Solid Serenade (1946)

Wonderful character development!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

"Solid Serenade" is a little cartoon movie from 1946, so this one is already over 70 years old. It is by Hanna Barbera and as such of course another Tom & Jerry cartoon and it runs the usual slightly over 7 minutes for these. With the "unusual" in my title I mean that this one includes a bigger deal of music than they usually do as Tom is serenading his (potential girlfriend) for almost the entirety of the first half of the film. But afterward the usual chase scenes follow. Spike behind Tom. Tom behind Jerry. I think the music here is good and so are comedy as well as animation. You can see this is from the Golden Age of Animation. And even if this is one of the more known T&J films that did not manage to score an Oscar nomination, it is still a fairly good watch, almost a must see for cartoon lovers. Go check it out.

The title of this Tom & Jerry short refers to Tom--who does something VERY uncharacteristic--you hear him sing. He serenades a cute lady cat with his rendition of "Is You Is or Is You Ain't". While he was careful to tie up Butch when the cartoon begins, he didn't anticipate the troubles he'd have with Jerry--who is MORE than willing to destroy Tom's good time--and untie Butch. Most of the film consist of Tom trying to stop Butch from killing him.If you are familiar with the Tom & Jerry cartoons of this era, then it's no surprise that artistically it's among the best cartoon shorts you can find...period. While Tom & Jerry are quite predictable, these cartoons during their glory years of the 1940s cannot be matched even by Disney or Looney Tunes when it comes to the art. I always am amazed by the gorgeous backgrounds and colors--and this one is no exception. Overall, this is yet another marvelous Tom & Jerry cartoon. Not among the very best--but awfully good.

Tom sneaks into a well protected garden to serenade a gorgeous female kitty. But first he has to tie up Spike (here called 'Killer'). His chosen song is actually 'Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?', which is actually very cool song.Too bad Jerry doesn't share the same sentiments. Tom's crooning is keeping him awake in his letterbox/bedroom and he just wants him to shut the hell up.Jerry actually only gets to torment Tom a couple of times in this cartoon. Most of the pain is dished out by Spike. And it is very, very funny, with great visual jokes and humor.

Spike the dog (here called Killer, in later cartoons he'd be called Butch) is tied up by Tom the cat so he can serenade the lady he has his eye on with the song "Is you is or is you ain't my baby". He wakes up Jerry the mouse, who tortures him for his act of love by throwing stuff at him. This prompts Tom to grow aggravated and the game of cat and mouse is on. Jerry unties Butch (Killer) to let the dog get into the action. This is a great Tom and Jerry cartoon and Tom's singing is classic stuff. This hilarious cartoon short can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry" My Grade: A