Blue Cat Blues
Encyclopedia
Blue Cat Blues is the 103rd one reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, created in 1956
, directed and produced by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with layouts by Richard Bickenbach and backgrounds by Robert Gentle.
Unusually for a Tom and Jerry short, Jerry "speaks", narrating the story in voiceover via Paul Frees
. This cartoon was released on November 16, 1956 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
and marks the final appearance of Butch in Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts produced before 1959.
A depressed Tom is sitting on the railroad tracks, bent on suicide
. Watching from a bridge crossing the tracks from above, Jerry sadly relives "the story of a cat with a broken heart" in his head.
He relates the events leading up to Tom's depression, beginning with Tom and Jerry as friends, until Tom found himself attracted to a female opportunist cat. She reciprocates his feelings for the time being, but Tom's rival, the much richer Butch, lays his eyes on her as she swings from a swing up to his penthouse. He rudely intrudes by grabbing the female right off the seat and kissing her. They smooch for a long time. Knowing how rich Butch is, the cat immediately dumps Tom and becomes his prize.
Tom tries to win the cat over with presents, such as flowers, perfume, diamond rings, and a car - going as far as selling himself into slavery - but she is no longer interested in Tom, as Butch's presents are much bigger, more expensive, and outlandish, to the point that she begins to treat Tom as if he does not exist. Having gone completely broke and into deep debt, with a broken heart to boot, he overdoses on alcohol
and lets himself drift away into the gutter only to be saved by Jerry. Just when his misery could not get any worse, he learns that the cat has now married Butch as he sees the two drive off with a Just Married sign on the back of their car.
However, while Tom is suicidal, Jerry is content with his girlfriend named "Toots" and he knows that she loves him back. That is, until he sees her driving off with another rich mouse (who is related to Tuffy), with a Just married sign on the back of their car.They also smooched. Now that he has lost his girlfriend, a suicidal Jerry joins Tom on the tracks. They sit and wait for the train as its whistle sounds audibly as the cartoon comes to a close, leaving their fates uncertain.
Reel
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...
animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, created in 1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
, directed and produced by William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with layouts by Richard Bickenbach and backgrounds by Robert Gentle.
Unusually for a Tom and Jerry short, Jerry "speaks", narrating the story in voiceover via Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
. This cartoon was released on November 16, 1956 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and marks the final appearance of Butch in Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts produced before 1959.
Plot
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Watching from a bridge crossing the tracks from above, Jerry sadly relives "the story of a cat with a broken heart" in his head.
He relates the events leading up to Tom's depression, beginning with Tom and Jerry as friends, until Tom found himself attracted to a female opportunist cat. She reciprocates his feelings for the time being, but Tom's rival, the much richer Butch, lays his eyes on her as she swings from a swing up to his penthouse. He rudely intrudes by grabbing the female right off the seat and kissing her. They smooch for a long time. Knowing how rich Butch is, the cat immediately dumps Tom and becomes his prize.
Tom tries to win the cat over with presents, such as flowers, perfume, diamond rings, and a car - going as far as selling himself into slavery - but she is no longer interested in Tom, as Butch's presents are much bigger, more expensive, and outlandish, to the point that she begins to treat Tom as if he does not exist. Having gone completely broke and into deep debt, with a broken heart to boot, he overdoses on alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and lets himself drift away into the gutter only to be saved by Jerry. Just when his misery could not get any worse, he learns that the cat has now married Butch as he sees the two drive off with a Just Married sign on the back of their car.
However, while Tom is suicidal, Jerry is content with his girlfriend named "Toots" and he knows that she loves him back. That is, until he sees her driving off with another rich mouse (who is related to Tuffy), with a Just married sign on the back of their car.They also smooched. Now that he has lost his girlfriend, a suicidal Jerry joins Tom on the tracks. They sit and wait for the train as its whistle sounds audibly as the cartoon comes to a close, leaving their fates uncertain.