Royal Cat Nap
Encyclopedia
Royal Cat Nap is the 111th one reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, created 1957
, directed and produced by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, with music by Scott Bradley. The animation was credited to Carlo Vinci, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach.
Royal Cat Nap was the last of four Mouseketeer shorts, which were a send-up of the famous Three Musketeers novel and film(s), beginning with the Academy Award winning short The Two Mouseketeers
in 1952. The cartoon's plot has a striking similarity to that of 1945's Oscar winner Quiet Please!, except this cartoon features a King who does not wish to be disturbed, rather than the former's Spike the bulldog
. It was released on 7 March 1958 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
. The king is sleeping peacefully in his bed, then Jerry and Tuffy climb a nearby table. However, Tuffy loses his balance and grabs Jerry's outfit, but cannot keep from falling. Jerry looks at where Tuffy fell, but then Tuffy pops up behind Jerry and scares him. Jerry is miffed, but Tuffy explains in French what happened. Jerry shushes him and motions for the little mouse to follow. Jerry jumps into a wedge of cheese and looks through the holes. He keeps stealthy as he spears a bit of cheese on his sword. Then, he sees Tuffy has speared a grape, which bounces into the king's mouth. The king's mouth starts to inflate as he suffocates, but Jerry causes the grape to be swallowed safely down his throat. Jerry runs away and motions again for Tuffy to follow, but Tuffy runs into a teacup and breaks it, waking up the king with a start. The king glares at Tuffy, and then Jerry stabs him in the nose. He cries out and calls for "a cat". Tom answers the call moments later, and is chastised by the king in French about his doing whatever he wants when he needs help. The king then warns Tom not to let the mice disturb his nap again or else he will have the cat beheaded. He then goes to sleep and Tom marches around the king's bed; then he sticks his tongue out at him and is bopped on the head. Tom resumes marching until he hears Jerry eating cheese. Tom gets ready to skewer the mouse, and then Jerry points to Tuffy dropping a vase. Tom catches it on his sword-blade.
Jerry and Tuffy then throw the entire platter of dishes down and Tom is forced to catch all of them on his sword, head, arm, and foot. Tom uses his remaining foot to tiptoe out of the castle so that the dishes falling do not wake the king, and then rushes back in. He steps on tacks scattered by the two mice and goes out again before yelling out in pain and pulling out the tack. Tom runs back in for the second time and barely stops before he steps on the tacks again. Tom puts a gauntlet on his feet in order to tiptoe across the tacks without being hurt. Tom then confronts Jerry, but Jerry stabs him in the nose. The cat is forced to cover the king's ears so that he does not hear his cry of pain. Tom spots some champagne corks and then hears mysterious clanking. A suit of armor is being used as a puppet, and it dances noisily. Jerry raises the visor and sees only Tom, standing nonchalantly next to the suit. He gestures toward the king, whose ears are plugged with the corks, and then slices apart the suit of armor. Jerry dodges while Tuffy escapes and plugs the king's nose with clothespins, which causes his face to bloat again. Tom has caught Jerry on the end of his blade, but Jerry points at the king, and Tom can only watch as the clothespins and corks are blown off and the king wakes up. Tom plays a soothing violin tune to cause the king to fall asleep again.
Tom chases the mice outside, then locks all the doors and swallows the key so that they cannot get back in. However, they shoot an arrow through the keyhole into Tom's backside. Tom tries to hold his scream of pain in until he can get outside, but with no way to get outside, Tom can't help but let his scream out inside the room. The king wakes up and yells at Tom in French that he will prepare to behead Tom. However, the mice realise their mistake in letting Tom get beheaded, so Tuffy saves Tom's life by singing Frère Jacques
(Are you sleeping) to the king, sending him back to sleep again. Tom and the mice tip-toe outside the room, shaking hands together, and having a fight. Tuffy says: "C'est la guerre." ("That's war.") during the break and resume his fight.
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 1957
1957 in film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
, 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 animation was credited to Carlo Vinci, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach.
Royal Cat Nap was the last of four Mouseketeer shorts, which were a send-up of the famous Three Musketeers novel and film(s), beginning with the Academy Award winning short The Two Mouseketeers
The Two Mouseketeers
The Two Mouseketeers is a 1952 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 65th Tom and Jerry short, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on March 15, 1952 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision...
in 1952. The cartoon's plot has a striking similarity to that of 1945's Oscar winner Quiet Please!, except this cartoon features a King who does not wish to be disturbed, rather than the former's Spike the bulldog
Spike 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...
. It was released on 7 March 1958 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...
.
Plot
This is another one of the cartoons set in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The king is sleeping peacefully in his bed, then Jerry and Tuffy climb a nearby table. However, Tuffy loses his balance and grabs Jerry's outfit, but cannot keep from falling. Jerry looks at where Tuffy fell, but then Tuffy pops up behind Jerry and scares him. Jerry is miffed, but Tuffy explains in French what happened. Jerry shushes him and motions for the little mouse to follow. Jerry jumps into a wedge of cheese and looks through the holes. He keeps stealthy as he spears a bit of cheese on his sword. Then, he sees Tuffy has speared a grape, which bounces into the king's mouth. The king's mouth starts to inflate as he suffocates, but Jerry causes the grape to be swallowed safely down his throat. Jerry runs away and motions again for Tuffy to follow, but Tuffy runs into a teacup and breaks it, waking up the king with a start. The king glares at Tuffy, and then Jerry stabs him in the nose. He cries out and calls for "a cat". Tom answers the call moments later, and is chastised by the king in French about his doing whatever he wants when he needs help. The king then warns Tom not to let the mice disturb his nap again or else he will have the cat beheaded. He then goes to sleep and Tom marches around the king's bed; then he sticks his tongue out at him and is bopped on the head. Tom resumes marching until he hears Jerry eating cheese. Tom gets ready to skewer the mouse, and then Jerry points to Tuffy dropping a vase. Tom catches it on his sword-blade.
Jerry and Tuffy then throw the entire platter of dishes down and Tom is forced to catch all of them on his sword, head, arm, and foot. Tom uses his remaining foot to tiptoe out of the castle so that the dishes falling do not wake the king, and then rushes back in. He steps on tacks scattered by the two mice and goes out again before yelling out in pain and pulling out the tack. Tom runs back in for the second time and barely stops before he steps on the tacks again. Tom puts a gauntlet on his feet in order to tiptoe across the tacks without being hurt. Tom then confronts Jerry, but Jerry stabs him in the nose. The cat is forced to cover the king's ears so that he does not hear his cry of pain. Tom spots some champagne corks and then hears mysterious clanking. A suit of armor is being used as a puppet, and it dances noisily. Jerry raises the visor and sees only Tom, standing nonchalantly next to the suit. He gestures toward the king, whose ears are plugged with the corks, and then slices apart the suit of armor. Jerry dodges while Tuffy escapes and plugs the king's nose with clothespins, which causes his face to bloat again. Tom has caught Jerry on the end of his blade, but Jerry points at the king, and Tom can only watch as the clothespins and corks are blown off and the king wakes up. Tom plays a soothing violin tune to cause the king to fall asleep again.
Tom chases the mice outside, then locks all the doors and swallows the key so that they cannot get back in. However, they shoot an arrow through the keyhole into Tom's backside. Tom tries to hold his scream of pain in until he can get outside, but with no way to get outside, Tom can't help but let his scream out inside the room. The king wakes up and yells at Tom in French that he will prepare to behead Tom. However, the mice realise their mistake in letting Tom get beheaded, so Tuffy saves Tom's life by singing Frère Jacques
Frère Jacques
"Frère Jacques" , in English sometimes called "Brother John" or "Brother Peter", is a French nursery melody. The song is traditionally sung in a round. When the first singer reaches the end of the first line the next person starts at the beginning...
(Are you sleeping) to the king, sending him back to sleep again. Tom and the mice tip-toe outside the room, shaking hands together, and having a fight. Tuffy says: "C'est la guerre." ("That's war.") during the break and resume his fight.