but visually it is by far one of their best. Plus I love it, because it was one of my all-time favourite cartoons when I was a child. At 18, I still adore Mouse in Manhattan for several reasons. It has a very nice and simple story, and while it isn't laden with humour like Yankee Doodle Mouse for example there is some nice strong humour abundant. And the sentiment was there too, not cloying in any way but actually quite moving in spots. The soundtrack is gloriously upbeat and rousing, while the animation, with the colours, landscapes and backgrounds is drop dead gorgeous. Also Tom and Jerry are both on top form here. Overall, in my opinion this is one of Tom and Jerry's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox