Piano Tooners (1932) User Reviews

Amazing sound production

[The_Movie_Cat · 7/10 · 26 August 2005]

Am I the only one ignorant enough not to have known that there was ANOTHER Tom and Jerry, and that this human duo were starring in Piano Tooners over seven years before their far more famous namesakes made their debut in "Puss Gets The Boot"? This Tom and Jerry might not have the same mainstream clout as the cat who regularly gets his face turned into the shape of an iron, but the cartoon nonetheless amuses with its constant invention.

True, after a while it's a bit of a one-joke feature, but when your runtime is only seven minutes, how many gags do you need anyway? Mice playing chopsticks, a piano with a "sore tooth" note... it's all there, along with some wonderfully synchronised musical numbers and all the logic-bending antics that happen in cartoons.

Most disturbing moment though had to be the utterly dark killing of the rogue note. A close-up of said note reveals it to look ominously like the mutant baby from Eraserhead. The note then gets its brains bashed out against a wall and then put out of its misery by drowning. Whoever suggested these things were for kids?

Piano tuning has never been more deliciously bizarre

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 22 November 2017]

The Van Beuren Tom and Jerry (as said already not the famous cat and mouse, this is a human duo that lasted for just under 30 cartoons, 29 if memory serves correct, between 1931 and 1933) series was interesting but uneven and not easy to rate as an overall whole. At the series' best, the cartoons were good, very good in a few cases. At its worst, they were really bad.

'Piano Tooners' is not among the really bad outings, and is closer to the good if not quite very good or great ones. The story is basically a stringing along of musical interludes and gags and Tom and Jerry are slightly bland. It's the animation that fares weakest, it's never been a strong suit (often the weak link even) in even their best cartoons with a few exceptions like 'Wot a Night'. Describing the static movement, simplistic detail and erratic designs as primitive is being kind.

However, as to be expected, the music is outstanding. Even in the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons it was the best asset. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and full of energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

Moreover, the gags are also among the most consistently entertaining and well-timed of Tom and Jerry's cartoons, the piano tuning moments are deliciously bizarre (including a bad note being thrown down a toilet) and there are some surprisingly risqué moments with the female character Pflop.

The weirdness of 'Piano Tooners' atmosphere is impossible to not enjoy, being so inventively done and true to the absurdist style of the general humour of the cartoons and using it to full advantage. Timing is done very well and the Pflop character makes an amusing impression.

Overall, deliciously bizarre and well done despite in particular the primitive animation. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Mice and Bad Notes

[Michael_Elliott · 17 March 2016]

Piano Tooners (1932)

** (out of 4)

Tom and Jerry (not the cat and mouse) are trying to tune a piano but keep having some trouble in it. They must fight the mice that are inside of it as well as the bad notes (think music note). Once the issues with the piano are settled it is sent to a concert hall where a woman with very large breasts begins to sing but more problems rise up.

PIANO TOONERS is the second film I've seen from this Tom and Jerry series and while I haven't been overly impressed with either one, at least they are a bit different than what you'd normally see from animation during this era. The animation itself is okay; it's not horrible but it's far from being good. The second portion of the film deals with the concert and I must admit that the high-pitched voice of the singer was rather annoying. I think that was the point but it just wasn't funny. There's a scene with a large woman trying to get to the middle of a row that got a mild laugh.

It's "Tom and Jerry",...of sorts

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 28 July 2006]

In the early 1930s, there were a string of cartoons by a small studio and the characters were called "Tom and Jerry", but they bore no similarity to the cat and mouse from MGM. In fact, they were stick figure people that were extremely simply drawn and non-violent (at least when compared to the other Tom and Jerry). Their short PENCIL MANIA is much better than this one, though in a strange way it's still worth seeing if you don't have a life or are curious about early cartoons.

The two fellas are working on tuning a piano--ridding it of mice and "bad notes". Then, the piano is used for a concert featuring a woman who has extremely large breasts and sings so high your TV screen might just crack. In fact, the singing is so bad that you might just be tempted to turn it off. Well, considering the last half is all this way, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

The Usual T&J (Human) Fare....And That Means A Wild & Crazy Cartoon!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 6 July 2007]

Having now watched a handful of these (human) Tom and Jerry (or Dick and Larry) cartoons, I have noticed several trends. Most of them - as in the case of this particular animated short:

Are a showcase for the music of the day. The music is usually upbeat, toe-tapping and fun to hear

Almost risqué in certain parts. Like Betty Boop, they like to draw cleavage on the women and show them in sexy outfits. It this short, a "supersized," shall we say, opera woman is seen putting on her panties and bra (behind a screen.) and then later her chest just about coming out of her dress as she sings.

They seem to like hundreds of mice suddenly appearing and doing strange things. Here, they are on the piano dancing and singing way for a brief time.

There is almost no dialog in these cartoons.

The segues are quick with no subtleties. All of sudden, the scene dramatically changes. For instance, in here the guys at home "tuning" their piano (and you should see how they do that!) and the next thing you know we see people jamming into their seats at a theater. It ties in, though, because Tom and Jerry are there and when the opera singer/piano player has trouble, these wild "piano tooners" come to the rescue...and entertain at the same time!

This cartoon can be seen on the DVD called "150 Cartoon Classics."