Puss Gets the Boot
Encyclopedia
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. It was produced by Rudolf Ising (who had virtually nothing to do with the entire production) and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, their first collaboration which would last for more than half a century, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
. The cartoon was animated by Carl Urbano, Tony Pabian, Jack Zander
, Peter Burness and Bob Allen.
The only screen credit on this film was "a Rudolf Ising Production." The short is notable for featuring the first appearances of the characters who would later be christened Tom and Jerry
and would go on to appear in over 110 subsequent short cartoons, seven of which won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
. As such, Puss Gets the Boot gave the animated duo their first Oscar nomination, though the short lost out to another Rudolf Ising MGM cartoon, The Milky Way. In the short, the cat's name is Jasper, and the mouse is not given a name but is unofficially known as Jinx.
At over nine minutes in length, Puss Gets the Boot is the longest theatrical Tom and Jerry short ever released. It is one of three Tom and Jerry
shorts where the title is a pun on the fairytale Puss in Boots
. The others are Puss n' Toots
and Puss 'n' Boats
.
) is attempting to run but getting nowhere, because of a smug, superior cat (here named Jasper
) holding Jinx's tail so that he cannot move. The cat pulls back Jinx's tail, opens his mouth, and releases him such that he will run into Jasper's mouth. Jinx stops in time and runs toward his mousehole, but Jasper catches him with his tail and tosses the mouse into the air; he lands on the cat's tail, then runs down his body until he has to keep himself from being eaten again. Jinx dashes off and Jasper waltzes behind him innocently, hops in front of the door and opens his mouth. Jinx runs in this time, but then rolls out of the cat's mouth on his tongue.
After some chasing, Jasper runs around a back pathway and sets up a quick trap by painting a fake mousehole on the wall, complete with a sign that says "HOME SWEET HOME". Jinx stops running in order to enter his "hole" and knocks himself out; the cat revives the poor mouse with a dash of water. Jinx recovers and soon notices that something is next to him, feels the cat's head and grabs an eyelid; promptly, Jasper opens his eye and hoists him up. Jinx looks at the cat and realizes who it is, gulps, and punches Jasper in the eye; Jasper shrieks in pain and retaliates by giving chase, but shortly runs into a houseplant and breaks it.
His owner, Mammy Two Shoes, a black
woman, quickly arrives and chastises Jasper. Jasper tiptoes away, but is soon under Mammy's broom, who comments about Jasper's mess. As Jasper pulls the broom off his face, he sees the mess; the housemaid delivers one last threat that forms the basis for the cartoon. If Jasper breaks one more thing, Mammy will throw him out for good.
Mammy pushes the cat away with her broom in punctuation. Jasper creeps away, but soon runs into a table, knocking over a vase which he must catch; although he succeeds, he soon spots the mouse laughing at him. Jasper crawls over the floor malevolently, and Jinx gets out of the candlestick as Jasper runs up onto the table to catch him. He holds out a wineglass from the table and threatens to break it, which forces the cat into retreat. Meanwhile, he hears Mammy prancing around the house with the swept-up mess. Jasper gulps, chuckles nervously and walks off. The mouse nods in delight, but soon sees Jasper running after him once again and renews the threat. This time, Jinx whacks the cat with the glass, who once again hides away in fear.
Tired of this, Jinx winks at the camera, throws the glass down and whistles to alert the cat, who dashes at the glass and narrowly saves it. Another whistle, another glass, the tray holding the glasses, and the four glasses that were on it follow; Jasper is lastly hit on the head with a decorated plate of flowers. Jasper sees Jinx taunting him with one more glass in his hand; frustrated, Jasper attempts to throw the plate to the ground, but realizes this would probably break it and hits himself over the head. The cat then spots pillows of all sorts on a nearby couch and lays them out, determined to end this threat.
As Jinx marches along the table, Jasper pops his head up next to him and is unmoved by Jinx's threat. The mouse then twists his tail at the cat as if to say "Have it your way", and arrogantly throws the glass to the floor. Not hearing the crash he expected, he looks down to the ground and sees that the glass fell on one of the pillows, punctuated by a smug grin from the cat. Jinx's tail is promptly trapped by the cat; the mouse says a quick prayer
, and after some quick thought adds "Amen". Jasper then lets him go, only to catch and toss him with his tail again, then sits with mouth open for Jinx to fall into. Unfortunately, the mouse has landed on the china rack and drops a plate down onto Jasper instead of himself.
Jasper is momentarily stunned but still catches the plate, but Jinx proceeds to knock over every plate on the rack and force the cat to lug around the stack of plates. Sweating uncontrollably, Jasper finally manages to lean the stack against the wall, but he soon spots the mouse waving at him from the top of the stack. Jasper can only watch in terror as the mouse throws the last plate down to its inevitable destruction. Mammy angrily storms down the steps, proclaiming that she will evict the cat as soon as she gets down.
Jinx leaps in triumph, then runs down the stack of plates, stomps on Jasper's nose, rolls his eyelids, squirts his milk into the cat's back, and even cleans himself with Jasper's tail; by now, Mammy is approaching with broom in hand and Jinx gets down to business by kicking the cat in the rear, which causes him to drop all the crockery and take the entire blame. Jinx flees the scene and dives into his hole just before Mammy squashes him underfoot. Jasper is dragged across the floor by Mammy and thrown out of the house. The triumphant Jinx watches his opponent get thrown out, and then spots the "Home Sweet Home" sign used to trick him earlier. The mouse posts the sign by his real mousehole and nods in confidence that this is the real one as he marches in.
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...
and the first 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, although not billed as such in the cartoon. It was released on June 24, 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Rudolf Ising (who had virtually nothing to do with the entire production) and 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....
, their first collaboration which would last for more than half a century, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
Scott Bradley
Scott Bradley was an American composer, pianist and conductor.Bradley is best remembered for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry , Droopy , Barney Bear , and the many one-shot cartoons.Bradley was a...
. The cartoon was animated by Carl Urbano, Tony Pabian, Jack Zander
Jack Zander
Jack Zander was an American animator whose career lasted from the "golden age" of theatrical animation into the 1980s.-Biography:Jack Zander was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan...
, Peter Burness and Bob Allen.
The only screen credit on this film was "a Rudolf Ising Production." The short is notable for featuring the first appearances of the characters who would later be christened 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...
and would go on to appear in over 110 subsequent short cartoons, seven of which won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
. As such, Puss Gets the Boot gave the animated duo their first Oscar nomination, though the short lost out to another Rudolf Ising MGM cartoon, The Milky Way. In the short, the cat's name is Jasper, and the mouse is not given a name but is unofficially known as Jinx.
At over nine minutes in length, Puss Gets the Boot is the longest theatrical Tom and Jerry short ever released. It is one of three 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...
shorts where the title is a pun on the fairytale Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...
. The others are Puss n' Toots
Puss n' Toots
Puss n' Toots is a 1942 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 6th Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on May 30, 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-issued in 1957...
and Puss 'n' Boats
Puss 'n' Boats
Puss 'n' Boats is a 1966 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Abe Levitow and produced by Chuck Jones. It is the first Tom and Jerry cartoon with Carl Brandt as the music composer...
.
Plot
A mouse (named JinxJerry Mouse
Jerry Mouse is a fictional animated character, one of the main characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Jerry is a brown anthropomorphic mouse, who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss...
) is attempting to run but getting nowhere, because of a smug, superior cat (here named Jasper
Tom Cat
Thomas "Tom" Cat is a fictional character and half of the academy-award winning Tom and Jerry cartoon cat-and-mouse duo. He is a blue/grey anthropomorphic cat who first appeared in the 1940 animated short Puss Gets the Boot...
) holding Jinx's tail so that he cannot move. The cat pulls back Jinx's tail, opens his mouth, and releases him such that he will run into Jasper's mouth. Jinx stops in time and runs toward his mousehole, but Jasper catches him with his tail and tosses the mouse into the air; he lands on the cat's tail, then runs down his body until he has to keep himself from being eaten again. Jinx dashes off and Jasper waltzes behind him innocently, hops in front of the door and opens his mouth. Jinx runs in this time, but then rolls out of the cat's mouth on his tongue.
After some chasing, Jasper runs around a back pathway and sets up a quick trap by painting a fake mousehole on the wall, complete with a sign that says "HOME SWEET HOME". Jinx stops running in order to enter his "hole" and knocks himself out; the cat revives the poor mouse with a dash of water. Jinx recovers and soon notices that something is next to him, feels the cat's head and grabs an eyelid; promptly, Jasper opens his eye and hoists him up. Jinx looks at the cat and realizes who it is, gulps, and punches Jasper in the eye; Jasper shrieks in pain and retaliates by giving chase, but shortly runs into a houseplant and breaks it.
His owner, Mammy Two Shoes, a black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman, quickly arrives and chastises Jasper. Jasper tiptoes away, but is soon under Mammy's broom, who comments about Jasper's mess. As Jasper pulls the broom off his face, he sees the mess; the housemaid delivers one last threat that forms the basis for the cartoon. If Jasper breaks one more thing, Mammy will throw him out for good.
Mammy pushes the cat away with her broom in punctuation. Jasper creeps away, but soon runs into a table, knocking over a vase which he must catch; although he succeeds, he soon spots the mouse laughing at him. Jasper crawls over the floor malevolently, and Jinx gets out of the candlestick as Jasper runs up onto the table to catch him. He holds out a wineglass from the table and threatens to break it, which forces the cat into retreat. Meanwhile, he hears Mammy prancing around the house with the swept-up mess. Jasper gulps, chuckles nervously and walks off. The mouse nods in delight, but soon sees Jasper running after him once again and renews the threat. This time, Jinx whacks the cat with the glass, who once again hides away in fear.
Tired of this, Jinx winks at the camera, throws the glass down and whistles to alert the cat, who dashes at the glass and narrowly saves it. Another whistle, another glass, the tray holding the glasses, and the four glasses that were on it follow; Jasper is lastly hit on the head with a decorated plate of flowers. Jasper sees Jinx taunting him with one more glass in his hand; frustrated, Jasper attempts to throw the plate to the ground, but realizes this would probably break it and hits himself over the head. The cat then spots pillows of all sorts on a nearby couch and lays them out, determined to end this threat.
As Jinx marches along the table, Jasper pops his head up next to him and is unmoved by Jinx's threat. The mouse then twists his tail at the cat as if to say "Have it your way", and arrogantly throws the glass to the floor. Not hearing the crash he expected, he looks down to the ground and sees that the glass fell on one of the pillows, punctuated by a smug grin from the cat. Jinx's tail is promptly trapped by the cat; the mouse says a quick prayer
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
Now I lay me down to sleep is a classic children's prayer from the 18th century. The version printed in The New England Primer goes:Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep,If I shall die before I wake,...
, and after some quick thought adds "Amen". Jasper then lets him go, only to catch and toss him with his tail again, then sits with mouth open for Jinx to fall into. Unfortunately, the mouse has landed on the china rack and drops a plate down onto Jasper instead of himself.
Jasper is momentarily stunned but still catches the plate, but Jinx proceeds to knock over every plate on the rack and force the cat to lug around the stack of plates. Sweating uncontrollably, Jasper finally manages to lean the stack against the wall, but he soon spots the mouse waving at him from the top of the stack. Jasper can only watch in terror as the mouse throws the last plate down to its inevitable destruction. Mammy angrily storms down the steps, proclaiming that she will evict the cat as soon as she gets down.
Jinx leaps in triumph, then runs down the stack of plates, stomps on Jasper's nose, rolls his eyelids, squirts his milk into the cat's back, and even cleans himself with Jasper's tail; by now, Mammy is approaching with broom in hand and Jinx gets down to business by kicking the cat in the rear, which causes him to drop all the crockery and take the entire blame. Jinx flees the scene and dives into his hole just before Mammy squashes him underfoot. Jasper is dragged across the floor by Mammy and thrown out of the house. The triumphant Jinx watches his opponent get thrown out, and then spots the "Home Sweet Home" sign used to trick him earlier. The mouse posts the sign by his real mousehole and nods in confidence that this is the real one as he marches in.
Voice cast
- Clarence NashClarence NashClarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
/William HannaWilliam HannaWilliam 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...
as JasperTom CatThomas "Tom" Cat is a fictional character and half of the academy-award winning Tom and Jerry cartoon cat-and-mouse duo. He is a blue/grey anthropomorphic cat who first appeared in the 1940 animated short Puss Gets the Boot...
and JinxJerry MouseJerry Mouse is a fictional animated character, one of the main characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Jerry is a brown anthropomorphic mouse, who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss...
(uncredited) - Lillian RandolphLillian RandolphLillian 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...
as Mammy Two Shoes (original version, uncredited) - June ForayJune ForayJune Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
as Mammy Two Shoes (dubbed version, uncredited) - Thea VidaleThea VidaleThea Vidale , is an American stand-up comedian and actress.She began her career doing stand-up comedy in comic clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles...
as Mammy Two Shoes (redubbed version, uncredited)