The Worst Film Ever

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This episode is definitely not the best episode for me, but I still found moderate enjoyment here because the jokes gave me a few chuckles, and Jerry, who was the reason those cats tortured Tom, did not really win in the end as he had to deal with the bad liquid in which I do not remember its name. If it had not been for that little human girl in this episode, I probably would have enjoyed it a significant amount more, but all in all, I like this episode.

"Baby Puss" is an American 8minute cartoon from 1943, so this one will have its 75th anniversary next year and it is from the dark days of World War II. However, Tom and Jerry were always really unpolitical back then, so you will not see or hear any references about the global political climate during these 8 minutes. They were perhaps also there to have people laugh and distract them from the more important events for a little while. Barbera, Hanna, Berner and Bletcher are all household names when it comes to (MGM) animation from back then, so the premise is there for a good film. But the eventual outcome just wasn't convincing enough. It hardly felt like a Tom & Jerry movie at times because in the center of it all were some alley cats and Tom was just there. Jerry even disappeared for almost the entire second half. And these cats also do not possess the same level of quality like other supporting characters in this universe, like Jerry's nephew. And even if this is still among T&J's most known films today, I can see why it did not receive any recognition from the Oscars like so many other cartoons starring the world's most famous cat and mouse duo. I myself also did not enjoy it too much. The best thing about it was perhaps the music, a whole lot this time, but the comedy simply was not good enough in here. Thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.

There may be the odd joke that I agree could be perhaps a little on the mean-spirited side of things, but this is occasionally. Overall, Baby Puss is very well animated and very funny, well to me it is. Tom is great here and takes his humiliations well, while Jerry is as cunning as usual, and the girl and alley cats are good support. Even more impressive than the characters is the animation and music. For me, Baby Puss in terms of animation is one of the best-looking Tom and Jerry cartoons, with the backgrounds and colours stunning. The music has a lot of energy and beauty, while the cartoon goes at a cracking pace and while there is the odd sadistic gag(though none of them are as sadistic as the Gene Dietch cartoons) Baby Puss is very funny and makes the most of a somewhat unoriginal but never predictable story. So overall, very enjoyable, well animated and funny. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Even by Tom and Jerry's own violent standards, Baby Puss is disturbingly callous. It begins with an unusual premise - the usual 'owner', the plump black maid, is nowhere to be seen, and Tom appears to have been catnapped by an annoying little girl who wants to play mummy-and-baby with him. Tom puts up with this nonsense because he loves the bottled milk she feeds him, but this cosseted life comes to an end when Jerry invites Tom's alley cat friends to see how their leader is being humiliated. This leads to a lengthy slapstick sequence in which Tom is bullied relentlessly, and maybe it's because he's dressed as a toddler that I found this quite hard to take, especially the part where his head is blown up like a balloon and later stamped on repeatedly. I'm no wimp and I usually love violent cartoons, but this seemed too close to child abuse for comfort. Having said that, there are plenty of laughs and even - unusually for a 1940s cartoon - a couple of jokes about vomiting!