A shipwrecked Tom is washed up on a tropical island where he is terrorised by what he believes to be a cannibalistic pygmy, but which in reality is only cheeky Jerry mouse in disguise.Woah! Tom and Jerry cartoons from the '40s and '50s featured quite a lot of gags that might be considered racially offensive these days, but His Mouse Friday has got to be most controversial of them all so far, with Jerry blacking up and pretending to be a cannibalistic savage (complete with grass skirt, bone on his head and 'Ooga Booga' dialogue!). The cartoon also stars a whole tribe of equally offensive, racially stereotypical natives who turn up for the fun.Personally, I find such historically awkward, socially unacceptable entertainment absolutely fascinating—a snapshot of an era gone by when political correctness simply didn't exist. Technically, the cartoon is as accomplished as one might expect, with great animation, well timed gags, wonderful music, and superb direction.

From a very early age, I have been a huge fan of Tom and Jerry. His Mouse Friday is not one of their best though, and I can definitely see why people will not be totally enamoured by it. The story is rather slight and has a going-by-the-motions quality to it, while there are moments that will be seen as not just stereotypical but also politically incorrect and somewhat insensitive(though I will say I was not offended by it, others might though). Apart from a cute ending and a priceless scene with Tom and a big soup bowl, there isn't much of note that one would deem as particularly funny. This said, it is crisply paced and is interesting in that Jerry's voice is to be heard to be really believed. The animation is still wonderful with lots of detail and beautiful colouring, and the music is as catchy, cleverly orchestrated and action-enhancing as ever. Jerry is sweet and cunning, and while Tom is dumber than usual he maintains his likability. Overall, decent but not one of Tom and Jerry's finest hours. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This 'Tom and Jerry' short opens with Tom adrift on a raft; he is so hungry that he starts to eat his shoe. He then spots a small island, once there he tries to get something to eat but has little luck getting to the edible parts of a coconut and a turtle. It is then that he sees Jerry although he is so hungry he sees him as food on legs rather than as a mouse. He tries to catch and cook Jerry but he escapes only to reappear looking much darker, with a bone in his hair and waving a spear. Jerry then orders Tom to get into a large pot and starts cooking him! Tom obviously believes Jerry is a dangerous local. While Tom cooks Jerry starts dancing; when his grass skirt falls off Tom notices that Jerry is no longer uniformly dark! It looks as if Tom now has the upper hand... at least it does until the real locals turn up wanting barbecued cat... and Jerry doesn't get off either; a smaller member of the tribe wants barbecued mouse!To be honest I thought this short would be a lot more offensive that it turned out to be; the locals only appear briefly and they aren't really cannibals as they intend to eat a cat and a mouse; not fellow humans. Some people might be offended by Jerry's blacking up but it was part of a disguise... like donning a beret and a string of onions to look French, not a black-face minstrel impression which would be more offensive.Having dealt with the potential offensiveness one just has to ask whether it was funny or not; overall I'd say it had a decent number of laughs; I liked Tom eating his shoe and failing to open the coconut and laughed when he was forced to add vegetables to the water but told to 'hold the onion'. The locals weren't exactly funny but it was good to see that Jerry's predicament at the end was just as bad as Tom's.

This isn't one of Tom and Jerry's best cartoons, as it just isn't as funny or violent as the typical film from this era. However, if you simply look at the film from a technical point of view, it is superb, as the animation style and quality is as good as you'll find--and even better than the great animation from MGM toons from the 1940s.Now I understand that this cartoon has been pulled from circulation because it's seen as politically incorrect due to it being an insensitive depiction of cannibals. While it is very true that Jerry puts on black powder to make himself look Black and he puts a bone on top of his head, I am sure that some might be offended by this (after all, minstrel shows and black-face comedy are sad things from our past). Some might also NOT be offended because the creators of this cartoon are saying nothing directly derogatory about anyone but cannibals, and I for one, do not particularly like cannibals and don't mind offending them. It's probably not a terrible thing that this one was pulled, but it always worries me when people do this as we are losing an important part of our history, as even the ugly stuff should be remembered. After all, how can you know how far you've come unless you've seen where you've been?