Pet Peeve (1954 film)
Encyclopedia
Pet Peeve is the 88th one-reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
and produced by Fred Quimby
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released on November 20, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
This was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be released in CinemaScope
and the second to be produced in the format (the first was Touché, Pussy Cat!
, released a month later), which widened the cinema screen to a more expansive aspect ratio
to compete against the growing popularity of television. The CinemaScope process required thicker and more defined ink lines around the characters, giving them a slightly more "modern" and less detailed appearance.
The cartoon is also the first to feature an owner of the house that is not Mammy Two Shoes, the African-American maid voiced by Lillian Randolph
from the first cartoon Puss Gets the Boot
(1940) up to and including 1952's Push-Button Kitty
. Instead, Mammy was replaced with a white married couple.
, living together as friends, happily, Spike is eating a club sandwich while Tom makes a sandwich with cat food. Tom drops a piece of bread and Jerry tries to steal it. Tom steps on his tail and pops him back into his hole. They overhear an argument taking place between the owners of the house named Joan and George, George is complaining about the first day of month "It's just bills, bills, bills!". Joan and George decide that the food costs are far too high and that the dog and cat eat too much. George reads all of the costs saying Dog food and Cat food. The argument is now saying that they get rid of Tom or Spike. The ensuing argument ends with the conclusion that only one pet can stay in the house. When both Tom and Spike prove to be as helpful as each other in cleaning the house and providing good company, George and Joan make a deal: the first to catch Jerry stays in the house. The race begins.
Tom grabs Jerry and Spike is standing and punches him. Then, Spike is going to a shortcut and his hands were stuck and Tom grabs Jerry. Spike gets a door closed on him. Spike then erects a sign that says "DETOUR" and turns Tom into the closet with him. Tom gets walloped with a golf club
. Spike is pulled into the floor grate and flattened into the likeness of a nail. Tom presents Jerry to George's chair, but instead of George, Spike leaps out and grabs Jerry.
Tom shakes Spike's hand in a gesture of surrender, packs up his possessions and sets out for the door. Spike follows him to comfort the cat, and Tom slyly gives "his" possessions to Spike and ushers him out the door. Spike falls for it until he's about to leave the yard. He then realises he has been tricked by Tom, and his head turns into a Jackass. Enraged, he angrily runs back towards the house.
Tom laughs at his victory until Spike busts through the door and flattens him. Spike starts chasing Jerry as Tom frees himself. He is compressed into a cylinder
. Spike grabs Jerry and is flipped judo-style by Tom. Tom and Spike then duel with swords, destroying a lot of the house. They see Jerry run across a carpet, and they roll it up and cut it up until Tom slices off George's slippers.
When they cut his slippers, George shouts "That does it boys, start packing!" meaning that Tom and Spike lose by default. George and Joan then decide that Jerry, who apparently believe that he doesn't "eat" much will be their pet, unaware that his mouse hole is stocked with a lot of food. Letting them believe he doesn't eat too much, Jerry happily eats his cheese. George then asks Tom and Spike if they had finished packing, to which they nod in reply. George tells them to take "what belongs to [them] and GET OUT!". With him saying this, Tom and Spike attempt to sneak out of the house with the fridge, but are spotted by George ("Hey! Put that back! Hey you two! Come back here!"). Panicking, they flee with the fridge and run away into the sunset
.
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...
, directed 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....
and produced by Fred Quimby
Fred Quimby
Frederick C. "Fred" Quimby was an American cartoon producer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards...
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released on November 20, 1954 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...
.
This was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be released in CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
and the second to be produced in the format (the first was Touché, Pussy Cat!
Touché, Pussy Cat!
Touché, Pussy Cat! is the 89th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1954 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley...
, released a month later), which widened the cinema screen to a more expansive aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
to compete against the growing popularity of television. The CinemaScope process required thicker and more defined ink lines around the characters, giving them a slightly more "modern" and less detailed appearance.
The cartoon is also the first to feature an owner of the house that is not Mammy Two Shoes, the African-American maid voiced by Lillian Randolph
Lillian Randolph
Lillian Randolph was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television. An African American, she worked in entertainment from the 1930s well into the 1970s, appearing in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows.-Early years:Born...
from the first cartoon Puss Gets the Boot
Puss Gets the Boot
Puss Gets the Boot is a one-reel animated cartoon and the first Tom and Jerry short, although not billed as such in the cartoon. It was released on June 24, 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer...
(1940) up to and including 1952's Push-Button Kitty
Push-Button Kitty
Push-Button Kitty is a 1952 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 70th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby.- Plot :...
. Instead, Mammy was replaced with a white married couple.
Plot
Tom and SpikeSpike and Tyke (characters)
Spike and Tyke are fictional characters from the Tom and Jerry series, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Spike is a stern but occasionally dumb British bulldog who is particularly disapproving of cats, but a softie when it comes to mice, and later, his son Tyke...
, living together as friends, happily, Spike is eating a club sandwich while Tom makes a sandwich with cat food. Tom drops a piece of bread and Jerry tries to steal it. Tom steps on his tail and pops him back into his hole. They overhear an argument taking place between the owners of the house named Joan and George, George is complaining about the first day of month "It's just bills, bills, bills!". Joan and George decide that the food costs are far too high and that the dog and cat eat too much. George reads all of the costs saying Dog food and Cat food. The argument is now saying that they get rid of Tom or Spike. The ensuing argument ends with the conclusion that only one pet can stay in the house. When both Tom and Spike prove to be as helpful as each other in cleaning the house and providing good company, George and Joan make a deal: the first to catch Jerry stays in the house. The race begins.
Tom grabs Jerry and Spike is standing and punches him. Then, Spike is going to a shortcut and his hands were stuck and Tom grabs Jerry. Spike gets a door closed on him. Spike then erects a sign that says "DETOUR" and turns Tom into the closet with him. Tom gets walloped with a golf club
Golf club
A golf club is used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; Hybrids that combine design elements of woods and...
. Spike is pulled into the floor grate and flattened into the likeness of a nail. Tom presents Jerry to George's chair, but instead of George, Spike leaps out and grabs Jerry.
Tom shakes Spike's hand in a gesture of surrender, packs up his possessions and sets out for the door. Spike follows him to comfort the cat, and Tom slyly gives "his" possessions to Spike and ushers him out the door. Spike falls for it until he's about to leave the yard. He then realises he has been tricked by Tom, and his head turns into a Jackass. Enraged, he angrily runs back towards the house.
Tom laughs at his victory until Spike busts through the door and flattens him. Spike starts chasing Jerry as Tom frees himself. He is compressed into a cylinder
Cylinder
Cylinder most commonly refers to:* Cylinder , a three-dimensional geometric shapeCylinder may also refer to:-Science and technology:* Cylinder , the space in which a piston travels in an engine...
. Spike grabs Jerry and is flipped judo-style by Tom. Tom and Spike then duel with swords, destroying a lot of the house. They see Jerry run across a carpet, and they roll it up and cut it up until Tom slices off George's slippers.
When they cut his slippers, George shouts "That does it boys, start packing!" meaning that Tom and Spike lose by default. George and Joan then decide that Jerry, who apparently believe that he doesn't "eat" much will be their pet, unaware that his mouse hole is stocked with a lot of food. Letting them believe he doesn't eat too much, Jerry happily eats his cheese. George then asks Tom and Spike if they had finished packing, to which they nod in reply. George tells them to take "what belongs to [them] and GET OUT!". With him saying this, Tom and Spike attempt to sneak out of the house with the fridge, but are spotted by George ("Hey! Put that back! Hey you two! Come back here!"). Panicking, they flee with the fridge and run away into the sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
.