Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Saturday Evening Puss", which has an R-rated ring to it by today's standards, is another Hanna Barbera MGM cartoon and this one was released back in 1950, so it is already over 65 years old. As always with these, there is not too much voice acting in here, but Lillian Randolph is featured prominently. It is relatively unusual that the first 60 seconds belong to her character, but here it is true as we see her leave for a card game with friends. And she is hardly out of the door when Tom invites all his buddies over to have a party. Jerry, who also takes unusually long to be seen for the first time, is not amused as he just wants his calm and when nothing helps, he finally calls Tom's owner showing us he is able to speak human language. Another humanization aspect here is that the cats never even try to eat Jerry, even after they catch him. This is probably not one for Tom lovers as the moment the party starts, he is just one of the cats and doesn't stand out anymore. The one who does is a smaller cat though, one of the best aspects of the cartoon and the main reason I gave it a thumbs-up. I wish he was in more of these T&J cartoons. Finally Jerry gets his fair share too for being a party pooper and a telltale Eventually, the watch here was really nothing special. The music doesn't stand out either. All in all, a really close call, but I still recommend the watch, even if it is nowhere near 1950's best in animation and nowhere near T&J's watch. It shows that the material was really thin as this one does not even reach the 6.5-minute mark.