Previously, I incorrectly stated that `Duel Personality' is the best Tom & Jerry Chuck Jones short. While it is still very good, there are three other Jones shorts that I had forgotten about that are a little bit better: `Year of the Mouse,' `Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life,' and `Love Me, Love My Mouse.' (With honorable mention going to `Cat and Dupli-Cat.') I may write on the others at a later date, but for now, I will focus on `Year of the Mouse.' The first thing to note about it is that it is actually a remake of a Hubie and Bertie Warner Brothers cartoon. Perhaps there were some gags left over that were never used in the original that Jones thought would work great in the context of Tom & Jerry. And I think they do. But to pull them off, Jones needed a second mouse, so instead of using Nibbles/Tuffy, he made one up (I don't know his name, if he even has one). Just like in the Hubie and Bertie short, these mice are playing mind games with the cat. Using a fishing pole, the chimney, and various knickknacks, they try to make Tom think he is going crazy. Some of the results, while a bit darker than what you expect, are quite hilarious. And Jerry's imitations of Tom's reactions are really funny. Now, I don't think the tunicate gag makes sense, but all the others have me laughing.
In comparison to the original, there is one thing the original does better and two that this one does better. The one complaint I have for this is that the set-up here is nonexistent. Jerry and his friend seem to be pranking Tom just for the heck of it. In the original, Hubie and Bertie was clearly trying to get rid of Claude because Claude was an expert mouser. The main thing that `Year of the Mouse' improves is the ending. In the original, Claude is chased out, though I always thought that was wrong, since the mice were invading Claude's home. Here, after a hilarious gag with a bow, the ending is just as it should be. The other thing this does better is that it is funnier all around. It's no `Cheese Chasers,' the only Hubie and Bertie short I love and a short that I believe is one of the top-ten funniest cartoons ever, but it's funnier than all the other Hubie and Bertie cartoons, I think. And that's all it really wants to be. Zantara's score: 9 out of 10.
