The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit (1962)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

"The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" is an American/Czechoslovakian cartoon from 1962, so this one had its 55th anniversary last year and despite the age, it is still among the later Tom and Jerry works. This is also proven by Gene Deitch having taken over at that point already from Hanna Barbera in this MGM production that runs for a bit over 6.5 minutes as they always do. I would say that story-wise and comedy-wise it isn't too bad and probably not worse than some of the weaker HB original T&J cartoons, maybe even better. The melon scenes were kinda okay and the martial arts judo stuff wasn't too shabby either, at least at the very end when the ground breaks under Tom. The title is really random though as it only refers to the first minute. And Jerry must be quite a talented fighter if he picks up all these amazing skills from a book without actual training. The film's biggest weakness though was not just the background animation, but the complete lack thereof and the longer it goes the more painful it becomes to see. Eventually it is just the two central characters in front of one background color. Essentialism is one thing, but I just cannot approve of that. A bit of a pity as plot- and comedy-wise it was solid for the most part, but the lows are lower than the highs are high, so I give this one a thumbs-down and recommend skipping the watch here.

Though that is not saying much, this cartoon is mediocre. However, along with Tall in the Trap and Calypso Cat it is one of the more tolerable Tom and Jerry cartoons that Gene Dietch made, I can't stand the rest. The animation is not great but it is better than the animation in the likes of Switchin' Kitten and Sorry Safari, as the colours are not as flat and the backgrounds not quite as static. The story is also an improvement, it is standard, but it is not non-existent or disturbing. And Tom and Jerry themselves are at least okay. However, the music is still rather creepy, the pace is uneven often feeling rushed and the sound effects are bizarre. While I raised a smile a few times, there was nothing I would deem as hilarious. Overall, this is not saying much but for me when it comes to Gene Dietch this is one of the better ones. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Growing up, I didn't realize that this short had narration. When I was watching the same short in another state years later, I suddenly noticed the narration (especially the coffee and cigarettes part) but every time I saw this on the WPIX NY station, there was only music and sound fx. That made for a trippy ride. But then again, I grew up on a lot of cartoons that were considered trippy. A lot of cartoons today are either too talky or everyone's shouting. But it does raise the question, why was there a version of this without narration? But this is one of the Gene Deitch T&J cartoons that I remember the most. It looked like it was set in some sort of two dimensional Be-bop Jazz world, which actually worked for the music that was playing. It never occurred to me that these were not American made, only that they were different from the Chuck Jones cartoons as much as the Chuck Jones toons were different from the Hanna Barbera (40s-50s) versions. Of course the classic HB shorts are the best, but I would put the Deitch versions a close second just because I like the atmospheric mood. It's just too bad that Gene Deitch hasn't been more prolific. His trippy style, while admittedly unusual for T&J, would have been ideal for serious science fiction adventure cartoons.

Gene Deitch could ruin ALPO. But, he managed to breathe some fresh air into the vastly overrated TOM and JERRY series, but only in this single cartoon. Its premise is that ANYONE (even himself, I suppose) could make cartoons. The bit about coffee and cigarettes for the animators is the best part of the cartoon. Other than that, it's the same old "Mouse beats up stupid cat" theme that was already years past anything original or valid.Deitch's style is way too eerie and absurd (see his Popeye cartoons--they ain't much better), and should NEVER have been used for a "serious" studio's product. This is the sole example of where it seemed to work.