The Bowling Alley-Cat
The Bowling Alley-Cat
NR | 18 July 1942 (USA)
The Bowling Alley-Cat Trailers

Tom and Jerry are in a bowling alley. Both spend a lot of time sliding on the well-polished lanes. Eventually, Jerry takes up residence among the pins and Tom tries to bowl him down.

Reviews
Stoutor

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

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Juana

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Cissy Évelyne

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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Fleur

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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Otavio-clubpenguin

I Consider the Realistic Animals Tom and Jerry era to start at Puss Gets the Boot and end in Sufferin' Cats.The Story is that Jerry is having some fun at the Bowling Alley, when Tom appears and wants to eat him, leading some fun and inventive gags, that didn't take place inside a House.This is Tom and Jerry first cartoon to take place outside a house. And for me, it's for the best, it allowed some new gags, that weren't seen in the earlier episodes, such as Jerry using a bowling pin as a baseball bat, Or Tom trying to catch a bowling ball like a baseball ball and gets smashed by it. Another Highlight was Jerry teleporting himself to other Bowling Ball inside another far away bowling ball.I recommend it to every Tom and Jerry fan.

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Tweekums

This 'Tom and Jerry' short starts off gently with Jerry skating on the slippery surface of the alley; things don't remain gentle for long though as Tom appears and the two of them end up fighting it out as usual. Being in a bowling alley means plenty of violence involving heavy bowling balls and pins as well as the various mechanisms used to reset the pins and return the balls. Who has the upper hand switches between them although for the most part it is poor Tom taking the battering... frequently due to his own actions or stupidity... would any sane person try to catch a flying bowling ball!?This is a fairly standard 'Tom and Jerry' short although it benefits from the novelty of the location; if you are a fan of the duo I'm sure you'll have plenty of laughs here and if you aren't then odds are you won't. The animation is top notch with the balls given just the right amount of shine to make them look real and thus heavy; clearly the animators weren't rushing and making this on the cheap. The action is inventive as are the accompanying sounds; we hear a speeding steam train as a 'train' of bowling balls bears down on Jerry. Overall it is a fun cartoon than can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages.

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TheLittleSongbird

While it is slow in pace to begin with, Bowling Alley-Cat is still very enjoyable. It doesn't belong in the best of their cartoons, but in my opinion it is one of their better early ones. For one thing, the animation is lovely, crisp and clean and smooth in general. True, Tom looks like a kitten here, but for 1942 this animation was not bad at all, quite the contrary. The music was a delight, hearing the Waltz from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty was a real plus, and the sight gags were both original and funny. Also I loved this because it was different, it all takes place in a bowling alley rather than the house, it was really nice to see something new once in a while. Overall, different and enjoyable, definitely worth the watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox

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BA_Harrison

Early Tom and Jerry cartoons have often been accused of being racist—with Mammy Two Shoes' character possibly being a servant and characters often getting a 'blackface' (amongst other stereotypical ethnic representations)—but now I'm starting to wonder whether I'm seeing examples of racism where there are none. I'm sure that there's one bowling ball in this short that is inexplicably made to look like a 'blackface'. Or maybe not.Anyway, regardless of my possible hallucinatory concerns, this is actually a pretty entertaining T&J caper, with the guys escaping the confines of their house to wreak havoc in a bowling alley. The fresh environment allows for a whole new wave of creativity, there are plenty of laughs to be had (as well as much cartoonish violence, as one would expect in a place full of machinery and heavy objects), and the animation is as highly polished as the bowling alley we see Jerry skating on, with convincingly weighty bowling balls that look like they could really hurt.

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