Review of The Cat Concerto

Ever since "Steamboat Willie" revolutionary use of pre-recorded soundtrack, cartoons became a genre to be taken seriously. It's even more interesting that it coincided with the rise of the talkies for cartoons' reliance on music kept them loyal to the values of silent cinema where soundtracks, borrowed from jazz, folk or classical music, less to accompany than to complement the images. Many classical themes became popular standards thanks to Golden Age cartoons, Peer Gynt's 'Morning' theme, the 'William Tell Overture' finale for cavalry etc. And it's no coincidence that some of the best were directly related to music, think of "The Band Concert", first Mickey Mouse in color, Bugs Bunny's "What's Opera, Doc?" or the hilarious Tex Avery's "Magical Maestro".

And in "Tom and Jerry" canon we have "The Cat Concerto", certainly their most accomplished short and deserving winner of the 1946 Academy Award. The cartoon's exploitation of the iconic "Hungarian Rhapsody" by Franz Listz is an inspired choice: the piece that lasts for more than ten minutes -and condensed here in a six-minute format- starts with a rather dark and melancholic introduction: the lassan, then energy rises and the tune gets more playful through the friska, that middle section that makes us anticipate the climactic and jubilant 'fugue' part. The rhapsody was used in several cartoons from Merry Melodies "Rhapsody in Rivets" and Bugs Bunny's "Rhapsody Rabbit" to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" with the unforgettable duet between Donald and Daffy but William Hanna and Joseph Barbera paid the greatest tribute.

And I can go on and on praising the animation quality, how Tom's fingers play the correct notes, how magnificently drawn is the piano and its inside mechanisms, but I'm afraid I wouldn't say anything special. Indeed, the iconic duo had reached its artistic peak and already won three Oscars. What I admire the most in the cartoon is the timing. It's not about the keys matching the music but the gags. Oddly enough, it's one of the things I even enjoyed as a child, I knew I wanted to get to the fugue but I had to go through the serious intro, then let the gags come at their own rhythm during the playful friska, to conclude on my favorite part: the fugue. Here's how the timing works:

• The intro lasts 24 seconds and I just love the dramatic transition between the roaring MGM lion and the operatic music when the title card shows. Quite a way to set the tone.

• From 00:24 to 01:39, we have the longest Tom and Jerry moment without a single gag -and I mean that in a good way- although Tom's overly dignified posture might bring a few chuckles but it's played rather straight. Tom salutes the audience, sits down, cleans his hand while players are tuning their instruments and then silence: he starts playing the first recognizable notes of the lassan. The absence of laughs has a point: we're invited to enjoy the music, to admire the animations from which gags would be a distraction. So the first gag only comes when Tom stops playing to dry his hands. His shirt moves off his tuxedo and he quickly readjusts it. Simple, brilliant and effective.

• After that, it's almost another minute without a gag but I do love Tom's smirk at 1:52 addressing the audience, like saying "I'm good, aint'I"? After that we don't get full view on the keys. It might be a trick from the animators but it also prepares us for the next situation where we see the piano from behind and all the perfectly aligned hammers hitting the strings.

• Finally at 2:05, we see Jerry whose sleep is musically interrupted. He's literally swept by the musical current and we get the second visual gag when he's literally rodeoing over an insisting hammer at 2:20. Jerry's time to shine.

• At 2:40, he mockingly "conducts" the music with his finger then 10 seconds later, he runs under the keys making a musical wave that ironically matches the partition. Then, back to the music and notice that Tom's facial expression changes: he smiles more as if tormenting Jerry had boosted his confidence. But Jerry hasn't said his last word and so he'll start crashing Tom's party, one of the most brilliant gags is when he keeps hitting on one string until Tom knocks him out, for a priceless . Delayed fall at 3:20. Now, obviously there will come a time where we lose track of the gags but it's precisely because the tempo rises than so does the comedy, at the friska, playtime can start.

• The first bit of true violence comes when Jerry slams the cover on Tom's fingers at 3:45, we get the infamous mousetrap at 4:20, then at 4:26, the first hint of the fugue is played as Tom tries to catch Jerry, preparing us to the finale.

• At 4:50, like Donald in "The Band Concert", Jerry changes the piece to a pop song and mayhem ensues until the climactic moment where Tom has the upper hand, takes Jerry and puts him between the piano hammers that whack, hit, spank him from 5:30 to 6:00. Now, if that moment didn't seal the Oscar win, I don't know what it did. What a genius and magnificently animated way to use the piece's momentum... and then it's time to end on apotheosis.

• From 6:26 to almost 7:00, Jerry plays over and over the iconic fugue, forcing Tom to follow the keys not once or twice but three times and loses for lack of endurance and the film couldn't have a better ending, we feel sorry for the exhausted Tom who messed his beautiful tuxedo, but when Jerry comes saluting the crowd with his own tuxedo, surely he shares some of the prestige with Tom, and surely many people in the theaters applauded what might be one of the greatest animated pieces of history.