TheLittleSongbird Review of Tot Watchers

Tot Watchers (1958)

A rather disappointing swan-song for Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry

[5/10 · 20 January 2013]

This makes me sad as I love Tom and Jerry, at their best(which was late 40s to middle 50s) their cartoons were close to or were masterpieces. Tot Watchers is far from Tom and Jerry's worst, it is far better than the abominable Gene Dietch cartoons(then again almost anything is) but at the same time it is not an example of them in their glory days. The music of course is outstanding, and apart from the poorly drawn baby I did like the colourful if not always fluid animation. The end gag is quite amusing, and Tom and Jerry are still likable characters, though Tom is the only character that you feel any shred of sympathy for. Unfortunately, I didn't find Tot Watchers all that funny. Apart from the ending being amusing, I spent most of the cartoon actually worrying about what would happen to the baby which really detracted from my enjoyment. The story started with a concept that would either work or wouldn't, and instead of interesting it got increasingly formulaic and dull. The side characters are poor, the baby is little more than a plot device and a completely bland one at that, and Jeannie the babysitter is annoying. Overall, for Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry this was a disappointing swan-song. But at least it was better than what was going to come. 5/10 Bethany Cox