Trap Happy (1946)

Simply A Masterpiece

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As with so many other 'Tom and Jerry' shorts this opens with the two tearing around the house as Tom tries to catch Jerry; after several failed attempts Tom eventually gives up and calls in the professionals: The 'Ajax Mouse Exterminators'. Within seconds there is a knock on the door; it turns out that the exterminator is alley cat Butch. He soon gets to work and catches Jerry; he doesn't keep him for long though and soon he and Thomas are employing a variety of measures to catch Jerry but only ending up hurting each other. As they continue it is amazing that the house doesn't fall down given how much damage they cause... and they still don't catch Jerry!Tom and Jerry cartoons are almost always violent but this one seems even more so than usual; that isn't bad as it is so over the top it is funny; we see the cats battered, electrocuted, blown up and at one point Tom pulls Butch through as wall as they try to catch Jerry by reaching though mouse holes on opposite sides but end up tugging each other. Having Butch in adds to the fun as he and Tom working together only leads to doubling their suffering! The house setting is fairly cliché but to be fair complaining about finding Tom and Jerry in a house is like complaining about the Roadrunner being in a desert!

I have made no secret of loving Tom and Jerry, and while Trap Happy isn't a favourite it is very worthwhile. Yes even with the predictable story line. What does make the cartoon enjoyable are several things. There are the typical chases that make the Tom and Jerry cartoons so enjoyable, such as the ending when Butch turns on Tom. There is the cartoony yet fun violence that makes these cartoons further enjoyable. Then there is the simple but bright, lively and colourful animation, and fun, bombastic orchestral music to add substance to the cartoon. And of course the characters, Jerry is cocky especially at the beginning but he is likable still, and Tom and Butch are great as they try to catch him but to no avail. Overall, this was very enjoyable and re-watchable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

It's pretty sad when a cat has to look up in the yellow pages to find someone who is a "mouse exterminator." Obviously, our boy Tom has lost confidence in his ability to eliminate Jerry. (If you've watched enough of these cartoons, you can see why!).Jerry is cocky, too....at least early on in this story. The story revolves are Tom and "The Exterminator," the hired hand from the Yellow Pages. He is a familiar black cat in this series, and both he and Tom are shown doing what can to catch Jerry. Suffice to say - no surprise here - they never succeed. In the process, both they and the house take a severe beating, and things return to normal by the end.Overall, average gags which means it's entertaining all the way nothing much you haven't seen if you've watch a lot of T&J cartoons.

T&J are chasing right from the beginning in this one and Tom is having his usual no luck on catching him. This time he decides to call an exterminator company, hoping that they might have some more elaborate traps handy that Tom could never dream of.They send a cat to catch the mouse (naturally) but, like Tom before him, Jerry his just not falling for his game of death and turns the tables on them. It's absolutely nothing fancy but the visual humor and imagination make it funny. You can tell how it's going to end but you never really expect Jerry to end up dead do you? There is also dialogue in this cartoon but no one is credited for it.