Very Cool!!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"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.

This cartoon appears, at least to me, to possibly be an effort by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS--the Oscar people) to announce that they were squarely behind the war effort--though THE YANKEE DOODLE MOUSE was an excellent film. Unlike a typical Tom and Jerry cartoon, this one had several allusions to WWII--such as Jerry sending dispatches to the war office that he's taken car of the enemy, the cat. This is all very typical of a WWII era cartoon and perhaps this wasn't the main reason the cartoon won the Oscar for Best Animated Short--we'll never know.Regardless of why it won, it was a superior product. The animation quality of these earlier Tom and Jerry cartoons were he best of the series--with amazingly beautiful story boards. Of the big three animation studios of the day, Disney, Warner Brothers and MGM, MGM probably had the best quality animation from a purely technical standpoint. Additionally, it's fun watching these characters beat the snot out of each other. However, this isn't exactly new stuff--most Tom and Jerry cartoons are very, very similar to each other. As usual, Tom tries to kill Jerry and by the end Jerry wins the day--no huge surprises here. While me saying this is a bit of a spoiler, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that Jerry is the winner. Heck, I can only remember one time where Tom ended up the victor in all their many films.

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.

This cartoon was the first of seven Oscar winners in the Animated Short category. While it is the least of the seven, in my view, it speaks more to the quality of the others than to any weakness in this particular cartoon. Sort of "Jerry Goes To War", it is a reflection of the times and is very well executed and funny. Shows frequently on Cartoon Network. Recommended.