Something I noticed about the Looney Tune and Tom and Jerry shorts - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

GARFIELDKOOL · 06-26-2006, 07:09 PM

How come the cats always have to be the bad guys? How come a mouse and dog have to gang up on a cat? Obviously, it happened all the time on Tom and Jerry, as well on Looney Tunes. On Looney Tunes, even if it wasn't the regular Slyvester character, it had a various no-name cat character getting pummeled by a dog, and outwitted by a mouse. I never liked this, I was always down with the cats. I saw the cats as the cool good guys. the mice were pesky, and the dogs were bullies.

Brian Damage · 06-26-2006, 07:18 PM

I was a big fan of Sylvester. I always rooted for him to eat that dang annoying Tweety Bird. lol

TVFactFan · 06-26-2006, 10:35 PM

Tom couldn't win, he was either getting smack by the Black lady with a Broom, Getting ran down by that big ass pit bull or being fooled by Jerry and running in or through a wall-LOL

tv star collector · 06-27-2006, 08:16 AM

The cat-as-victim gag can be traced back further than that. In the Krazy Kat
comic strip (created in 1910), Krazy was always being tormented by Ignatz
Mouse, a rodent who was prone to throw bricks at the feline. It has been a
staple of film comedy ever since he/she (the gender was never specified) first
came to the silver screen in 1916.

GARFIELDKOOL · 06-27-2006, 01:29 PM

I still don't understand why the cats had to be the bad guys in all these cartoon shorts?

I want to see the Tom and Jerry later episodes when they became friends. I haven't seen those episodes in ages. I wish some channel would pick them up. I actually saw an episode on youtube.com

Ireneparalegal · 06-27-2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I was a big fan of Sylvester. I always rooted for him to eat that dang annoying Tweety Bird. lol

awwwwwww, don't be mean!!!!!!

BIRDS ANONYMOUS...anyone remember that when all the cats get Sylvester to join BA so he can get over his "addiction" to wanting to eat Tweety? LMAO!!!!!

GARFIELDKOOL · 06-27-2006, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

awwwwwww, don't be mean!!!!!!

BIRDS ANONYMOUS...anyone remember that when all the cats get Sylvester to join BA so he can get over his "addiction" to wanting to eat Tweety? LMAO!!!!!

If Tom, Slyvester, and even Mr. Jinx had stopped beating themselves, they would have eaten the mice and birds.

I remember that Speedy Gonzales episode with Slyvester, Slyvester actually caught Speedy with super glue. The dumb cat had that mouse but he was to stupid to realize Speedy had a bottle of tobacco sauce in his hands. Slyvester was about to eat Speedy, and the bottle of hot sauce went down his throat before he could eat the mouse. that's what you call beating your own self. I think Slyvester was the dumbest cartoon cat of them all.

gilligan fanatic · 06-27-2006, 02:03 PM

Don't forget Herman and Katnip. Herman the cat got treated a lot worse than many of the other cats. Supposedly that is what Itchy and Scratchy are based off of and not Tom and Jerry.

tv star collector · 06-27-2006, 05:46 PM

True. The Herman & Katnip shorts probably were more violent than Tom & Jerry.
In fact, all the Paramount cartoons were pretty violent. Look at Buzzy the Crow and the poor cat in his cartoons. And consider what Baby Huey did to the Fox!
You almost had to feel sorry for the heavy because you knew that he was
going to get clobbered in the end because he was so incredibly stupid.

TV Knowledge Fan · 07-03-2006, 05:18 PM

...for the most part, were more violent than their Hollywood counterparts,'tv star collector' (maybe it was the fact that they produced in New York, at 25 W. 45th Street). Only ONCE does Baby Huey realize the Fox is determined to make a meal of him, and that was in his very first cartoon, "Quack-A-Doodle-Doo" (1950) {"Duhhh, I think you're tryin' to KILL me!!!"}.

Katnip was THE most unlucky cat in cartoons- Herman the Mouse and Buzzy the Crow ALWAYS outsmarted him, and in very masochistic ways [who could forget Katnip's strangled cry of "I CAN'T SEE!!!" as he bumps his way down a street wearing GLASS EYEBALLS and wearing a sign stating "EXTINCT", at the end of "Mouseum" (1956)?]. Yet, most of our generation remember him with great fondness, even today!

As for Sylvester & Tweetie Pie, remember that the cat may swallow the bird, but NEVER digest him!! That would be the end of the series-- and, as laid out in "The Last Hungry Cat" (1961), Sylvester, even if he THINKS he ate Tweetie, would be reduced to a basket case gulping coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes!

As for Tom & Jerry, theirs is a lifelong love/hate relationship that defies description. Each of them KNOWS what their purpose in "life" is...and Tom is determined to "torture" Jerry and keep their perpetual "chase" going. Jerry, of course, will not stand for that, and "stands up" for himself when he has to.
In "Heavenly Puss" (1949), the entire relationship is tilted. In the end, Tom realizes he NEEDS Jerry because he discovers that the mouse WILL forgive him for all the things he's done to him (even in "death"), and, for the moment, decides to "go easy" on him, hugging and slobbering him at the very end.

Brian Damage · 07-03-2006, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

awwwwwww, don't be mean!!!!!!

BIRDS ANONYMOUS...anyone remember that when all the cats get Sylvester to join BA so he can get over his "addiction" to wanting to eat Tweety? LMAO!!!!!

That was probably the best Sylvester/Tweety cartoon. lol

06-26-2006, 07:09 PM	#1
GARFIELDKOOL Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 02, 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 7,204	Something I noticed about the Looney Tune and Tom and Jerry shorts How come the cats always have to be the bad guys? How come a mouse and dog have to gang up on a cat? Obviously, it happened all the time on Tom and Jerry, as well on Looney Tunes. On Looney Tunes, even if it wasn't the regular Slyvester character, it had a various no-name cat character getting pummeled by a dog, and outwitted by a mouse. I never liked this, I was always down with the cats. I saw the cats as the cool good guys. the mice were pesky, and the dogs were bullies.

06-26-2006, 07:18 PM	#2
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	I was a big fan of Sylvester. I always rooted for him to eat that dang annoying Tweety Bird. lol
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

06-27-2006, 02:03 PM	#8
gilligan fanatic Born to Be Bad Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: down by the Lagoon Posts: 9,954	Don't forget Herman and Katnip. Herman the cat got treated a lot worse than many of the other cats. Supposedly that is what Itchy and Scratchy are based off of and not Tom and Jerry.
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07-03-2006, 05:18 PM	#10
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	Well, the Paramount cartoons... ...for the most part, were more violent than their Hollywood counterparts,'tv star collector' (maybe it was the fact that they produced in New York, at 25 W. 45th Street). Only ONCE does Baby Huey realize the Fox is determined to make a meal of him, and that was in his very first cartoon, "Quack-A-Doodle-Doo" (1950) {"Duhhh, I think you're tryin' to KILL me!!!"}. Katnip was THE most unlucky cat in cartoons- Herman the Mouse and Buzzy the Crow ALWAYS outsmarted him, and in very masochistic ways [who could forget Katnip's strangled cry of "I CAN'T SEE!!!" as he bumps his way down a street wearing GLASS EYEBALLS and wearing a sign stating "EXTINCT", at the end of "Mouseum" (1956)?]. Yet, most of our generation remember him with great fondness, even today! As for Sylvester & Tweetie Pie, remember that the cat may swallow the bird, but NEVER digest him!! That would be the end of the series-- and, as laid out in "The Last Hungry Cat" (1961), Sylvester, even if he THINKS he ate Tweetie, would be reduced to a basket case gulping coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes! As for Tom & Jerry, theirs is a lifelong love/hate relationship that defies description. Each of them KNOWS what their purpose in "life" is...and Tom is determined to "torture" Jerry and keep their perpetual "chase" going. Jerry, of course, will not stand for that, and "stands up" for himself when he has to. In "Heavenly Puss" (1949), the entire relationship is tilted. In the end, Tom realizes he NEEDS Jerry because he discovers that the mouse WILL forgive him for all the things he's done to him (even in "death"), and, for the moment, decides to "go easy" on him, hugging and slobbering him at the very end.

06-26-2006, 10:35 PM	#3
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 98,950	Tom couldn't win, he was either getting smack by the Black lady with a Broom, Getting ran down by that big ass pit bull or being fooled by Jerry and running in or through a wall-LOL

06-27-2006, 08:16 AM	#4
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	The cat-as-victim gag can be traced back further than that. In the Krazy Kat comic strip (created in 1910), Krazy was always being tormented by Ignatz Mouse, a rodent who was prone to throw bricks at the feline. It has been a staple of film comedy ever since he/she (the gender was never specified) first came to the silver screen in 1916.

06-27-2006, 01:29 PM	#5
GARFIELDKOOL Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 02, 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 7,204	I still don't understand why the cats had to be the bad guys in all these cartoon shorts? I want to see the Tom and Jerry later episodes when they became friends. I haven't seen those episodes in ages. I wish some channel would pick them up. I actually saw an episode on youtube.com

06-27-2006, 05:46 PM	#9
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	True. The Herman & Katnip shorts probably were more violent than Tom & Jerry. In fact, all the Paramount cartoons were pretty violent. Look at Buzzy the Crow and the poor cat in his cartoons. And consider what Baby Huey did to the Fox! You almost had to feel sorry for the heavy because you knew that he was going to get clobbered in the end because he was so incredibly stupid.