Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "The Bowling Alley-Cat" is another Hanna Barbera cartoon starring Tom and Jerry as you may have guessed from the title already, a pretty nice play on words there and even if the title only features Tom, Jerry is the one who keeps having the last laugh like so many other times. At exactly 8 minutes, this one's slightly longer than they usually are and it was released back in 1942, so during the days of WWII, and this means that it had its 75th anniversary last year already, which makes it one of the oldest T&J cartoons and from Tom's looks you can see that pretty well as he changed a lot physically from his original form the more cartoons got released over the years. Actually this is number 007 (Bond anyone?). The two are at the bowling alley and it is really just the duo at that point, o other customers, no other animals, no other employees, just the cat and the mouse he is trying to catch. This results in several funny and witty sequences that in fact not only involve jokes on pins and balls (and their faces), but also jokes on other sports like ice skating very early on. I enjoyed the watch here. It's among the better, but not best Tom and Jerry cartoons I have seen (and I have seen lots) just like it is among the more, but not most, known cartoons starring this duo. Go see it, it's worth it in my opinion.

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.

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.

Shawn Watson This is one of the first Tom and Jerry shorts that doesn't take place inside a generic 1940s house but inside, as the title would suggest, a bowling alley. This new environment allows for fresher gags and more imagination. There are some inventive sequences and it doesn't resort to the ancient clichés of Jerry plugging Tom's tail into a power socket or putting his tail in a mousetrap.There are no humans to be seen at all and it appears that Tom and Jerry at alone in the bowling alley. Which is good. I find that extra characters such as stray cats and unseen humans (including the staggeringly un-offensive Mammy-Two-Shoes) to be a distraction. New locations, new torture devices and no diversions would make Tom and Jerry funny every single time. Too bad they mostly never really turned out that way.