Watching: Tom and Jerry: Hijinks and Shrieks

Overview

The chase continues as Tom the cat pursues Jerry the mouse through seven vintage cartoons. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directed the best of these: "The Flying Cat" (1952); "Missing Mouse" (1953); "Two Little Indians" (1953); the Oscar-nominated "Touché, Pussy Cat" (1954); and "The Flying Sorceress" (1956). The latter finds Tom tormenting his rodent nemesis from the air after borrowing a magic broom of a witch voiced by June Foray -- a.k.a. Rocky of Rocky & Bullwinkle -- among others. While the mayhem quotient is still high, these are less violent than the duo's 1940 cartoons. This collection also includes two lesser cartoons directed by Chuck Jones, "Is There a Doctor in the House?" (1964) and "Haunted Mouse" (1965).