TOM AND JERRY - FRAIDY CAT (1942)

 THESE VERY EARLY TOM AND JERRY CARTOON HAVE A LOOK THAT I LOVE. 

 Tom, in particular, looks very different than he would subsequently:  a more rounded, cuter appearance.  But he still can look threatening when he shows his fangs and claws. 

This here perfect-for-Halloween cartoon finds Tom listening to a late night horror radio show "The Witching Hour" on the radio.  Tom, of course, is scared to distraction and Jerry, of course, notices this and decides to torment the cat.  This is another aspect I like:  Tom is not simply the aggressor but Jerry 'starts it' by trying to scare the cat stupid.  Their relationship has more of a give and take aspect this way and no one is the out-and-out villain.  But no, Jerry is being a bit of a prick in this one really puts Tom through the ringer before the cat eventually discovers Jerry's prank.  Among Jerry's torments is letting go of the window shade so that it crashes up into the window pane and hanging a bathrobe on a vacuum cleaner so that, when turned on, the vacuum makes the robe billow like a ghost. 

Poor Tom is so terrified that at one point his heart is literally in his throat!

  The vacuum cleaner starts to try to suck Tom towards what he thinks is a ghost and Tom frantically scrabbles away from it.  At one point, while Tom hangs onto the banister, we see all his nine lives being sucked out of him.

  'Life #1' is my favourite of the nine lives because he seems to be having the most fun in all this.

  Of course, the time comes, as in all Tom and Jerry cartoons, when Tom discovers Jerry's at the heart of all this and begins the patented cat and mouse chase.  Until eventually, Jerry hides in a canister of flour and sees his white reflection in a teapot and scares himself! 

Karma is a bitch.  This Tom and Jerry cartoon is one of only a handful that could fit the 'Halloweeny' criteria and is a wonderful example of early T&J animation at it's best.  The early-40's ambience, particularly with the 'old radio show' aspect of the cartoon also tugs at my heartstrings.  One of the better Tom and Jerry's that gives the old tried-and-true chase some wonderful spooky overtones.