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Tea Break 'Toons 9th March 2015

The Animated Dragon
Mar 9, 2015
2 min read

Welcome to the first in the series of Tea Break Toons. Every week I will be recommending a 'toon that lasts 15 minutes or less for you to watch during your valuable tea breaks.

Like an overpriced restaurant I will also be recommending an accompanying biscuit which complements the 'toon like a well matured wine.

This week's Toon is:

Tom and Jerry's, The Cat Concerto (1946/1947)

Run time: Approximately 7 minutes

Recommended biscuit: Taxi

A chocolate coated, caramel wafer sandwich with a chocolate centre.

This exquisite bickie has everything you could possibly want and more. To be treated with respect and only to be eaten with a Tea Break Toon that matches it's quality.

NB. Not to be eaten while wearing braces. Orthodontists don't appreciate you breaking your braces over a biscuit, even if it is a Taxi, how inconsiderate of them.

Biscuit rating: 9/10

Thanks Stitch for modelling here

The Cat Concerto is one of my personal favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons of all time. It features incredibly skilled animation, a fantastic score and a hilarious plot.

The short is beautifully set to the music of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2. Although it is not the first time animation has been set to take a classical music (the first being Disney's Fantasia in 1940), I personally think this is much more effective. The thought that must have gone into this short cartoon amazes me, I can't even begin to think where I would start trying to animate it, but this just works incredibly well.

This episode won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons.

It follows Tom and Jerry on another one of their wacky adventures, this time following Tom's debut as a classical pianist.

However, little does Tom know, that his world class piano playing is interrupting Jerry's sleep, as the mouse had made himself a little bed on the piano strings.

A startled Jerry decides to add his own improvisations to Tom's piece by dancing, drumming and running all over the keys and strings of the piano.

It then descends into anarchy as Tom seeks revenge on Jerry with the poor mouse being smacked about by the piano.

Jerry teases Tom while he plays the piano. Copyright Hanna-Barbera

An angry Jerry then throws the final punch by playing the fastest section of the rhapsody with Tom struggling to keep up.

As the set comes to an end, Tom, his suit now shredded to pieces through exhaustion, collapses on the piano keys. The audience applauds but rather than Tom receiving the praise, it is Jerry who receives all the attention as he jumps up from the piano, throws on a suit and bows to the audience with a spotlight shining down on him.

Unfortunately this short is not available on Youtube however you can find it on the DVD Tom and Jerry Classic Collection Volume 2, along with 24 other classic episodes. It is available from Amazon here.

You can however, listen to the piece as performed by Lang Lang.