AllMovie

In one of the best-ever "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, Tom uses up all of his nine lives at once when, while pursuing Jerry, he manages to crush himself with a piano. Ascending to Heaven by way of a golden escalator, Tom's spirit arrives at the Pearly Gates, where a celestial conductor is checking in other recently deceased felines for their final ride on the Heavenly Express. But when Tom's turn comes, he is stopped cold as the stern conductor reminds him "Your whole life was spent persecuting an innocent little mouse." It looks as though Tom is doomed to the Fiery Depths, where a demonic bulldog awaits him with sadistic glee. But the conductor offers Tom one last chance: If within the next hour he can convince Jerry to sign a "Certificate of Forgiveness," Tom will be permitted entry into Paradise. The rest of the cartoon is a brilliant exercise in frantic frustration, capped by a hilarious--yet somehow touching--fadeout gag.