I remember this cartoon 'Cat and Dupli-cat' when I was a child (with the only elements I could fully remember being Tom singing opera, the famous mirror-mimicking scene and Jerry drunk). This cartoon short had always held a place in my heart during my childhood but until most recently, I could never remember its name.
If I'm honest, I was never a fan of the Tom & Jerry shorts made by Chuck Jones; they were nowhere near as good as the old Hanna-Barbera classics but they were certainly very quirky and very well animated (well, we all know what Chuck Jones is capable of). However, I personally rank this cartoon as my personal favourite of that category (and definitely one of my all-time favourite Tom & Jerry shorts). In one sense, it really surprised me.
The introduction to the cartoon is especially beautifully executed with a fantastic vocal performance of 'Santa Lucia' (a rare yet pleasurable occurrence to what we saw as a clearly different image of Tom, yet his personality stays the same, more or less) which could arguably be viewed as irrelevant to the premise of the cartoon. I disagree: it does help set the scene to come (and the ending) and conveys a pleasant atmosphere. The opening credits are set out in a rather quirky way (on wooden signs with seagulls also seen around them, again could be viewed as irrelevant but helped consolidate the setting for the intro. The only thing to complain here now is Jerry's rendition/mimicking of Tom's singing; very whiny and painful to listen to (was at first but I got used to it).
The mirror-mimicking scene between Tom and Dupli-cat is also beautifully choreographed and animated although, at times, I felt that most of Tom's facial expressions seemed a bit out of place and unnecessary. This could've worked towards Chuck Jones' disadvantage of his critical impact of his cartoons. But I digress.
However, the green-light seemed to be more on Tom an much less on Jerry; on the other hand, as usual, Jerry does get his victory in the end.
The rest is self-explanatory really. May not be the best T&J short but a personal favourite of mine. 9 out of 10. :)
If I'm honest, I was never a fan of the Tom & Jerry shorts made by Chuck Jones; they were nowhere near as good as the old Hanna-Barbera classics but they were certainly very quirky and very well animated (well, we all know what Chuck Jones is capable of). However, I personally rank this cartoon as my personal favourite of that category (and definitely one of my all-time favourite Tom & Jerry shorts). In one sense, it really surprised me.
The introduction to the cartoon is especially beautifully executed with a fantastic vocal performance of 'Santa Lucia' (a rare yet pleasurable occurrence to what we saw as a clearly different image of Tom, yet his personality stays the same, more or less) which could arguably be viewed as irrelevant to the premise of the cartoon. I disagree: it does help set the scene to come (and the ending) and conveys a pleasant atmosphere. The opening credits are set out in a rather quirky way (on wooden signs with seagulls also seen around them, again could be viewed as irrelevant but helped consolidate the setting for the intro. The only thing to complain here now is Jerry's rendition/mimicking of Tom's singing; very whiny and painful to listen to (was at first but I got used to it).
The mirror-mimicking scene between Tom and Dupli-cat is also beautifully choreographed and animated although, at times, I felt that most of Tom's facial expressions seemed a bit out of place and unnecessary. This could've worked towards Chuck Jones' disadvantage of his critical impact of his cartoons. But I digress.
However, the green-light seemed to be more on Tom an much less on Jerry; on the other hand, as usual, Jerry does get his victory in the end.
The rest is self-explanatory really. May not be the best T&J short but a personal favourite of mine. 9 out of 10. :)