Michael_Elliott
Mouse Trouble (1944)*** 1/2 (out of 4) If you go through the Tom and Jerry shorts in the order that they were released you'll notice that 1944 had some of the greatest films. That trend continues here as Tom orders a book on how to catch a mouse, which he reads and tries to do but Jerry isn't going to go without a fight. This short is basically broken up into several chapters as Tom reads from the book, tries what it says and then moves onto the next chapter. For the most part this is just one violent attack on the poor cat after another and of course it's fast and funny. The highlight is certainly the sequence where Tom tries to use curiosity to catch the mouse. There's no doubt that the funniest thing is just that high-pitched scream from Tom.
Tweekums
This 'Tom and Jerry' short opens with Tom getting a book on how to catch mice in the post. He quickly starts reading it only to notice that Jerry is reading it too! Tom chases him back to his mouse hole then sets about trying each of the ideas proposed in the book. Of course none work; when he sets a trap it doesn't go off even when Jerry tugs at the cheese on it but does go off when Tom touches it, next he sets a snare but Jerry switches the cheese for a bowl of cream and Tom gets caught himself... and so it goes on with each successive idea leading to Tom getting more and more damaged until he is ultimately blown to kingdom come.The gags here might be fairly predictable but they come thing and fast and are pretty funny... and delightfully cruel. The thing I found funniest was that after shooting himself in the head and effectively scalping himself Tom wears a shocking red toupee... normally this would be a one shot gag but here he continues to wear it to the end of the cartoon! The animation here looks good; certainly much better than it was in their '60s outings.
Shawn Watson
Despite the rather generic title (there had already been a T&J short called Dog Trouble) this Oscar-winning cartoon proves that it's worth the Academy Award by being very funny and inventive.Mouse Trouble has Tom order a book on how to catch mice (from Random Mouse Publishing nonetheless) and follow the foolproof instructions exactly as printed no matter how many times they prove to be completely ineffectual. Naturally they all come back to bite him in the ass. Poor Tom, he gets so beaten up in this one but never lets the pain lessen his enthusiasm.Plenty of visual jokes and laughs in this one.
TheMan3051
There is a scene here where the "How To" book talks about curiosity so Tom begins laughing at a book and Jerry curious as always decides to see what Tom is laughing at but every time he gets near the book Tom moves to another direction. Finally Jerry gets in top of the book and as he reads Tom shuts the book close and when he opens it Jerry is looking at something inside his covered hand. Tom is the one curious now. So Jerry does the same thing Tom did to him but finally Jerry decides to show Tom what he has inside of hand. When Tom peeks inside Jerry punches him in the eye!HILARIOUS! 3(***)out of 4(****)stars