Cats and Mice

Regarding “Say Cheese” (by Marshall Fine, Dec. 19):

While “Itchy & Scratchy” may bear a passing resemblance to “Tom & Jerry,” in my opinion the more obvious influence was “Herman & Catnip.” If you go back and watch all those cartoons, you’ll find that most of Jerry’s attacks on Tom were either done in self-defense, or as a result of Tom not letting him get to a piece of cheese or kicking him out of the house.

This is not the case with their contemporaries over at Paramount. Whenever Herman attacked Catnip, it was almost always an act of pure sadism with no motivation other than to revel in the hapless feline’s pain.

DAN HOLLOMBE

Venice