Tom & Jerry

Time was you knew where you were with Tom and Jerry. He chases the mouse; catches the mouse; the mouse gets away; Tom is flattened, gets up dazed but determined; and then it’s back to the chase. The tone changed over time – Tom was originally more scary than he became later – but essentially the fun was in the rivalry that would never cease; the plot’s piquancy was that of David and Goliath, the little mouse always getting the better of the big cat. I can only hope the Chinese audience buys it because I couldn’t But the old Hanna-Barbera scenario that began in 1940 has evolved and the franchise has passed into new hands.