Tom and Jerry is one of the best children cartoons and a political satire too
Date : 18/05/2024
Abstract:
Everything in this world has two sides, like, if there is good, there is evil, if something is beautiful, then there is something that is not beautiful; it is the presence of some quality or attribute that negates the presence of the other. In society, we divide the people into rich and poor on the basis of wealth they possess. This class system was present from time immemorial, and will continue to exist till the day the society exists. i.e., rich will remain rich and poor will remain poor. Karl Marx opposed this idea and introduced Marxism to unlock the caged bird and let it free. Karl Marx believed that in this world, money will not make us happy and happiness will not make money. And he mentioned that everyone in this world is equal and we should not treat anyone as a slave. In the eyes of God, everyone is equal and has equal rights. Though Tom and Jerry is one of the best entertaining cartoons, it is a political satire which has an element of Marxism in it. Literally it looks like it’s created for entertainment, but MGM productions along with some critics and even some of the western politicians call it a political satire on World War-2 (battle between German and British). Ultimately this paper depicts that How Marxism plays a role in the children’s cartoon “Tom and jerry” and how far the production succeeded in imparting Marxism into Tom and Jerry.
Key words: Marxism, Karl Marx, rich, poor, cartoon, British German.
About Tom and jerry:
Tom and Jerry is an American animated series of short films created in 1940, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It centres on a rivalry between its two title characters, Tom and Jerry, and many recurring characters, based around slapstick comedy.
In its original run, Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1940 to 1958. During this time, they won seven Academy Awards for Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. After the MGM cartoon studio closed in 1958, MGM revived the series with Gene Deitch directing an additional 13 Tom and Jerry shorts for Rembrandt Films from 1961 to 1962.
Summary of Tom and Jerry
The series features comic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry). The plots of each story centres on Tom's numerous attempts to capture Jerry and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck. However, there are also several instances within the cartoon, where they display genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being. At many a times, the pair sets aside their rivalry in order to pursue a common goal. For example, when a baby escaped the watch of a negligent babysitter, Tom and Jerry came together to keep the baby safe.
At other times, Tom uses axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry. On the other hand, Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent due to its frequent success, including slicing Tom into half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron or a mangle, kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, letting a tree or electric pole drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, tying him to a firework and setting it off, and so on. Because of this, Tom and Jerry have often been criticized as excessively violent.
Episode summaries:
JERRY AND THE GOLD FISH:
Tom is listening to a radio chef's recipe for fish stew when he realizes the key ingredient is right there in the home goldfish bowl. Jerry has been treating this fish as a pet, and didn’t let Tom get away with his plan. Jerry tries to save the fish while Tom abandons his stew plans.
HIS MOUSE FRIDAY:
Tom, shipwrecked, washes up on a tropical island. His first attempts at getting food - a coconut and a turtle – was very difficult. But he spots Jerry just before Jerry sees him, and soon has him in the frying pan. Jerry escapes to a cannibal village; when he sees Tom's frightened reaction, he has his plan. Using soot from a pot, he blackens himself, then threatens Tom and starts cooking him. But Jerry's plan is exposed when his grass skirt comes off during his war dance. Jerry helicopters away using the bone in his hair, and leading Tom right into the real cannibals. But Jerry's triumph is short-lived, as a pygmy cannibal comes after him.
THE MIDNIGHT’S SNACKS:
The series begin with Jerry raiding the fridge and is carrying off a giant wedge of cheese. Tom's feeling playful, so he piles the cheese high with dishes, builds a set of bread-slice steps, and ends them on a rolling pin. This sends Jerry crashing, of course. Jerry puts the cheese back. Tom dips a paw into a bowl of jelly in the process and decides to raid the fridge; he puts Jerry's tail under an iron. After some snacking, Tom buries Jerry in the cream from a creampuff. But he also tosses the cheese wedge into the chinese cabinet, bringing Mammy down to scold him. Time for a scapegoat: Tom stuffs Jerry into the fridge, then runs to the next room. When Mammy screams, Tom chases Jerry but this chase ends differently, with Tom trapped in the ironing board. Jerry takes careful aim with a fork, sending Tom into the fridge, where Mammy thrashes him as Jerry munches the cheese.
THE SLEEPY TOM:
Tom is desperate for sleep after a night of revelry with his friends, but Mammy Two-Shoes demands that he stay awake to keep the mouse out of the refrigerator. Jerry, being a clever mouse, sees his opportunity to get rid of the cat.
TROJAN DOG:
Tom has had it with Jerry, and he wraps all of the cabinets and the refrigerator with chains. Jerry leaves, and he wanders into the basement of the house across the street. A student of Dr.Frankenstein has made a robotic dog! Jerry controls this very destructive dog, and he terrorizes Tom. Tom is able to climb into the dog, and in turn, terrorize Jerry!
PREHISTORIC PALS:
The story begins with Tom and Jerry sleeping in a cave. Jerry's slumber is interrupted by the Cave Man breaking open coconuts. Jerry goes out and partakes the remnants of the coconuts, but the Cave Man gets angry with this act of Jerry. He chases Jerry back into the cave where the Cave Man confronts a lazy, sleeping Tom. He grunts a few threats to Tom so that he disposes the mouse permanently. Tom corners Jerry only to be dropped into a chasm of lava where Tom rides the lava waves first on a rock, then on an egg. The heat from the lava and a few bumps in the flow causes the egg to hatch. Jerry rescues the Baby Dinosaur which takes a liking to Jerry and protects him. Tom attempts to swoop down on the duo but is chased himself by a Pterodactyl. Tom's efforts to capture Jerry is met with resistance from the Baby Dinosaur and Tom gets hurt, a lot. Eventually, Momma Dinosaur shows up and ends the chase by flattening Tom. The dinosaurs and Jerry walk away leaving a very flat Tom behind.
Interpretation:
Tom and Jerry, created in 1940, not only aimed at entertaining people, but was a political satire on the battle of British with German. There is a Marxist perspective to the series too.
· They created Jerry (mouse)as an allusion of Germans. Hitler belongs to Germany; his goal is to abolish Jews from his country because they are Normans who is wealthier than them. Hitler often says that these Jews are “dirty mice” though Americans are Jews. In order to say they are not “dirty mice and “they are neat, clever, and due to all these characteristics, Jerry easily escapes from Tom and teaches him a lesson about good qualities and never to ill-treat others.
· There are two reasons why they chose cat as the character Tom. The first reason is that the short film ‘puss in boots’ created by MGM Production was received well by the audience in the 20th century. It was a great hit in the society where Tom (cat) was the central character. The second reason is that cat is a perfect enemy for mouse. So, MGM production alluded Tom (cat) as British.
About Marxism:
Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand — Karl Marx, Grundrisse, 1858
Marxism: The political and economic philosophy propounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels where the concept of class struggle plays a central role in understanding society's allegedly inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately classless society. Five basic principles in Marxism:
a) Theory of equality.
b) Theory of freedom.
c) Theory of progress.
d) Theory of identity.
e) Approximation of armed revolt.
a) Theory of equality:
Equal right is conferred upon all, as in the eyes of God, everyone is equal.
b) Theory of freedom:
According to Hegel “freedom lies in recognition of necessity.” He expounds that real meaning of freedom is economic freedom of the individuals.
c) Theory of progress:
The Proceeding towards freedom from being dependent. (Transition from being dependent to being independent.) Unlock the caged bird to let it free. Action leads to success
d) Theory of identity:
Making use of the right opportunity at the right time and create their own identity.
e) Approximation of armed revolt:
Marx says that ancient ethics are useless. It proves that every individual’s ethics is based on their social and economic conditions. Mainly it indicates that violent means right and indispensable.
Applying five principles into Tom and Jerry:
a) Theory of equality
In the eyes of god and mother earth, everyone is equal. People may earn differently based on the difference in educational background and employment. In Tom and Jerry, in almost all episodes, Tom never gave equal rights to jerry. Though Tom is wealthy enough to feed itself and can share food with others, he didn’t do so as he showed the attitude of a bourgeoisie. Bourgeoises never think about poor people. Most of the bourgeoisie never have the mercy to share food and shelter to others. If we take Tom as British in the period of colonization, British was wealthy enough to rule the countries it got all the wealth from; countries like India, Africa etc…We can see all this attitude in episodes like “JERRY AND THE GOLD FISH, HIS MOUSE FRIEND, THE MIDNIGHT’S SNACKS etc…”
b) Theory of freedom:
According to Marx, he says that “freedom is not merely a word or an abstract theory, but the most effective instrument for advancing the welfare of a man”. Being independent is not the actual freedom. Advancing them with welfare and let the people identify themselves on who they are in the society by giving equal rights and opportunity. In Tom and Jerry, character Tom let jerry be independent, but it never gave up torturing Jerry and never let him get welfare like bourgeoisies receive. It never gave any identity to the working-class people. They never gave an opportunity to the working class to identify who they are in the society. If we take Tom as British, when the colonized people said they gave freedom to the people and let them free, it was only in their words and they never stopped hurting and enslaving the colonialized country. We can see all these elements in the episodes like “JERRY AND THE GOLDFISH, HIS MOUSE FRIEND, THE MIDNIGHT’S SNACKS etc…”
c) Theory of progress:
The journey towards freedom from being dependent. Action leads to success. In Tom and Jerry, though Jerry suffers and gets hurt by Tom’s attitude, Jerry never gave up his confidence and hard work to get positive results. We can find this in episodes like “JERRY AND THE GOLD FISH, HIS MOUSE FRIEND, THE MIDNIGHT’S SNACKS etc….Jerry succeeds in his efforts due to his cleverness. Due to colonization, they enslaved the people of various countries by hurting them and ill-treating them. But colonized countries like India, German, Africa, never gave up their strength and confidence to get freedom.
d) Theory of identity:
In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity. Everyone needs to create their own identity and good remarks in the society. In Tom and Jerry, Jerry tries to create its own identity by his artistic mind, but knowing this Tom tries to exploit it. This is the proof of having a bourgeoisie’s mind; they never succeed nor allow anyone to succeed. They may or may not use any opportunity available to them, but they never let others to use the opportunity to be successful. We can find this attitude in episodes like” STERIO, SCARED BEAR, INCREDIBLE DROOP, TROJAN DOG” etc…
e) Approximation of armed revolt:
Marx says that ancient ethics are useless. It proves that every individual’s ethics is based on their social and economic conditions. Mainly it indicates that violent means right and indispensable. Most of the working-class people never give up their values in any given circumstance. They will think in practical way of spending their money and their life in a fruitful manner. They never spend their life fulfilling any unwanted desires or invaluable things. Like in Tom and Jerry, in certain episodes, it is seen that Jerry never spends its time for attending party and other desirable things but Tom spends time like that in way it cannot upraise his life.
Features in Marxism:
· Man passes history and finally comes to know what world is.
· Spirit and man understand it through his realization of the world.
· Man, product of self-knowledge and goes on reconciling the world.
· Find their identity by alienation.
· Capitalist economy. etc...
Applying features of Marxism in Tom and Jerry:
In Tom and Jerry, not only the characters Tom and Jerry, but also every character realizes the world, gets self-knowledge, self-esteem and identity through alienation and suffering (got ill-treated by one to one)
For instance,
In the episodes like” STERIO, SCARED BEAR, INCREDIBLE DROOP, TROJAN DOG” etc…
Conclusion:
Tom and Jerry is one of the best entertaining cartoons and is a political satire which contributes Marxism into it. Through Marxism we came to a conclusion that freeing man from alienation as well through communism is to find identity. Mainly the goal of Marxism is to let the ruling class tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose, but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite in the process.
Bibliography:
Image Credits: Pixy.org
Tags :
Note: Your email address will not be displayed with the comment.
.png)