Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Jerry's Diary" is an American cartoon from 1949, so this one will soon have its 70th anniversary. It's a Hanna Barbera production and as such of course a Tom & Jerry cartoon, one of the shorter at under 6.5 minutes. After a radio broadcast Tom decides to be nice for once, really nice actually, but what he gets to read in Jerry's diary does not exactly have a positive impact on his mood. Serves him well because you don't read somebody else's diary I guess. And this core of the story that is also referenced in the title shows that this film here recycled some other T&J cartoons for this one here as really just the framework is new. In my opinion, it is a negative deal-breaker and also these flashbacks somehow took the drive and flow out of the picture. Best moment was perhaps the dishes scene, but as a whole this is not one of the better works starring the world's most famous cat-and-mouse duo. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
BA_Harrison
Overhearing the radio, Tom discovers that it is 'Be Kind To Animals Week' and bakes Jerry a pie. While searching for the mouse, Tom discovers Jerry's diary and reads some of his entries. Cue numerous flashbacks to earlier cartoons in which the rodent repeatedly humiliates the poor cat. When Tom finally finds Jerry, he splatters the surprised mouse with the pie.In order to keep production costs down, many series resort to the 'compilation' episode, wherein characters recall moments from their previous adventures, thus allowing for the recycling of old footage; this is the first of several T&J cartoons to exploit this economic but rather lazy format, and as such it holds very few surprises for fans of the animated duo.
Shawn Watson
This cartoon is one of the earliest forms of a 'clip show' that I have seen. You've seen (and no doubt been annoyed) the episodes of The Simpsons where they go 'remember when' before cutting to old footage, thus trimming down on the cost of original production. Well, that's what happens here.Tom is planning the usual amount of torture for Jerry when the radio warns him that it is 'Be Nice To Animals Day'. Convinced that he should be kind for once, Tom bakes the mouse a cake, grabs some presents and waits by his hole. But Jerry ain't home, and it's a perfect opportunity for Tom to grab his diary and reminisce about all the time the mouse got the better of him, cue the old footage.One to skip.
ccthemovieman-1
Tom's got all his traps lined up outside Jerry's hole in the wall and just waits for the "kill." The radio is playing and the announcer is asking, "Do you know that it's 'Be Kind To Animals Week?' Are you being kind to animals? Why, of course you are, especially this week...." Before long, he gets to Tom's conscience and the cat exchanges the traps for flowers, candy and pie!However, there is no sign of Jerry. Tom investigates, looking inside the mouse's hole but Jerry's lair is empty. The cat spots the mouse's dairy, begins reading and it's entertaining stuff which has Tom in stitches....until he reads a few things that bring back bad memories.This is another solid T&J cartoon, filled with a lot of funny moments and a few nostalgic ones from past episodes.
AD
