So much average

Simply Perfect

Sick Product of a Sick System

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

"Flirty Birdy" is a Hanna Barbera cartoon from 1945, the last year of WWII, so this one is already over 70 years old and of course it stars the world's most famous cat and mouse duo. And even if it is not one of the Oscar-nominated ones, it is still among the more known Tom and Jerry cartoons today. Like in so many others, they add one major character to the story for a breeze of fresh wind and this time it is no dog, no stray cat and also none of Jerry's friends or relatives. It is a bird, a hungry hawk willing to devour Jerry at least as much as Tom does. And Tom learns quickly that his lack in physical attributes renders him clearly inferior here, not just because he cannot fly. So he needs to find a way to trick Jerry out of the hawk's dinner plans. And he goes for the most simple bird costume out there, probably intended for comedy reasons. And believe it or not, the bird really falls for that "female bird" (Tom in costume) while Jerry sees through it right away. Oh well. I personally think this is one of the weaker T&J cartoons sadly. I found it underwhelming and while it was full with action and events, it was never remotely funny sadly. Bird may be the word, but he clearly doesn't cut the cake here. And how com Tom always catches Jerry so easily when he is about to lose him afterward (frequently to a competitor), but then again on other occasions has no chance to get him at all. Other than the animation which is as good as always, there is nothing recommendable to this cartoon. My suggestion is to skip it.

This short opens, like so many 'Tom and Jerry' stories do, with Tom trying to lure Jerry into a trap; this time he succeeds in catching him in a sandwich and is just about to bite into him when an eagle swoops down and snatches the sandwich away. Jerry is no safer than he was though as the eagle is equally keen to devour him. Tom wants his snack back though and while he and the eagle are fighting Jerry escapes. After a while Tom comes up with a cunning plan; he disguises himself as a female bird! This plan works far to well though; the eagle is so enamoured of Tom that he forgets about eating Jerry and the now free Jerry does all he can to unite the eagle and Tom.This was a fairly entertaining short; the eagle made a welcome addition to the cast; seeing him fight with Tom made a welcome change from seeing Tom and Jerry fighting with each other. The idea of having one character fall in love with another the moment they don a vaguely feminine disguise isn't exactly new but it provided some decent laughs and it was nice that the joke ran for most of the cartoon rather than being a brief gag that only lasted a few seconds; the fact that his disguise was rather poor only served to make the joke funnier. I was left wondering one thing at the end though... where did the eggs that Tom was sitting on at the end come from?!

I will admit I have seen better Tom and Jerry cartoons, especially The Cat Concerto and The Two Mouseketeers but I have also seen much worse as well, Switchin' Kitten and Carmen Get It! spring to mind. Flirty Birdy doesn't deserve a place among the best, nor does it belong the worst. Instead it sits comfortably in the entertaining but could have been better category.So what didn't work so well? Well the story is rather predictable and takes a while to get going, and when it does get going, it is pretty much the same thing, Tom and the hawk calling for desperate measures to devour Jerry in some way or other. Also while some of the gags are very amusing, seeing Tom as a lady hawk is funny if somewhat bizarre too, others are hit and miss, either being predictable like the story or not very well timed. Then the pacing is an issue, I just found it too slow.However, there are a lot of good things. The animation is very nice, with colourful backgrounds and well drawn characters. And the music is energetic and quirky, not to mention memorable. The characters are fine too, Tom is devious and cunning and actually doesn't look too bad as a lady hawk, Jerry is sweet and equally cunning and the hawk is a good enough foil. The cartoon does begin and end well, and does have a fair amount of amusing, if not hilarious, moments. Overall, it is a good Tom and Jerry cartoon if not fantastic. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Tom the cat has to contend with a buzzard for the right to eat Jerry the mouse at first, then the vulture falls in love with him for some reason. Whenever a third character is in a Tom and Jerry short it can be hit or miss with me. Spike the dog is good, The black maid is good, the duckling is good sometimes. But this one, co-starring a love-stricken vulture as Tom's main foil is not one of the lesser Tom and Jerry shorts. While there are some laughs to be had, it just didn't seem to have that special something to make it one of the keepers. This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry" My Grade: C