The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945) User Reviews

What's cookin'?

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 7/10 · 13 December 2006]

Mammy-Two-Shoes (who was actually NOT dubbed in the version I watched, would you believe) has set up a huge banquet for guests of some kind, who will be arriving soon. Tom sneaks into the dining room and calls his girlfriend Toots, inviting her over.

Using Jerry as a reluctant butler Tom tries numerous times to impress Toots and fails again and again. What was surprising about this cartoon is that it's a bit crueler than usual. The violence and pain were on level with an episode of Itchy and Scratchy. There is even one moment of torture in which Tom holds Jerry, in a teaspoon, over a candle.

Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm not some nut who is against cartoon violence. I actually thought that this one was damn funny.

Cat chases mouse, mouse clobbers cat, cat comes back for more-brutal!!!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 17 December 2012]

I've practically seen all of these things and I've yet to see one quite as brutal as this! It's so unfair the way this episode was banned from DVD or a TV screening because of the appearance of Mammy Two-Shoes at the beginning. What a complete load of crap, although it does actually annoy me a little when she appears in the guise of a maid. It feels a lot more wrong as opposed to when she's the owner of the house. I'm well aware that in this "ideal" age of over-sensitivity and political-correctness, more people than not will likely see the character as nothing more than a bad stereotype and offensive, and perhaps they've got some kind of point, but I personally have always found her brisk, bakin' cookies momma's way manner and personality to be warm, cosy. Homely. I love Mammy. Okay, the violence featured in this particular Tom and Jerry offering seemed to be a little more extreme than the usual fare. Tom is set on fire, fried, stabbed, hammered, bitten, tricked into biting his own tongue, tricked into biting his own tail twice(the dumbass!), and drowned! It's open warfare on the dinner table and everything such a table has to offer is taken full advantage of. Several choice assaults that I found enjoyably shocking were the tongue-biting, when Tom leaps into the air and almost lands on a carefully-placed knife, and when Tom knocks Jerry out with the spoon. I kinda hope no kids ever tried to imitate this stuff(!) I don't get why the people complain about the noise of the chaos being overheard or whatever-as if you quibble about things of that nature when you're watching a Tom and Jerry! Some things that I didn't care for was the design of Tom's date. She was so weirdly small, not much bigger than Jerry. I also really dislike it whenever the characters speak. It completely destroys their precious mystique. Although it was very good, I did find the quality of the animation to be a little crude in comparison to a lot of the other 50's shorts. The Mouse Comes to Dinner feels to me like it could be verging on being a bit bland at times, but the eye-popping gags thankfully more than keep it going, and if not exactly a perfect one, make the show a very good, entertaining lil' ride and well worth anybody's while. One last thing, just in case you didn't know, this is the Tom and Jerry that E.T. screams at in the movie of the same name!

Very nice and funny

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 5 July 2010]

Now I liked this Tom and Jerry cartoon very much, it isn't a favourite, but I was entertained. Even if some gags were on the predictable side and the pacing a little more leisurely than usual, there is a lot to like about The Mouse Comes to Dinner. The animation is beautiful, old-fashioned but nice and ornate. Just looking at that dinner made my mouth water. The music is a lovely touch, the story is nicely constructed and there are some funny gags as well. I did feel somewhat sorry for Tom here as his tail for example got burned, Tom is cunning if rather dim-witted too(he should have known that Jerry would get his revenge) and Tom's girlfriend is a cute 'un. Overall, lovely Tom and Jerry cartoon, nice and funny if a little predictable on occasions. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Uninvited Mouse In The House.

[Dawalk-1 · 10/10 · 21 June 2010]

This is one of my favorite Tom and Jerry featurettes and I rank this one up there with other classics starring them that I'd consider the best. Tom invites his girlfriend, Tootles, over for dinner, but Jerry gets in on the meal unannounced and he just won't let them have this event to themselves. This is the rare time (if not just one of those rare times) in which we get to hear Tom and Tootles speak, and Tom has solely one line throughout the entire cartoon. I find the little dialog they have interesting. I agree with one of the other reviewers who mentioned that this would be perfect for Thanksgiving. I remember this one well. Full of hilarious moments. This one is not to be passed.

Tom gets burned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kuderlala · 10/10 · 19 June 2005]

This is a hilarious Tom and Jerry short. Tom gets his tail and butt on fire and runs for water. He is just about to sit down for some relief when Jerry puts a chafing dish under his flaming butt. He sits down and sizzles for a few min! He thinks he is getting cooled off, but he is getting heated up....A LOT!. He then realizes what has happened and flies off the surface, only to have his rear end stick to it. His butt comes free and he smashes through the roof with the flames from his butt trailing behind him. When he lands back to Earth, he is too dazed to realize that he could sit in the punch bowl to cool his rear. He just sits there while Jerry and Toots paint "SS Drip" on his burned backside. How embarrassing for him. He tired to show off and ends up with his rear end burned off and sinks into a bowl of punch. What a day!!!!!!!

Where Are All The People?

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 13 October 2007]

How you could have an exquisitely laid out dinner table, even with the food out, and have Tom, a girlfriend and Jerry all creating havoc at the table with nobody noticing is beyond me....but that's the setup here. No one is ever home in this house but the maid, "Mammy Two Shoes." This dinner table is set for about 12 but where are the humans? We never see them, except in the '50s episodes when the maid is no longer in the cartoons.

At any rate, the basic premise of the jokes is little Jerry spoiling the dinner for Tom and the feline is trying to impress. At first Tom has the upper hand, outfitting Jerry is tiny chef's hat and having him wait on the two of them. You know that arrangement isn't going to last, and it doesn't as poor Tom gets abuse by not only his mouse foe but by the girl he invited to dinner! This cat can't win!

After almost demolishing almost everything in the room, setting some fires, crashing through a ceiling, etc., there was still no sign of a human being. Oh, well....it's a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

What could be more appealing to young children . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 22 September 2022]

. . . than frenzied food waste, arson and torturing a pet? This picture epitomizes the value of showing toddlers and tykes what NOT to do within your household. When THE MOUSE COMES TO DINNER, a Sunday supper feast is thoroughly trashed every which way but eaten. It's as if the banquet had been laid out on a muddy 50 yard line of an NFL game just before kickoff. However, it's unlikely that grid-iron heroes would follow up their grub stomping by lighting the quarterback on fire, or tricking him into biting himself multiple times. Real Life cats would need to have at least 90 lives to survive a day with that voracious violent vermin rodent pest Jerry. It's amazing that Boomers such as Bill and Hilary could escape the dark shadows of Tom and Jerry.

Time For Dinner

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 28 June 2021]

"The Mouse Comes To Dinner" was originally released back in 1945.

Anyway - As the story goes - Jerry is pressed into service as a waiter when Tom invites his new girlfriend to dinner.

Tom has a very unsuccessful date

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 1 September 2012]

After Mammy Two Shoes sets out the dinner table it isn't long after she leaves the room before Jerry is digging into the food; Tom quickly catches him, then phones his girl friend and invites her to dinner. She accepts and Jerry is forced to act as waiter; a job he does not want to do. It isn't long before he turns the tables though and Tom gets a faces full of soup before being tricked into biting his own tail... twice! The two of them continue to torment each other; frequently in ways involving fire! Tom still finds time to put his moves on his girlfriend but she is having none of it; it is clear that their relationship won't survive the evening.

This isn't a classic Tom and Jerry short but it does have some funny, and rather sadistic, gags... I don't recall seeing one where they burn each other so much; the moment where Tom holds Jerry in a spoon over a candle is sadistic even by the standards of 'Tom and Jerry'! The jokes were fairly predictable but that isn't necessarily a bad thing; nobody sits down to watch these cartoons without expecting fairly predictable violence. I was left wondering where Mammy Two Shoes went after leaving the room as there is no way anybody in the house could have avoided hearing the racket!

Fine hungry food fight like episode!

[blanbrn · 7/10 · 19 November 2020]

This "Tom and Jerry" episode short "The Mouse Comes to Dinner" from 1945 is one that's entertaining as the cat and mouse are at each other's throats over a big dinner meal with turkey being the main feast! Plus Mammy Two Shoes is present in this episode as always her character gives great supporting help with the cat and mouse. Tom has other plans in mind like making little mouse Jerry his servant plus Tom invites female cat Toots to come over for dinner. You guessed it the battle is on Jerry is not going down without a fight! The chase and battle scenes happen mostly on the dinner table as the violence and use of kitchen items as weapons is funny in a slapstick style of way. Overall fun battle feast like episode one that's very memorable!

Tom and Jerry feel the burn.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 22 March 2008]

Mammy Two Shoes has laid the table for a banquet, so Tom seizes the opportunity and invites his girlfriend over for a spot of dinner. Jerry is Tom's reluctant servant, but it's not long before the little mouse is free and causing trouble for the cat and his gal.

This episode of T&J is pretty par for the course as far as the comedy goes: there is plenty of unremarkable slapstick, with the contents of the table used as weapons. What makes this one a little more memorable, however, is the degree of pain dished out by the characters. The arch-enemies always take a severe clobbering, but this time around both get hurt a little worse than usual, with Jerry being sat in a spoon and heated slowly over a candle, and Tom having his rear set on fire. Yowch!

The Mouse Comes to Dinner

[Michael_Elliott · 30 December 2015]

The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945)

*** (out of 4)

Tom gets a cute cat to come over to dinner so he obviously wants to impress her so he makes Jerry serve the food, which of course ends up with one fight after another. THE MOUSE COMES TO DINNER is certainly an entertaining film that manages to go at a very fast pace and of course there are plenty of laughs as well. This film offers up some rather creative fights and especially the sequence where Tom keeps biting his own tail. Another highlight is the scene where the poor cat is too stupid to realize that he's on fire and not in a good way. As you'd expect the animation is top-notch as are the sound effects, which certainly add a few nice laughs.