Polka-Dot Puss (1949) User Reviews

A Story In Which Neither Tom Nor Jerry Wins

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 16 October 2007]

Tom fakes being sick with a cold so Mammy Two Shoes doesn't put him outside for the night. (It's raining.) Jerry witnesses the act and is disgusted, shaking his head and going "tch, tch, tch."

When Tom tries to go to sleep, the mouse sabotages his efforts. This is why I never rooted for Jerry. He is sadistic and most times tortures the cat for no reason at all except to be mean-spirited. Yet, we are supposed to root for him? To be fair, though, sometimes Tom instigates, too.

Decent sight gags: Tom using Jerry as a yo-yo; Jerry painting measles on Tom's face; Jerry tampering with the thermometer; Tom's blue teeth and red measles literally popping out on Jerry.

In this cartoon, neither adversary was the winner, which was a good ending to not only the cartoon but to the set in which I watched this: the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Volume 2 DVD.

No winners here

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 7/10 · 11 October 2008]

This short begins with Tom using Jerry as a yo-yo for his own pleasure before Mammy-Two-Shoes (dubbed to appease the PC Brigade in the version I saw) orders him out of the house for the night, despite the fact that it's pouring with rain. Why does she insist on torturing him like this again? Anyway, Tom pretends to be ill so he can stay indoors, by the fire. But Jerry is having none of it.

He convinces Tom that he has measles by paining dots on his face and proceeds to 'cure' him using a wide range of gruesome anecdotes, which make up the visual humor of the cartoon. In the end, they both pay for their untruths.

An amusing cartoon.

Tom's feeling as sick as a cat!

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 21 August 2010]

Tom is about to be put outside for the night by Mammy, but one look at the cold, rainy weather outside has the quick-thinking cat faking a cold, after which he is allowed to remain inside. Tom settles down for the night in front of the fire, but cheeky Jerry decides to play a few mean pranks on his enemy, starting by painting spots on Tom's face to convince him he has measles, and then subjecting the poor moggy to a series of nasty remedies, including popping him in the freezer to bring down a temperature, and then cooking him in the oven to cure the resulting chills!

Tom eventually finds out that he has been tricked by the mischievous mouse, but before he can get revenge, Jerry breaks out in spots: he really has a case of the measles, and it's not long before Tom does too!

A fairly routine adventure for the cartoon duo, Polka Dot Puss offers the usual predictable sadistic mayhem and visual gags, including a classic example of the 'jackass' joke (where a character realises he has been duped, and transforms into an ass!). But even though this one doesn't feature the guys at their absolute best, it still passes the time nicely enough, and if you're under the weather, it might just be the tonic you need to perk you up! 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Sicky kitty gets his come-uppance?

[Antzy88 · 31 July 2001]

When the black maid tries to put Tom out for the night -- in the heavy rain -- he feigns a cold to keep himself inside. Makeshift doctor Jerry gives Tom a cure he'll never forget...

A very enjoyable, light-hearted cartoon with an added twist at the end.

Entertaining and light-hearted

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 23 June 2010]

The first minute or so is not as interesting as the rest of the cartoon, and the cartoon is perhaps too short. However, Polka-Dot Puss is very entertaining and light-hearted. The animation is beautiful and smooth, the music is energetic and the story is clever. Plus the sight gags are really inventive and unusual, starting with Tom's faking of his illness in order to stay in the house to the surprise ending which is another good example of neither character winning. Both Tom and Jerry are great and play against each other well.

Overall, Polka-Dot Puss is very entertaining, without being the best of the lot. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The U.S. Center for Disease Control or CDC . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 29 September 2022]

. . . states that during the 1940's, an average of 500 Americans croaked annually from measles, with 48,000 being hospitalized every year--1,000 of whom had severe brain swelling leaving them in a vegetative state. This is why at the end of that measles-marred decade, the Tom and Jerry gang brained-stormed to the conclusion that "Nothing's more hilarious than measles!" Can cats and mice REALLY get measles? Who cares. All of the comedies emanating from the House of the Groaning Fat Cat are carefully crafted to mock, ridicule and laugh at the viewers, and POLKA-DOT PUSS is a perfect example of this. Millionaires Gone Mad had a corporate directive dictating that since Warner Bros. Had cornered the market on funny things people would actually laugh AT, Leo's output must be designed to make viewers the butt of all the jokes.

Tom catches the 'measles'

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 25 October 2012]

The weather is particularly bad so Tom isn't pleased when Mammy Two Shoes says it is time for him to go outside for the night. He is a bit slow so she chides him saying that she will catch a cold standing by the open door... this gives him an idea; he pretends to have a cold so is allowed to sleep inside by the fire. As soon as Mammy has gone he starts chasing Jerry but ends up with a mouse trap on his nose! He takes this as a cue to give up and go to sleep. While he naps Jerry paints red dots all over Tom's face; then wakes him and shows him a newspaper headline warning of a measles epidemic before holding up a mirror. Jerry then attempts to 'cure' him with the help of 'Doctor Quack's Medicine Book' the cures involve freezing him, cooking him then giving him a cold shower; the last treatment washes away the spots leaving Tom in no doubt that he was made a fool of. It is time to sort out Jerry... but now Jerry is covered in spots; He really does have the measles!

This amusing short shows Jerry at his most sadistic as he 'treats' Tom's condition; you can't help but feel sorry for the poor cat as he is first frozen solid then cooked till he is too hot to touch... even if one does laugh at the same time. Having Jerry torment Tom while pretending to help him was a nice change to their usual fighting as it meant poor Tom just sat there and took it. The ending proved to be a fun little twist that served them both right!

Not only does everyone politicize . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 6/10 · 29 September 2022]

. . . diseases in This Our Modern 21st Century, but the same can be said for most disasters facing our nation nowadays. As White House Leader #45 throws rolls of paper towels to the homeless hordes of his adopted home state this weekend, let us remember that once measles was no laughing matter. A government agency whose name has been banned from the Internet and this site by Fox "News" states that 500 Americans died from this dread malady annually in the 1940's, when this "humorous" measles spoof was released. Ho-ho: What on Earth could possibly be funnier than that? Other than Hurricane Ian, that is.

Tom & Jerry get sick

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 25 May 2016]

Or do the really? Maybe they are just faking it? Watch for yourself. "Polka-Dot Puss" is an over 65-year-old cartoon that runs slightly over 7 minutes as usual and the humor here relies on the protagonists getting the measles. All kinds of chaos ensue, for example involving a thermometer. i have seen some of the Tom & Jerry cartoons and I am a bit surprised this one is actually among their most known as I personally did not find it as smart or funny. I liked other works by these two more, maybe because the focus here is not really on the cat-mouse rivalry, but drifts away from the core of these cartoons on more than one occasions. In the end, karma strikes for Jerry. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down.