Jerry's Diary (1949)

Wonderful character development!

That was an excellent one.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Best movie ever!

Overhearing the radio, Tom discovers that it is 'Be Kind To Animals Week' and bakes Jerry a pie. While searching for the mouse, Tom discovers Jerry's diary and reads some of his entries. Cue numerous flashbacks to earlier cartoons in which the rodent repeatedly humiliates the poor cat. When Tom finally finds Jerry, he splatters the surprised mouse with the pie.In order to keep production costs down, many series resort to the 'compilation' episode, wherein characters recall moments from their previous adventures, thus allowing for the recycling of old footage; this is the first of several T&J cartoons to exploit this economic but rather lazy format, and as such it holds very few surprises for fans of the animated duo.

This cartoon is one of the earliest forms of a 'clip show' that I have seen. You've seen (and no doubt been annoyed) the episodes of The Simpsons where they go 'remember when' before cutting to old footage, thus trimming down on the cost of original production. Well, that's what happens here.Tom is planning the usual amount of torture for Jerry when the radio warns him that it is 'Be Nice To Animals Day'. Convinced that he should be kind for once, Tom bakes the mouse a cake, grabs some presents and waits by his hole. But Jerry ain't home, and it's a perfect opportunity for Tom to grab his diary and reminisce about all the time the mouse got the better of him, cue the old footage.One to skip.

Tom's got all his traps lined up outside Jerry's hole in the wall and just waits for the "kill." The radio is playing and the announcer is asking, "Do you know that it's 'Be Kind To Animals Week?' Are you being kind to animals? Why, of course you are, especially this week...." Before long, he gets to Tom's conscience and the cat exchanges the traps for flowers, candy and pie!However, there is no sign of Jerry. Tom investigates, looking inside the mouse's hole but Jerry's lair is empty. The cat spots the mouse's dairy, begins reading and it's entertaining stuff which has Tom in stitches....until he reads a few things that bring back bad memories.This is another solid T&J cartoon, filled with a lot of funny moments and a few nostalgic ones from past episodes.

Tom, who has just set up a heap of traps outside Jerry's mousehole, learns from Uncle Dudley's radio slot that it is 'Be Kind To Animals Week', so he replaces the traps with gifts, only Jerry is not in. Tom spots Jerry's diary on the desk and sneaks a peek at some of the entries (cue excerpts from previous cartoon in the Tom & Jerry series). Unfortunately each entry Tom reads reminds him of an occasion where he is on the receiving end of punishment, which gradually increases his anger. Will he be able to stay kind to Jerry or will his declining patience get the better of him?Very enjoyable, if 'economic', entry to the series.