Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Celia
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Delight
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Zoot Cat" is another American Tom and Jerry cartoon and this one here is from 1944, later years of WWII, so it will have its 75th anniversary soon. These 7 minutes are probably neither among the most known these these two have to offer nor among the least known, somewhere in-between. It is perhaps their most fashion focused work as the title already gives away and it is not just Tom who is in a zoot here, but Jerry too as we find out at the very end. This ending was certainly among the better moments (next to the burning-paw scene) of an otherwise really forgettable cartoon that suffered from an unlikable female cat taking away too much screen time from Jerry especially. It was not bad or anything, but not very funny either. Plus I don't like these a lot where Tom is talking and he is talking a lot here. Overall, I give this one a thumbs-down and it's really only worth seeing for T&J completionists. Everybody else can skip it.
BA_Harrison
The Zoot Cat might have seemed incredibly 'hip' at the time of its original release, with it's jazz slang and cutting-edge sub-culture fashion, but it now feels embarrassingly dated; yet this 'snapshot of a time gone by' also goes to make this a rather intriguing episode. It's hard for me, as an Englishman born in the late 60s, to imagine an era in the US in which such strange attire and language could have been seen as 'dangerously' cool, but here it is, perfectly captured in a Tom and Jerry cartoon— and seeing is believing, as they say!Tom wishes to impress a young lady cat, but she perceives him to be 'square'. To remedy the situation, Tom cuts himself a sharp 'zoot suit' from a hammock, makes himself a wide brimmed hat, and dances swing-style to the latest beats. Of course, Jerry does his utmost to ruin Tom's chances of success.Not only is this a historically interesting T&J caper, but it is also one in which the usually rather silent cat and mouse do a lot of talking—albeit in a manner that proves to be unintelligible a lot of the time, thanks to the often indecipherable 40s phrases spoken by the characters. Unfortunately, whilst this episode is noteworthy for it's peculiarities, it isn't that funny.The Zoot Cat will be of most interest to those who have a passion for the music and style of the decade in which it was made; the rest of us will probably be rather unimpressed.
Shawn Watson
Tom is trying to impress a female cat by grooming his whiskers, offering Jerry as a gift and trying his damnedest to be smooth. But it doesn't work and the girl tells him to take a hike.Not discouraged, Tom fabricates a sophisticated-looking suit out of an old hammock and tries once more. This time she falls for him and they start to play around. Obviously Jerry is going to ruin it for him and end up with the gal himself.What's weird about this cartoon is that Tom and Jerry actually talk, which is not something I thought they ever did until that awful movie in 1992. Either way, it's still a rather funny short.
movieman_kev
Tom the cat tries to impress a girl cat by giving her Jerry the mouse and singing her a song. But she rebukes him for being to square. So he makes a makeshift home-made zoot suit and continues to woo her. This is one of the few shorts where Tom and to a little extent Jerry both talk. Whereas most Tom and Jerry cartoons are timeless, this one is dated and not as funny as normally. One of my less favorite shorts, it's still watchable though. This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry" My Grade: C DVD Extras: Commentary by historian Jerry Beck where he talks about the animator, voice actress and the songs amongst other things.
