User Reviews

This was my first look at a "Tom and Jerry" black-and-white movie from the early 1930s (1932, to be exact.) My first surprise was that it wasn't the cat and mouse Tom And Jerry. It was more like a Mutt and Jeff, just two guys named "Tom" and "Jerry."

Anyway, this whole cartoon basically is a song: "Schultz Is Back," I presume, is the name of the tune since that's about the only lyric I heard. "Schultz" is a big German guy who plays the tuba. He arrives back in town to Tom and Jerry's apartment, starts playing the tuba and is accompanied by his dog, and soon everyone - and everything - sing and dance along.

Actually, it's a catchy number and somewhat fun to watch. I doubt you'll get any laughs out of this but you'll be fairly entertained. Everyone in the cartoon as a good time until the cops show up, grab Schultz, and put him in the paddy wagon. Then they all sing, "Schultz Is Gone...." Well, at least that was funny.

From what I could find out at IBDb, it looks like there were about 27-28 of these "human Tom and Jerry" cartoons made in 1932 and 1933. It's pretty cool that many of them are still

The Van Beuren Tom and Jerry (as said already not the famous cat and mouse, this is a human duo that lasted for just under 30 cartoons, 29 if memory serves correct, between 1931 and 1933) series was interesting but uneven and not easy to rate as an overall whole. At the series' best, the cartoons were good, very good in a few cases. At its worst, they were really bad.

Luckily, 'The Tuba Tooter' is among the better Tom and Jerry cartoons and is pretty decent. It is certainly not an animated masterpiece, but there is nothing that will offend and it does have energy and fun. That is more than can be said for a lot of the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons, which on top of being visually unappealing are low on timing and laughs, some of them even managing to leave a bad taste in the mouth offence-wise.

It as a cartoon could have been better. As always with Tom and Jerry, the story is very flimsy. Tom and Jerry are rather bland lead characters and a good deal of the animation is primitive (especially in the character designs of Tom and Jerry), being generally too static and simple.

As to be expected however, the music is outstanding. Even in the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons it was the best asset. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and full of energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

When it comes to the humour, there is never anything hilarious in 'The Tuba Tooter' but it is at least well timed and amusing. There are signs of the expected absurdity but the bizarre factor has been brought out stronger in other cartoons of theirs. Seeing two young women dancing in their underwear was pretty racy for the time.

Tom and Jerry may be on the bland side but the supporting characters make a big impression. Schultz and his tuba playing steal the cartoon without any effort needed. There is a joyous energy throughout, that and that there are amusing and well-timed moments almost compensating for the thinness of the story.

Overall, nice cartoon. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The Tuba Tooter (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A large man gets off a boat and immediately heads to the apartment of Tom and Jerry. They are in bed so the man begins to play a song on his tuba and before long Tom and Jerry are up and dancing. As the song carries on we get more and more people joining the dancing.

THE TUBA PLAYER comes from Van Beuren Studios and it's certainly not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. I'd argue that the Tom and Jerry characters (not a cat or mouse) weren't all that interesting even though the studio would end up producing more than two dozen of their shorts. What makes the film memorable is the song that is being performed because it is quite catchy and it's actually played extremely well to the point where you'll be tapping your foot to it. The animation is kinda bland but there's enough action to keep it entertaining.

I noticed some other reviewers liked this and several other Tom & Jerry cartoons...though I strongly disagree. No, I am NOT talking about the marvelous cat and mouse cartoons made by MGM but the earlier Tom & Jerry cartoons made by Van Beuren Studio. This one, in particular, did not impress me and I found it a bit tedious at times.

Here is what little plot there is. An oompa band awaits the arrival of the tuba player by boat. After arriving, they all start playing music and everyone around them, including Tom & Jerry (who little else to do in the film), starts dancing about. I did mildly enjoy seeing the buildings and other inanimate objects bopping to the music...but really, that was it. Otherwise, it's a sappy and relatively poorly animated short...one that left me wondering what others liked about it.