Touches You

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"The Yankee Doodle Mouse" is an American 7.5-minute cartoon from 1943, which means that this one will have its 75th anniversary next year and that it was from the days of World War II. And as it was made by Hanna Barbera, it is a Tom & Jerry cartoon, one of their more, maybe even most, known and liked. Actually is is really many very short films put together here. They may not have much of a connection, but they have certain things in common. For example, they are pretty much always about explosions and Jerry keeps being in a somewhat hopeless situation, but he keeps prevailing and eventually triumphing with Tom being the loser, sometimes through bad luck, at other times through his own incompetence. There are no other cats, other mice or dogs in here - pure Tom vs. Jerry. To me, the film needed a bit to get going, but the middle part is where it is at its best and funniest and the ending is solid too. Okay I think that is all. Oh yeah, I guess the Oscars pretty much liked the patriotic note at the very end and as they have always been kinda big on Tom and Jerry, they gave them another Academy Award here picking this one over works by some other greats from that era. It's probably not my favorite cartoon about the world's most famous cat-and-mouse duo, but it is a decently entertaining watch for lovers of old cartoons. I give it a thumbs-up.

The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943) *** (out of 4)Award-winning short has Tom and Jerry paying respect to America who was deep into WWII. This short has the two in the basement doing a rather violent battle involving eggs, bombs and various other objects. THE YANKEE DOODLE MOUSE isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but there are some very good moments scattered throughout the film and there's no question that it's certainly the most violent film in the series up to this point. Tom certainly takes a beating in various ways including several bombs meant for Jerry not working out correctly. The film has a very good and quick pacing to it, which certainly helps and there are some good laughs along the way as well.

There is no doubt in my mind this was one of the better early Tom and Jerry cartoons. Even with its decidedly curious and somewhat ironic title. The Yankee Doodle Mouse is extremely good all the same, with a great story and a very patriotic ending. The animation is fantastic, the visual effects are dazzling especially with the US flag and the music score here is one of my favourite soundtracks on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Even more impressive were the sound effects, they were really authentic, and the sight gags are brilliantly timed and all of them work superbly. Overall, even with the curious title, but it is for me one of the better early Tom and Jerry cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is a Tom & Jerry "war" cartoon with Jerry in the war mode pulverizing hapless Tom. Right from the beginning when he's tossing "hen-grenades" (eggs) to the end, he's using all kinds of objects as warfare. There are bunch of clever references to war slogans but modified, such as "That Friendly Rat May Tell The Cat" as one of the old warnings to use to give folks about being careful who you talk to, etc. Jerry, complete a bottle-cap for a helmet, also dive-bombs the poor cat, riding paper airplanes with firecrackers, until he's finally shot down but he parachutes with a bra and lands safely. He even uses smoke screens by dragging a bag of flour along the ground. - whatever he can think up to win the "war." It's all clever and very funny. This is non-stop action with a patriotic ending. I have no argument about this winning an Academy Award for best animated short.