This is probably the ONLY non-HB Tom & Jerry that I can watch repeatedly. Lord knows that jerky animation's a minus, but the music soundtrack to this one (originally composed, I believe) gives it an appeal the other Deitch efforts don't have: this film gives the lie to the assumption that Deitch couldn't do a decent Tom & Jerry. Most important, it's got (more or less) the FLAVOR of a Tom & Jerry cartoon since it relies on a couple of standard series devices (music, and a romantic rivalry at the crux of the comedy). Definitely the cream of the post-Hanna-Barbera T&J's......I'd take it over Chuck Jones' entries any old day.
10 Reviews
Watchable Tom and Jerry cartoon, but somewhat disappointing as well
TheLittleSongbird6 May 2010
I will give some credit and say that Calypso Cat is not as bad as Switchin' Kitten, which gets my vote as the worst Tom and Jerry cartoon. While it is watchable, it isn't that great to be honest with you. The soundtrack is a definite plus though, that had some real Calyptic flavour to it, and while not always original the sight gags such as the constant bashing on the head and the hot foot jokes are at least amusing. Tom's crush is a real babe as well or so I find, and the cat who steals her away isn't a bad supporting character. And of course Tom and Jerry are nice to watch. Sadly, the animation is not that great, some of it is jerky and some of the backgrounds made me feel a bit seasick. The sound effects were another minus, they were bizarre, not as bizarre as the ones used in Switchin' Kitten, but bizarre they were. The story here is very slight and predictable and the pacing is rather rushed. Overall, watchable but not among the best Tom and Jerry cartoons. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Usual Gene Deitch fare...
Rusty-3417 September 2001
I have to admit, I am not too crazy about the Gene Deitch T&J shorts. They're not as funny and somewhat disturbing. It's more watchable than some of the other Deitch-directed T&J cartoons, but it contains the usual elements; the nightmarish synthesized sound effects. At least the steel drum-playing cat that seduces Tom's crush is not that disturbing than some of the other characters.
It's better than most of the other Deitch T&J cartoons (some could really give you nightmares) but not a good T&J short overall.
It's better than most of the other Deitch T&J cartoons (some could really give you nightmares) but not a good T&J short overall.
And the Award for Best Animated Short Film goes to
not this.
BA_Harrison11 May 2017
Tom and Jerry are fighting each other on a cruise ship when Tom sees a pretty female cat and goes gaga. More than a little put out, Jerry does his best to get the cat's attention, but romance is all Tom has on his mind. When the cruise ship weighs anchor at a Caribbean island, Tom finds a love rival in the form of a steel-drum playing cat.
One good thing about Calypso Cat is that it is cartoon seven of the thirteen Gene Deitch episodes, meaning I'm more than halfway through. Hurrah.
While this one isn't quite as terrible Landing Stripling (my least favourite T&J caper so far), neither is it very good, with the jerky movement and surreal sound effects that could only have come from an Eastern European animation house. Long gone are the days when Tom and Jerry cartoons won Oscars!
One good thing about Calypso Cat is that it is cartoon seven of the thirteen Gene Deitch episodes, meaning I'm more than halfway through. Hurrah.
While this one isn't quite as terrible Landing Stripling (my least favourite T&J caper so far), neither is it very good, with the jerky movement and surreal sound effects that could only have come from an Eastern European animation house. Long gone are the days when Tom and Jerry cartoons won Oscars!
Attracted to a female cat!
blanbrn11 February 2021
This "Tom and Jerry" short from 1962 called "Calypso Cat" even though the animation is not great still the music and mood put the cartoon as watchable as it involves Tom being attracted to a female cat. And you guessed it things go haywire with the rivals as chases and clever outsmarts like moves are done! Overall one of the better early 60's "Tom and Jerry" shorts that they made watch you will enjoy!
Hits an iceberg right out of the harbour.
Pjtaylor-96-1380449 August 2019
'Calypso Cat (1962)' looks about the same as most other 'Deitch'-era 'Tom and Jerry' toons: a far cry from the 'Hanna-Barbera' classics. The frame is flat and the motion within it is stiff and impact-less. What's more, the piece doesn't even have a decent story to distract from these sub-par visuals - like in, say, 'Buddies... Thicker Than Water (1962)'. The narrative doesn't make all that much sense, especially from a character-motivation stand-point, and it just sort of fizzles out. I mean, I suppose there's something to the idea that Jerry just wants attention from Tom, but it doesn't work when their fights are clearly more than just 'play'. Indeed, neither of the stars seem quite like themselves. Plus, the sparse and tinny soundtrack actually gives the short an off-putting and, even, creepy vibe. It's a let-down, for sure. 4/10
Pleasant but thin story idea wears even thinner as it goes on...
Doylenf8 March 2008
The Caribbean cruise ship and island backgrounds help make CALYPSO CAT worth watching, but the plot is standard Tom and Jerry stuff with not a single original element to make it stand out from the other T&J cartoons. Jerry is a mouse aboard a cruise ship, determined to derail Tom's romance with a flirtatious cat. The usual games are played, with Jerry getting the worst of it--complete with consistent bops on the head and an array of hot foot gags.
Of course, he's also a loser in the love department when the cat walks off with an islander playing Calypso on a steel drum. Since none of the sight gags are original or memorable, it's a forgettable little item.
Of course, he's also a loser in the love department when the cat walks off with an islander playing Calypso on a steel drum. Since none of the sight gags are original or memorable, it's a forgettable little item.
Springtime For Thomas But in the Caribbean and with less charm
Kalashnikovin5 August 2022
Most of Gene Deitch's drawings don't seem as bad to me as most but I can't deny that they are Bad, Calypso Cat had a Decent idea that had already been applied in the past with Springtime for Thomas but here Things are more boring and obviously badly animated.
The idea of the short is the same as in Springtime for Thomas, nothing more than the only thing that changes is Jerry, who is the one who prevents Tom from falling in love in this case with a Persian cat and the gags leave a lot to say but they are not as cruel as in the previous shorts.
The Short Revolves Around Tom boarding a Ship in which a Cat is going and he tries to make her fall in love and when he fails miserably because of Jerry when he arrives at an Island or some place (which seems to be somewhere in Yucatan) Tom ends up begging him to the Cat so they can walk around, when they arrive at a place a Cat with a Mexican look plays a kind of drum and in the end the Mexican cat ends up winning and he steals the Cat from Tom ending with Tom and Jerry fighting again and at end there is no winner.
The animation is still a tremendous mess, the backgrounds, in addition to Simple, have boring and too flat colors, it does not help that Tom, Jerry and the Persian cat look decent since their Movements are choppy and too Sharp, the design of the Calypso Cat is Terrible, it has a generic appearance with a Straw hat and a drum, the Island or the place where they are looks completely boring, poorly done and poorly colored.
Many people like the Music in this short and I don't understand why, the music is boringly generic and competes with Tall In The Trap to be the short of the entire Tom and Jerry franchise with the worst Music, the music, besides being stereotyped, is not it has a lot of fun since basically the music is only in the short because yes and even without music the short would be the same.
As there is no voice acting in this short I will skip this part.
The sound effects are horrendous and obviously poorly synthesized and in the opening scene the sounds of Tom hitting the Rope are not even in sync due to poor editing.
This short presented an acceptable idea at this point of tom and jerry but it was wasted with unequal gags, bad and generic music and lousy animation with colors out of place, the Characters are unpleasant especially the Persian Cat and the Calypso Cat which end up being Annoying in their few interesting scenes.
In itself, a short of Questionable Quality that becomes boring since the plot becomes obvious from the start with Boring Gags and the only one that stands out is the one with the Matches on Tom's fingers, the short has bad characters and little freeloaders who could have given more like the Calypso Cat and the Persian Cat which end up being annoying, the Scenes where Tom and Jerry chase each other are uninteresting and the only thing I liked about the short is the final scene with Tom and Jerry returning to their typical chases.
For everything I said before, this short gets a 5.
The idea of the short is the same as in Springtime for Thomas, nothing more than the only thing that changes is Jerry, who is the one who prevents Tom from falling in love in this case with a Persian cat and the gags leave a lot to say but they are not as cruel as in the previous shorts.
The Short Revolves Around Tom boarding a Ship in which a Cat is going and he tries to make her fall in love and when he fails miserably because of Jerry when he arrives at an Island or some place (which seems to be somewhere in Yucatan) Tom ends up begging him to the Cat so they can walk around, when they arrive at a place a Cat with a Mexican look plays a kind of drum and in the end the Mexican cat ends up winning and he steals the Cat from Tom ending with Tom and Jerry fighting again and at end there is no winner.
The animation is still a tremendous mess, the backgrounds, in addition to Simple, have boring and too flat colors, it does not help that Tom, Jerry and the Persian cat look decent since their Movements are choppy and too Sharp, the design of the Calypso Cat is Terrible, it has a generic appearance with a Straw hat and a drum, the Island or the place where they are looks completely boring, poorly done and poorly colored.
Many people like the Music in this short and I don't understand why, the music is boringly generic and competes with Tall In The Trap to be the short of the entire Tom and Jerry franchise with the worst Music, the music, besides being stereotyped, is not it has a lot of fun since basically the music is only in the short because yes and even without music the short would be the same.
As there is no voice acting in this short I will skip this part.
The sound effects are horrendous and obviously poorly synthesized and in the opening scene the sounds of Tom hitting the Rope are not even in sync due to poor editing.
This short presented an acceptable idea at this point of tom and jerry but it was wasted with unequal gags, bad and generic music and lousy animation with colors out of place, the Characters are unpleasant especially the Persian Cat and the Calypso Cat which end up being Annoying in their few interesting scenes.
In itself, a short of Questionable Quality that becomes boring since the plot becomes obvious from the start with Boring Gags and the only one that stands out is the one with the Matches on Tom's fingers, the short has bad characters and little freeloaders who could have given more like the Calypso Cat and the Persian Cat which end up being annoying, the Scenes where Tom and Jerry chase each other are uninteresting and the only thing I liked about the short is the final scene with Tom and Jerry returning to their typical chases.
For everything I said before, this short gets a 5.
This film deserves high marks for being so . . .
tadpole-596-91825621 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
. . . controversial. By generating so much controversy, a picture featuring three cats and a mouse outshines many films with far more characters. However, as with any disputed subject matter, a certain segment of kill-joy nattering nabobs are sure to take issue with anyone reviewing this animated short. Some of these anonymous nitwits will take issue if you mention the title of this Tom & Jerry episode, due to overblown ethnic sensitivities. Other crappy coopers will not allow the free description of gender depictions put forth here. Some of these naysayers hate America's First Constitutional Addendum in principal, and will bend over backwards to squelch anything that smacks of Free Speech to their minimal amount of grey matter. Other jack-booted thought suppressors glory in tallying how many comments they can suppress, simply because these anarchic bozos can. As long as book-burners are allowed to bamboozle Free Speech "monitors" or "curators" or whatever label these Red Commie disruptive dupes choose to use with trumped up charges of inappropriateness, Lucifer is the big winner.
Better than most other "Tom and Jerry" shorts!
Moax42928 February 2005
I was never crazy about 97% of the Tom and Jerry shorts, PERIOD. But "Calypso Cat" is one of the few exceptions.
When I saw this short for the first time in 1988 (I was on a business trip in Chicago and WTBS ran this short; Turner Entertainment Co. had just purchased the pre-1985 MGM movies and TV shows), I noticed something familiar in the style of the animation. Then I thought, "This Tom and Jerry looks Popeye-ish!" And I later discovered Gene Deitch, who produced some of those "Popeyes" and "Krazy Kat," produced "Calypso Cat."
Especially funny was when Tom tried to warm up to the white female cat after Jerry played his pranks on Tom (she thinks twice, smiles, and gives Tom her hand, after which they walk out of the boat onto the island). And somehow, that steel drum music the other cat played is reverberating through my mind right now, as when that cat used his drumsticks on Tom's head and it sounded like a steel drum!
And, long before Billy Ocean had a #1 hit of the same title in late 1984, the boat was named the "Carribean Queen" (which, obviously, went through my mind when I saw the name; I have the original Billy Ocean album that song's on).
All told, "Calypso Cat" is a likable cure for the common Tom and Jerry cartoon. I'd give it an 8.
When I saw this short for the first time in 1988 (I was on a business trip in Chicago and WTBS ran this short; Turner Entertainment Co. had just purchased the pre-1985 MGM movies and TV shows), I noticed something familiar in the style of the animation. Then I thought, "This Tom and Jerry looks Popeye-ish!" And I later discovered Gene Deitch, who produced some of those "Popeyes" and "Krazy Kat," produced "Calypso Cat."
Especially funny was when Tom tried to warm up to the white female cat after Jerry played his pranks on Tom (she thinks twice, smiles, and gives Tom her hand, after which they walk out of the boat onto the island). And somehow, that steel drum music the other cat played is reverberating through my mind right now, as when that cat used his drumsticks on Tom's head and it sounded like a steel drum!
And, long before Billy Ocean had a #1 hit of the same title in late 1984, the boat was named the "Carribean Queen" (which, obviously, went through my mind when I saw the name; I have the original Billy Ocean album that song's on).
All told, "Calypso Cat" is a likable cure for the common Tom and Jerry cartoon. I'd give it an 8.
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