The Zoot Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZraYEVDMB8c (link for the cartoon)
I found this episode of a Tom and ~Jerry Cartoon when searching around for Zoot Suit culture. I thought the inclusion of Zoot Suit within a humorous was rather interesting, since zoot culture was not a result of comedic value. Released in 1944, the cartoon parodies many of the zoot cultural traits. For the plot follows Tom (the cat) trying to woo a mysterious female cat, whilst his efforts are thwarted by Jerry. Tom fashions his own zoot suit out of a hammock and a hat from a lamp shade. The two continue in their usual comedic way, foiling each others attempts to attract the girl cat and hurting one another in the process.
At the start of the episode the female cat does not give in to Tom's attempts to woo her, however, once he has created the zoot suit, she falls for his charms. The two begin to dance in "jive style". I thought this part of the cartoon seemed to emphasize the sexuality that was seen as a large part of zoot culture. Tom is trying to impress the female cat and he views her as a conquest with which he must fight his opponent. Alvarez states in his article that gender relations within the dance hall were a very large part of the event. He also describes how women were seen as a conquest (145) and I feel this sketch evidently reflects this. Her susceptibility to Tom's zoot suit also suggests a reflection of how the culture became hyper- sexualized, the female is drawn to a male she was previously not, suggesting the suit to entail the 'cool factor' Alvarez mentions.
In addition to the sexuality of zoot culture is the idea of excess used in the episode. Tom's suit is the embodiment of the excess of zoot culture. Alvarez describes how zoot culture relied upon the "zoot's excessive use of fabric, flashy colors and exaggerated style" (Alvarez 85-86) and all three of these characteristics are clearly shown in tom's green and orange suit.
Although this sketch is about the zoot era, as opposed to black face, I was wondering if people can see similarities in the portrayal of zoot culture in the cartoon and the aims of black face? (For example, putting on the brightly colored zoot suit made out of a hammock and a hat made from a lamp to create a humorous sketch, in the same way black- face allowed white men to put on a comedy performance for white society?