Mouse Trouble

Mouse Trouble
The re-release poster of this cartoon.
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Written by	Mark S. Bernthal
Produced by	Fred Quimby (unc. on original issue)
Animation by	Ray Patterson Irven Spence Kenneth Muse (original credited as Ken Muse) Pete Burness Assistant animation: Barney Posner (uncredited)
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Running time	7:08

Mouse Trouble is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 17th Tom and Jerry short produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music by Scott Bradley (the music is actually based on the popular jazz song "All God's Children Got Rhythm"). The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Ken Muse and Pete Burness. The cartoon won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, the second consecutive award bestowed upon the series. It was released in theatres on November 23, 1944 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and reissued on December 12, 1951.

Plot

Tom opens a delivered box and finds a book on how to catch mice and for the rest of the cartoon, he takes its advice to attempt to catch Jerry.

The first thing the book suggests is to locate the mouse. Tom locates the mouse reading the book with him, but when he tries to grab Jerry, the mouse steps off the book and slams Tom's nose in it.

Tom sets out a simple mouse trap. Jerry, however, succeeds in freeing the cheese without setting the trap off. Shocked at the trap's failure, Tom tests it, and the trap snaps as soon as he touches it. Tom then sets a snare trap around a piece of cheese and gets ready to pull the string but is distracted by a bowl of cream substituted for the cheese by Jerry. Jerry activates the trap, sending the cat out to the tree himself.

Practicing the "A Curious Mouse is Easy to Catch" chapter, while Tom is reading the book and guffaws, Jerry curiously ventures out of his hole and is slammed into the book. But when Tom grabs him, Jerry pulls the same trick on him with his fists, punching Tom in the eye. Tom corners Jerry and, after reading that "A cornered mouse never fights", pounces on him but Jerry fights back and beats Tom. Bruised and battered, Tom drones "Don't you believe it!" - a cultural reference to the distinctive jingle on the 1940s radio show Don't You Believe it!

At this point, Tom stops reading from chapter-to-chapter and tries suggestions he thinks will work. Upon reading Chapter VII: "Be scientific in your approach", Tom uses a stethoscope to listen for Jerry within the walls of the house. This backfires when Jerry screams into the microphone, almost deafening Tom. Tom then forces a double-barreled shotgun into Jerry's mousehole. However, the barrels protrude out of the wall and point straight at Tom's head as the cat fires and ends up razing his head, forcing him to wear a dodgy orange toupee for the rest of the cartoon. In the next scene, Tom sets a bear trap and slides it into the mousehole. Jerry walks outside from another hole behind Tom and puts the trap behind him, which triggers as Tom sits down and sends him flying into the ceiling in pain. Tom then tries to use a mallet to flatten Jerry, but Jerry pops out of a hole behind a picture right above Tom, grabs the mallet, and hits him. Tom then attempts to disguise himself in a gift box. Jerry, seeing the box, knocks on it, hearing no response. Inexplicably, Jerry proceeds to impale the box with pins while Tom whimpers and groans in pain before sawing the box in half. Still hearing nothing, Jerry looks inside the box but just as quickly pulls his head out. Horror-struck, he gulps and displays a sign reading "IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?"

Now covered in bandages, Tom winds up a female toy mouse which repeatedly says "come up and see me some time". Jerry, noticing the toy, walks with it. Tom attempts to lure Jerry into a mouse-sized pretend hotel which is named "cozy arms", the door of which leads into Tom's open mouth. Jerry ushers the toy mouse into the hotel first, which causes Tom to eat it and breaking it (shattering his teeth in the process). After inspecting his shattered teeth in a mirror, Tom smashes it in rage and tears the book to shreds, all the while hiccupping "come up and see me some time" since the toy's voice box is stuck in his throat.

Having gone mad with revenge, Tom attempts to blow away Jerry with dozens of explosives (TNT, gunpowder, dynamite and a massive block buster that resembles the atom bomb Fat Man). When Tom ignites a piece of dynamite cautiously, it doesn't start the fuse enough, so he blows the fuse too hard. This causes the fuse to be fired immediately and the explosives erupt, killing Tom. Nothing at all remains of the house except Jerry (who remains unharmed after the explosion) and his mousehole, while a fed-up Tom, now in spirit form, is seen on a cloud floating to heaven, repeatedly hiccuping "come up and see me some time" ad infinitum.

Voice cast

• Harry E. Lang and William Hanna as Tom
• Sara Berner as the female mouse toy
• William Hanna as Jerry

Production

• Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
• Story: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Bill Turner
• Director of Animation: William Bowsky
• Animation: Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Pete Burness, Joe Oriolo, Dve Tendlar, William Bowsky, Orestes Calpini, John Gentilella, George Germanetti, Edward Nolan
• Assistant Animation: Barney Posner
• Sequence Directors: Dave Fleischer, I. Sparber
• Music: Scott Bradley
• Co-Producer: William Hanna
• Produced by: Fred Quimby

Production

• Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
• Story: Bill Turner
• Director of Animation: William Bowsky
• Animation: Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Pete Burness, Joe Oriolo, Dve Tendlar, William Bowsky, Orestes Calpini, John Gentilella, George Germanetti, Edward Nolan
• Assistant Animation: Barney Posner
• Sequence Directors: Dave Fleischer, I. Sparber
• Music: Scott Bradley
• Co-Producer: William Hanna
• Produced by: Fred Quimby

Availability

DVD

• Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 2
• Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc One
• Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, Disc One

External links

• Mouse Trouble at IMDb
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