The Zoot Cat
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
The cartoon opens on a Valentine note to Toots from Tom, with a pink ribbon tied to Jerry inside a gift box. Meanwhile, Tom gets ready for a date, his whiskers in curlers.
Tom knocks on the door, rings the doorbell and shouts before dropping the box and hiding behind a pillar on the porch. Toots opens the door and is pleasantly surprised at the gift. Tom then attempts to impress Toots by playing a ukulele and dancing. Finally, Tom presents her with a bouquet of flowers, but a loose floorboard smacks him in the face.
Toots responds with a dissent, while Jerry nods in agreement to her words. After she throws the gift back at Tom, Jerry grabs an ear of corn and plants it in the box, signifying that Tom's efforts were "corny" (slang for outdated). Tom then hears a radio commercial for a zoot suit, which gives Tom an idea: to make his own zoot suit and mystify his intended.
On his knocking on the door again, Toots is now shocked to see Tom in the impressive outfit. Tom lights a cigar as Toots compliments his new, hip look before inviting him inside. They start to jive dance and Jerry politely cuts in, dancing a few steps with Toots before Tom realizes what's going on. Tom chases Jerry, who escapes by jumping into an ashtray and rubbing a burning cigarette butt on Tom’s nose.
Jerry then peels a banana and throws the skin onto the floor, which sends Tom crashing into a piano. But he recovers in majestic form and starts to play, taking on the persona of a suave, romantic lover. Tom tries to impress Toots using a Charles Boyer-esque voice. Jerry then sticks matches in Tom's toes, and lights them in order to give him a hot foot. Tom unwittingly continues until the flames engulf his feet. He pauses, sniffs the smoke-filled air, and then realizes what Jerry has done and screams in pain.
Jerry resumes dancing with Toots. Tom returns, determined to flatten Jerry with a fireplace shovel. A chase ensues. Jerry hides behind a table leg and uses his foot to trip Tom. Jerry clips the hanger in Tom's jacket to a window-shade, then kicks Tom in the eye. Tom angrily pursues the fleeing mouse, but the shade rolls back taking Tom with it.
By the window, Tom is dunked in a fishbowl. This causes the zoot suit to shrink and eventually pop off his body. Jerry jumps into the shrunken suit, which is now a perfect fit for him. He then dances away, pleased with his new zoot suit.

Review: Hilarious Dialog Makes This A Big Winner.
Tom has his whiskers permed, and he's strutting his stuff going to impress his sweetie.
He's got Jerry all packaged up as a special gift.
At the door, he presents the gift, dances, sings, doing whatever he can to impress her.
She isn't impressed (women are so moody).
She tells him, using a half dozen expressions of the day, that "You don't send me." She throws Jerry in his face, saying, "Here's your rat, cat!"Tom overhears a radio commercial urging guys to get a zoot suit to impress the gals.
He makes one, goes back to see the girl and - wham!
- she's impressed now.
The dialog in this short is fantastic.
I wish they had English subtitles so I could catch all the hip phrases.
The rest of the cartoon has Tom interrupted in his quest for admiration by Jerry, of course, and the two chase each other in the final few minutes..
Well I enjoyed it.
This is not the best of the Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it is very funny.
I thought the animation was very nice for its time, it is one of the better-looking early Tom and Jerry cartoons.
I thought the music was outstanding, I know I keep mentioning the music in everything I review but the music is always something I like to talk about.
Here it was fun and rousing.
I thought the dialogue was hilarious, maybe some of the cool hip language used here is a tad dated but it was funny and worked reasonably well.
The female cat's dialogue was enough to have me on the floor doubled up from laughing, it was just so witty and fresh.
I thought the story was effective, simple yet effective.
I thought the visual gags were a delight, there were enough to delight any Tom and Jerry fan.
I thought the characters were well done, Tom sometimes talks a little too much, but he is fine, and Jerry is still his sweet and rascally self.
Plus the female cat was a welcome addition.
Overall, enjoyable.
9/10 Bethany Cox. Tom talks too much.
Tom the cat tries to impress a girl cat by giving her Jerry the mouse and singing her a song.
But she rebukes him for being to square.
So he makes a makeshift home-made zoot suit and continues to woo her.
This is one of the few shorts where Tom and to a little extent Jerry both talk.
Whereas most Tom and Jerry cartoons are timeless, this one is dated and not as funny as normally.
One of my less favorite shorts, it's still watchable though.
This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry" My Grade: C DVD Extras: Commentary by historian Jerry Beck where he talks about the animator, voice actress and the songs amongst other things..
They did talk.
Here's one fact that I had forgotten.
The much lauded "talking" between Tom and Jerry in the feature film a few years back WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THEY TALKED!
They didn't say more than a couple of lines, but, BOTH Tom and Jerry spoke actual words in this cartoon!
So much for Hollywood "Myths".
I  guess the screenwriters overlooked this episode.It's a fun outing, like most of Tom and Jerry's adventures.
Tom's trying to be hep to impress a local female cat, and Jerry's only making things harder on Tom than normal.
Good fun, and wild to hear them speak..
Look who's talking.
Tom is trying to impress a female cat by grooming his whiskers, offering Jerry as a gift and trying his damnedest to be smooth.
But it doesn't work and the girl tells him to take a hike.Not discouraged, Tom fabricates a sophisticated-looking suit out of an old hammock and tries once more.
This time she falls for him and they start to play around.
Obviously Jerry is going to ruin it for him and end up with the gal himself.What's weird about this cartoon is that Tom and Jerry actually talk, which is not something I thought they ever did until that awful movie in 1992.
Either way, it's still a rather funny short..
I guess I'm too 'square' to find this one particularly funny.
The Zoot Cat might have seemed incredibly 'hip' at the time of its original release, with it's jazz slang and cutting-edge sub-culture fashion, but it now feels embarrassingly dated; yet this 'snapshot of a time gone by' also goes to make this a rather intriguing episode.
It's hard for me, as an Englishman born in the late 60s, to imagine an era in the US in which such strange attire and language could have been seen as 'dangerously' cool, but here it is, perfectly captured in a Tom and Jerry cartoon and seeing is believing, as they say!Tom wishes to impress a young lady cat, but she perceives him to be 'square'.
To remedy the situation, Tom cuts himself a sharp 'zoot suit' from a hammock, makes himself a wide brimmed hat, and dances swing-style to the latest beats.
Of course, Jerry does his utmost to ruin Tom's chances of success.Not only is this a historically interesting T&J caper, but it is also one in which the usually rather silent cat and mouse do a lot of talkingalbeit in a manner that proves to be unintelligible a lot of the time, thanks to the often indecipherable 40s phrases spoken by the characters.
Unfortunately, whilst this episode is noteworthy for it's peculiarities, it isn't that funny.The Zoot Cat will be of most interest to those who have a passion for the music and style of the decade in which it was made; the rest of us will probably be rather unimpressed..
One of the best.
I love the animation, and the comedy, I love the everything..
The Zoot Cat. The Zoot Cat (1944) *** (out of 4) It seems Tom and Jerry fans are really split on this short as some consider it one of their best while others find it to be near the bottom.
I'm somewhere in the middle, although I will admit that it's not one of my favorites.
The story is pretty simple as Tom gets rejected from a pretty cat so he learns a few moves, throws on an orange and green zoot suit and tries to impress her.
THE ZOOT CAT doesn't really have much of a story but it's basically a showcase for the music and Tom's dancing.
The music score itself is quite good and certainly manages to make you feel its beat.
Tom's dancing will put a smile on your face but it really didn't make me laugh.
With that said, there's still enough charm to be had here and it was at least something different for the series..
Tom in a hip suit..
Tom uses material from hammock to made his zoot suit.
He tries to be the hippest cat around with the suit, and try to attract a certain feline.
Jerry the mouse always get in Tom's way of romancing a female.
The Zoot Cat is one of the funniest in the Tom and Jerry cartoons..
going against the status quo.
This was one of my favorites as a kid, liked it even more after I started listening to my dad's records in high school, and have come to appreciate it ever since.Along with 'Little Red Hot Riding Hood' this is the coolest cartoon ever produced.
Especially because it deals with an American subculture as opposed to 'popular culture'.
For example Warner Bros often caricatured Bing Crosby or Sinatra whereas (at MGM) Louis Jordan would later be used a few years later in 'Solid Serenade'.While most perceive jazz as their grandparents 'music', this was when your grandparents were young and jazz was associated with sex, reefer smoking, and degenerates.
At the extreme Hitler was rounding up young Aryans, some meeting the same fate as the other 'undesireables' for listening to jazz.While I won't get into specifics, it is vital to realize when this 'short' was released (Feb. 1944), that in June of '43 Los Angeles passed a resolution criminalizing the wearing (and 'wearer')of zoot suits in public.
And the man who made the look popular Cab Calloway was banned from the airwaves (12/41) for improvising the national anthem.While I think PC is out of control and an oxymoron (I am Japanese and liked Hashimotos and Fuji from Super Dave Osborne) it is one thing to be complacent and another to be promote racism.So while some will defend other studios racist cartoons as 'the times' there are discernible differences between say 'Uncle Tom's Cabana' and 'All that and Rabbit Stew'.
A better description would be the 'places', Warner Bros' theaters were located in the south and the Midwest in a segregated country, the latter would only reinforce long held 'truths'.
Although these were intended for adults, cartoons are kid friendly.However to judge history with modern 'values' is unfair and has to be put into context, makes this cartoon quite remarkable.I urge everyone to read about what Elanore Roosevelt correctly termed race riots but what is known as the 'Zoot Suit Riots'.
Hilarious farce, sends up "coolness", brilliant music, one of the very best.
SPOILER!.
They say "clothes makes the man".
Most of us confess to adopting an assumed bravado and swagger when adorned in our smartest and best.
As usual, Tom has it in spades.
His matchless ability to move from gauche artless country hick to high fashion sophisticate, thanks to his new attire, is hilarious to witness.
The piano scene is truly wonderful.
Tom's new found suave Gallic charm projects with such supreme confidence, his forehead and bottom lip have never looked nobler, his female love interest is swooning with desire, resistance is useless.
This huge emotionally charged growing tension is really fuelled by Tom's speaking.
Whereas most of the classic Tom & Jerry films work so well without the clutter of speech, in this instance Tom's vocalisation adds so much to the development of his novel smooth and charmingly predatory character.
Alas, for Tom, and thankfully for us, Jerry is at hand to return Tom back to the "real" world.
Again, Tom's use of speech really works with his "Bob Hope like" one liner.
As usual, the female interest is a bit one dimensional but this prevents any upstaging of the leads, Tom & Jerry.What does it for me is the wonderful artwork, excellently matched music, well crafted plot, cleverly developed characterisation, superb use of speech (not overdone), and all wrapped up in the unique Tom & Jerry magic.And, as you all know, even though you may be romantically dressed to kill, there is always a Jerry around to cramp your style!.
Tom Seeks Love as a 1944 Hipster..
The "zoot - suit" era lasted roughly from 1939 to about 1946.
It's most permanent affect was to help spread "cool" lingo from extreme jazz lovers into the mainstream of the U.S. culture.
But this probably would have happened anyway: the average person would have liked the music and picked up the various slang terms.
Instead the zoot suit was to become an object of suspicion for ultra-conservative types (who hated jazz anyway) as being anti-social.
And after awhile, it seemed just like a fad that had played out.
With it's over-padded shoulders, attempts at streamlined and tight midriff section, and wild patterns (frequently with crazy stripes), covered with a wide brimmed - low crowned hat, the "zoot suit" just struck an unnerving note with conservatives, and a reaffirmation of independence with jazz fans.Here Tom Cat is shown going to the home of a pretty female cat, with a present (a disgusted Jerry Mouse in a blue box with a ribbon on it).
Tom tries to make himself presentable, pomading his hair (with lard, symbolically enough), and curlicuing his whiskers.
When he gives her the gift, Tom also serenades the cat on his ukulele, and sounds so annoying that when he is accidentally hit in the face with a board from her veranda the audience feels cheered.The female cat tells Tom how square he seems, and shuts the door, after returning his gift (Jerry thinks him square too, and shows it before he runs off).
Tom decides to show he can be real cool - he constructs a costume of a zoot suit and hat from a hammock and a lamp shade.
Then he returns and briefly captures the girl's affections.
But I said briefly: Jerry sees to that.As pointed out this was one of the few Tom and Jerry cartoons that gave the two characters voices (Jerry has the same voice used in ANCHORS AWEIGH).
Oddly enough, at one point, when Tom seems about to consummate the relations with the female cat, he stops talking jive, and starts an imitation based on his idea of Charles Boyer (hardly a zoot suit type).It is not a bad little cartoon.
I am not usually a fan of Tom and Jerry or of Hanna-Barbera's work, but for it's capturing a moment of 20th Century American culture I think this was a pretty good cartoon..
Tom goes wooing.
As this short opens Jerry is tied up with a ribbon; we quickly learn why when Tom presents him to a lady cat....
she is unimpressed though and rejects his advances.
Tom then hears a radio advert for Zoot suits and decides to make his own.
The lady cat clearly thinks it is pretty sharp as this time he gets invited in.
Tom starts dancing with her but Jerry is determined to spoil it for him; he throws a banana skin and Tom goes flying lands on the piano.
This doesn't spoil his date though; he just recovers and starts playing it.
Jerry continues his efforts though and eventually Tom loses his cool and ultimately his suit.This is a rather unusual Tom and Jerry short as the two usually silent characters talk and to be honest the voices didn't really fit the characters for me even though the somewhat dated jive talk was pretty funny.
As always there is a fair amount of violence; some of it inventive some of it just cruel.
While this isn't one of my favourite Tom and Jerry shorts it is still well worth watching; mostly for the jive talk; particularly the lady cat's rejection speech delivered to Tom at the start..
This charming cat.
"The Zoot Cat" is another American Tom and Jerry cartoon and this one here is from 1944, later years of WWII, so it will have its 75th anniversary soon.
These 7 minutes are probably neither among the most known these these two have to offer nor among the least known, somewhere in-between.
It is perhaps their most fashion focused work as the title already gives away and it is not just Tom who is in a zoot here, but Jerry too as we find out at the very end.
This ending was certainly among the better moments (next to the burning-paw scene) of an otherwise really forgettable cartoon that suffered from an unlikable female cat taking away too much screen time from Jerry especially.
It was not bad or anything, but not very funny either.
Plus I don't like these a lot where Tom is talking and he is talking a lot here.
Overall, I give this one a thumbs-down and it's really only worth seeing for T&J completionists.
Everybody else can skip it.