Well, today is supposedly the anniversary of the day that I made my world premiere 20 some odd years ago, so it's pretty cool for me to come across the information that the Tom & Jerry series also made it's cinematic debut on this day 70 years ago. Being the huge animation fan that I've been nurtured into becoming from a very young age, this is just a mind-blowing revelation for me. It might be similar to how a Canadian hockey would feel to learn that they shared a birthday with Gretzky or something. As a kid, I absolutely loved Tom & Jerry and that's a feeling that never passed or diminished over the years.
So happy birthday to Tom (or should I say Jasper ?) and Jerry, and happy b-day to Mammy Two Shoes, who also made her debut all of those years ago on this day in time. This may be very strange but I always had a little fondness for the character. As a little black kid, I already had some working understanding of what racism and prejudice were, though this was mainly in the most extreme forms as that's what I'd learned about during all of those lessons on civil rights leaders in preschool and from watching movies like Avenging Force, when my parents weren't looking. I wasn't aware of stereotypes as yet, so those things tended to pass over my head (and still do sometimes). While I understand why the character is deemed very politcally incorrect as an adult, I used to think it was pretty cool that Tom's owner was black. I probably imagined that she'd be a lot like my old babysitter, who happened to be a wonderful lady. Anyways, with the weather being as bad as it is outside, I couldn't think of a better day to enjoy some old Tom & Jerry shorts.
Here is what is undoubtedly my favorite short, Jerry's Cousin:
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