Norah's New Favorite Movie

My mom took Norah to Wal-Mart with her the other day, and they came back with a new DVD for Norah. It is a Tom and Jerry DVD called Whiskers Away, and it features a segment entitled "Cruise Cat." I've never heard Norah laugh so hard at any movie or TV show as she does for "Cruise Cat."

What is fun is that I also think it is a really funny segment. It's also funny that Norah can't seem to remember how to say "Tom and Jerry" and often ends up saying "Cherry and Jom." But what is a bit odd is that nothing seems to make Norah laugh so hard as cartoon violence (but really, who doesn't love cartoon violence?). In the seven-minute segment of "Cruise Cat," we see the following acts take place, each one eliciting a belly laugh from my daughter:

*Jerry is smashed by a coconut.
*Jerry is slammed into a dock, flattening him.
*A pole-vaulting Jerry slams face-first into a cabin window.
*Tom's appendages are snapped off by a deck chair.
*Tom shatters a deck rail with his face, falling into the sea.
*Tom dives headfirst into a freshly-drained swimming pool.
*Jerry burns Tom with a blast of scalding steam.
*Tom and Jerry smack each other around with shuffleboard paddles.
*Jerry blows Tom up with dynamite.
*Tom spikes Jerry on a boot spur and a cactus.
*Jerry hits Tom in the face with a cactus leaf (my personal favorite).
*Tom gets slammed into a post face-first.
*Tom attempts to shoot Jerry, but the bullets end up back in his own mouth, which Jerry then fires by smacking him in the back of the head with a pistol.

Watching this with Norah is some of the best seven minutes I can think of. I actually find it funny too, so we both laugh (but I laugh more at her laughing than the movie). Tonight she couldn't sleep, so we let her watch a few segments of the DVD. We were sitting together on a chair, and she told me that when she gets older she wants to stay up all night with me--until it's morning again--and never sleep. She said that we can watch Tom and Jerry movies the entire night. Sounds like it'll be a fun time.

Oh, and if you're curious, I present for your viewing pleasure Tom and Jerry in "Cruise Cat" . . .