Fraidy Cat
Fraidy Cat
NR | 17 January 1942 (USA)
Fraidy Cat Trailers

Tom hears a ghost story on the radio and is spooked by it; Jerry notices this and takes advantage of it, using a variety of tricks to scare Tom.

Reviews
Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71)

Here is a Tom & Jerry cartoon that is perfect for Halloween. I know it doesn't have much creepiness, but has the 'trick' as in "trick or treat," as Jerry did to Tom with the window blind and the vacuum-cleaner with a collared-shirt hanging on it to make it like a ghost. But I still like to put it on my list of Halloween cartoons.In this short, Tom was listening to the "Witching Hour," a ghost-story program on the radio, and being frightened by the horror story being told. Halfway into the story, the dramatics (hair standing on end, heart leaping into throat, icy chills on spine) begin happening to Tom . . . literally. And Jerry has observed everything and laughing to himself, thought he highen Tom fears by scaring him.I love the ending, it was a little funny. And you know, this short is the first of four cartoons in which Tom attacks Mammy Two Shoes; the others being A Mouse in the House, Part-time Pal and Nit-Witty Kitty. And also this short is the first of twenty-five cartoons where Tom speaks too. So anyway, I love this short.

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BA_Harrison

Jerry spies Tom listening to a creepy story on the radio and seizes the opportunity to scare his nemesis.I didn't find this particular episode that funny: the humour seemed rather constrained and the whole set up was kinda lame (Jerry is essentially the 'bad guy' in this one, tormenting poor Tom for no particular reason).There is the occasional flash of inspiration (such as Tom's literal 'heart in mouth' experience, and the moment when his nines lives are sucked out of his body), but, on the whole, this effort lacks the frenetic pacing, excellent animation and sheer wit of most of T&J's other cartoons.

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I_Am_The_Taylrus

SPOILERSTom and Jerry is a classic cartoon, with a flawless idea, and almost every single short is a gem. While I must say that this is definitely an inferior short compared such other classic Tom and Jerry shorts, there is not way you can hate this cartoon. Sure, it is understandable to say that this is one of the worst of the first Tom and Jerry episodes, and I can say that I agree, but the fact of the matter is that all Tom and Jerry episodes are great, but some are just better than others. Well, this would fit into "others." Here is the plot of Fraidy Cat. Tom is listening to an old scary radio broadcast, and becomes easily frightened. Jerry observes how scared he is, and tries to scare him even more than he already is. He creates scary dilemmas for Tom, and Tom becomes scared out of his wits, and his lives. Jerry then puts a sheet over a vacuum cleaner and controls it, thus making it look like the vacuum is a ghost. Tom finds out that Jerry did all of this, and chases him. Tom then accidentally bites the house maid. However, at the end Jerry ends up the one becoming scared after he sees his reflection in a flour cup.Overall, this is far from the best Tom and Jerry short out there, but this is still a fun and entertaining piece of time. It makes me wish that there was more cartoons like this. The slapstick and gags in this that make Tom and Jerry famous are as good as ever in this short, but it felt like something was missing in this. It felt slower than most Tom and Jerry shorts. Anyway, this is a good short that does not quite live up to some other Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it is still nice.7/10

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Shawn Watson

Tom is listening to a spook story on the radio (a form of entertainment I wish was still around) and is so wound up by the possibility of ghosts, that he jumps in fright at every sound. Taking advantage of this for his own personal fun, Jerry tries to freak Tom out by playing pranks on him, the main one being sticking a white sheet on a vacuum cleaner and pretending it's a ghosts. Obviously Tom becomes aware of Jerry's cruel tricks in the end.It's very mildly funny though nothing really spectacular happens. I can really only recommend this to very young children as there is no real intelligence or wit to entertain an adult. Tom still looks a little rough, as he did in the early stages of his characters animation. Mammy-two-shoes shows up, but on the version I saw she was dubbed to make her sound more PC, as was common with Tom and Jerry cartoon manipulation in the early 90s.

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