happipuppi13
This incarnation of Tom & Jerry debuted when I was 7 and ran in reruns through the early 1980s. So for me it wasn't gone when it wrapped in 1977. Needless to say i hadn't seen the original MGM's at the time (1975-76) so this was the only Tom and jerry I knew for awhile. So,them being friends in this version was simply how the show was and how they were introduced to me. It had nothing to do with toned down cartoon violence (which I hadn't much of yet). it was just a funny show where sometimes T & J team up to help someone out trouble they're in. Like one show where a baby mammoth has been found and just wants to go home to it's mother. While being pursued by the resident villain who wants to cage it and make a fortune. Similar show where they find a new baby eagle hatching out of a misplaced egg and they try to raise it. Turning their lives upside down. There were shows where Tom & Jerry competed against each-other and "surprise" Tom tries to cheat (like in running a track race). Tom hooks up a motor to his back but then he can't shut it of. He gets loose of it and it chases after him. What also has stuck with me to this day is it's catchy theme song:"Set the dial for awhile have a laugh and smile, it's the Tom and jerry Show!"You'll be skimmed with a grin when you first tune us in, it's the Tom and jerry Show!" (Announcer introduces T & J,music plays)"Lot's of zing,lots to sing. Everything's gonna swing, so get ready here we go-o-o-o!" "Big or tall,short or small...we'll all have a ball, on the Tom - and - Jer-r-ry show!~"Whoever said kids who watched this were wusses,you were wrong. it has nothing to do with non-violence at all.We just liked the show and watched it with all the rest of what Saturday morning in the '70s offered. More simply,we just liked to laugh. 10 stars,because nothing beats a good child-hood memory...that's something no one can change.Oh..and if you want lame Tom & Jerry cartoons,try the ones made in Europe,in the 1960s,they're boring and flat out annoying.
MartinHafer
In the 1970s, a lot of do-gooders pushed to make cartoons non-violent. The thinking was that kids will imitate the toons and become violent themselves. While I applaud the idea of controlling what crap kids watch, cartoony violence doesn't equate to the same violence often seen on TV news, cop shows, or the average film marketed to kids--or watching 5 seconds of "The Jersey Shore". So, the cartoons were the scapegoats of this movement at that time. That is why, in this case, Tom and Jerry are friends and get along most of the time. If they do get upset, the most they'd do is shun the other! THe horror! That's like having a W. C. Fields movie where he is sober and likes kids, a Cowardly Lion who is filled with courage or Donald Duck after an operation and tons of speech therapy!! It just doesn't make sense and the change fundamentally destroys the chemistry and who the characters are. In this case, the show is left insipid and only of value to wussy kids and hippies.
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(SPOILER!) I was just remembering a Tom and Jerry episode where the duo are engaged in an airplane race. The episode is very like an old TOM SLICK episode and like Tom, the duo are racing up against an evil Austrian baron with a devious plan to win the race by cheating. One of my favorite scenes from this episode is where the Baron climbs up on their tail only to be greeted by an annoyed Tom. I was just wondering, could this story be based on an unused TOM SLICK script or been written by the same writers? Even the ending is similar - where Tom and Jerry cross the finish line first and are declared the winners - and so are the Baron's antics, including using dynamite and other means to knock the other contestants out of the race.
BlackJack_B
While Scooby-Doo is still the crown jewel of the properties of Hanna-Barbera, the one creation that they're probably most proud of is Tom & Jerry. This influential and revolutionary cartoon about the classic "cat chasing the mouse" won several Oscars for Hanna-Barbera and MGM. Without them, there might not be a "Sylvester vs. Tweety", "Wile E. Coyote vs. The Road Runner or Bugs Bunny" and yes, no "Itchy And Scratchy". Yes, all these cartoons are pretty violent, with the use of anvils, rocks, TNT, guns, and even Iron Maidens, but they weren't overblown gory like Matt Groening's twisted parody of Tom And Jerry. When Teletoon in Canada started showing Tom & Jerry, I thought we'd see the theatrical cartoons, but instead we got this made-for-T.V. series. This time, Tom & Jerry are friends, and they are the ones who have to face a common enemy or do a chore for someone. If they have to go head-to-head, it's in sports competitions. Most of the "slapstick violence" is gone, leaving a sterile version of the duo.Still, it's not bad, and I watch it on occasion, but I'd rather see the theatrical versions of this cartoon first. It's better than Tiny Toons at least.