SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Foreverisacastironmess I'm impressed by how it's only Tom and Jerry's third ever short and most of what made them such a terrific cartoon double act was already there. I love the odd way the early version of Tom looks and sounds more like a real cat. What utterly lovely and amazingly drawn and richly textured opening scenes of that classically decorated home on Christmas Eve with the cosy roaring fireplace and presents around the tree and the snowy blizzard outside the windows, it's such a heartwarming sight, it's a perfect little visual of why a part of me will always love that old-fashioned image of Christmas and that seasonal spirit of joy, it's so warm and precious... So in this instance a mouse is indeed stirring and he emerges from his mouse hole and plays around with some of the presents and the tree, as well as Tom after he mistakes him for a plush toy and jumps on him, which awakens the cranky feline and the classic mad mouse chase ensues, with Jerry using several toys to his advantage as he dashes about, there's no real heavy slapstick violence except for when Tom gets a huge shock! The cat eventually manages to drive Jerry outside and shuts him out of the house in the freezing snowstorm. As he returns to the den and settles down in front of the fire...he inexplicably shows that he has a heart after all as he pictures Jerry outside in the icy cold and feels guilty. He rushes outside and finds Jerry frozen solid like a mouse Popsicle(micecycle?), and he quickly brings the mouse back in and defrosts him on the fire. The pair make a truce as Tom gives Jerry a candy-cane stick and Jerry gives his thanks and in return uses it to disarm a trap that he has earlier set up for Tom in his saucer of milk. Jerry then uses the candy to pry some cheese from another trap outside his little home and instead of snapping shut in a regular way, it closes slowly and plays a music box theme. Perhaps Tom rigged it to play that tune, who knows.. But in any case it's very sweet and makes for a great ending to a very nice short. It's a touch more on the sentimental side than the usual Tom and Jerry fun, and a rare one where they both 'win', and I love the sweet message that even mortal enemies can put aside their differences and be good to each other at Christmas. To me the real meaning of the holiday isn't anything that special, it's simple goodwill and the kindness to give and show that you care and family togetherness. And to me this was both a great Tom and Jerry short as well as a Christmas one, it's one of the better vintage festive animations that I've seen lately. Well worth seeing, wonderful timeless work. To all a goodnight! X

Michael_Elliott The Night Before Christmas (1941) *** 1/2 (out of 4) One of the best of the early Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts. It's Christmas night and Jerry is under the tree play with the various gifts left by Santa. Soon he starts jumping on Tom thinking he's a gift and soon the two are back to their fighting ways. The third short in the series has all the classic chases that you'd expect from the series but it also has a bit more heart since this was released around the holidays. The animation is really what stands out here and especially how colorful it was. The scene under the tree are especially beautiful looking and we also get some nice laughs once the fighting starts. The ending is quite nice as the two make up and play nice for once.

preppy-3 Cartoon about a cat and a mouse fighting each other on Christmas Eve. I personally never liked Tom & Jerry. I found their cartoons way too violent and mean-spirited to enjoy. Also I'm a cat lover and seeing the poor cat constantly being tortured was not fun. I realize these are just cartoon characters but still...However I DID like this. It was in bright beautiful colors (in the TCM print at least) and the violence was toned down. Also the two of them do call a truce at the end. Short, colorful and a little sweet. What surprised me is that this was supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. This is a lot better than the truly awful animation they did on "The Flintstones".

Shawn Watson Outside of a cozy Xmas atmosphere and the look and feel of a lovely country Xmas, this Tom and Jerry cartoon doesn't have much going for it outside of the usual hijinks.Jerry wanders around late on Xmas Eve, nosing at all the presents. House guardian Tom, doing his duty, chases him. It ends up with Jerry being booted out into the freezing cold. Feeling guilty, Tom eventually goes out to rescue him and the two of them enjoy the warmth of the fire together.Like I said, it's nothing special and not very inventive at all. A good cartoon to view at Xmastime however.