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The Bodyguard (1944 film)
Encyclopedia
The Bodyguard is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 15th Tom and Jerry
short
directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, produced by Fred Quimby
and animated by Ken Muse
, Ray Patterson
, Irven Spence
and Pete Burness
. The cartoon features Spike the bulldog
in his second role, though this is the first time that we hear him speak. It was produced in Technicolor
and released to theatres on July 22, 1944 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.
and locked in the back of his truck
, and Jerry is the only one who can help him escape from the truck before it drives away. Despite their differences (previously shown in 1942's Dog Trouble
), Jerry shows Spike mercy and frees him by removing a piece of wood that latches the cage shut. Spike falls out of the truck just as it pulls away, and thanks Jerry by vowing to assist the mouse at any time at the sound of a whistle.
Completely carefree, Jerry strolls down the sidewalk, and Tom jumps out from around the corner with a plate, a fork, and a knife, and a napkin around his neck. As Jerry screeches to a stop and reverses direction, Tom sneaks around the fence and holds out two pieces of bread just as the mouse passes by, such that Jerry is unable to stop in time. Just as Tom starts to cut the bread in half with Jerry in it, Jerry whistles and Spike makes the save by grabbing Tom by the neck. He checks on Jerry to make sure he is O.K. and then issues Tom an ultimatum: the cat had better leave Jerry alone or he will face the consequences; and to prove his point, he squashes Tom into an accordion before walking off, reminding his pal once again to "just whistle". Seeing an opportunity to provoke Tom, Jerry picks up a tiny board and challenges the cat to a fight, who flippantly flicks the board away and prepares to punch the mouse into oblivion. Jerry then whistles and before the punch lands, Spike zooms in and his own punch lands onto Tom's face, which leaves the cat dazed in front of a city mailbox behind him. Once again, Spike reminds Jerry of their pact: "Anytime, chum."
Tom then tries to smash Jerry with a lead pipe and the resulting chase takes the duo to Spike. Jerry perches on the dog and pushes on Spike's nose to reveal a sharp set of teeth, as if to say "Stay away from me". Before the canine can attack him, Tom wriggles out of the situation by kissing Jerry, dropping him in a stroller and rolling the mouse down the street, using the pipe as a flute. When he passes behind a set of garbage cans, Tom basks in his victory by laughing menacingly; in the same evil voice, he utters "In me power!" Unfortunately, the cat's attraction to the opposite sex gets the better of him when he soon spots a cute female cat and loudly wolf-whistles at her (Musical theme: "Dark Town Strutters' Ball"), momentarily forgetting that this will lead to Spike attacking him. The dog pops up behind him and use two garbage can lids as cymbals on Tom's head.
Later, Tom spots Jerry strolling along, still on top of the world (Musical theme: "Spreadin' Rhythm Around"), and soon the cat notices a bubble gum machine in the distance. He shakes, throttles, and nudges the machine to obtain two gumballs, then covers one of them in glue. So as to get Jerry to eat the other piece of gum, the cat sits down and draws attention to himself chewing his piece. The manner in which Tom methodically enjoys his gum makes Jerry hungry for a piece. Tom then offers Jerry the glue-covered gumball, and Jerry suspiciously smells it, but follows through and starts chewing the gum. Jerry then shakes Tom's hand as a thank you and Tom winks at the camera. Quickly, the mouse figures out that the gum has glued his mouth shut and that he is unable to whistle (this gumball has glued his mouth shut so that he cannot whistle anymore because his voice is muffled). Using a similar trick to Tom's earlier in the cartoon, Jerry points to his lips and rubs his stomach as if to say that he adored the gum, then leaves the scene with Tom in pursuit. Jerry quickly shakes his hand again and runs away with Tom behind him.
Jerry briefly stops the chase to attempt to whistle a second time, and when he is still unable to do so, shrugs and begins to run away again. When he sees an anvil up ahead, the mouse holds it up and Tom runs into it, causing the cat to resemble a table. Jerry tries to escape through a hole in a fence but gets stuck, and as he unsuccessfully tries to free himself, Tom then grabs a slim wooden board and motions to hit Jerry with it...until he sees Spike walk by and decides to wait. Jerry tries to gesture to Spike that he needs help and that he can't whistle, but Spike doesn't understand what Jerry is saying and will only respond to the whistle. With the danger of retaliation past, Tom whacks Jerry all the way towards Spike again. Jerry tries again to tell his friend what happened and begs Spike to help him ("Please help me" is clearly audible even though it is muffled). Spike laughs at this, calls it "baby talk", and goes inside a yard. Jerry then pounds on the door for help, but has to run away from the approaching cat. As Spike opens the door, Tom's head gets stuck in Spike's mouth, forcing the cat to again shrug and run away.
The mouse eventually crawls through another hole in a different fence and tries to whistle until he turns red in the face. Eventually, Jerry blows a bubble and it keeps enlarging as Jerry forces more air into it. Tom climbs over the fence to chase the mouse, but soon sees the bubble growing to a gigantic size and cringes in terror as it explodes and bursts into flames. A long, shrill whistle is emitted by the released air and Jerry's cleared mouth, and Tom pleads with Jerry to stop whistling, but he keeps going. "Knowing" Spike will completely whale on him, he digs his own grave, but Spike doesn't appear. Tom then writes his will, which says "I Thomas leave all to charity". As Tom finishes writing, both cat and mouse look up in puzzlement at the dog's disappearance
, and once more find him locked up in the back of the dog catcher's truck again. This time, a padlock keeps the door shut so that Spike will no longer be able to escape the same way again and can no longer help his friend. Jerry chases the truck down the road with Tom mad at him until the cartoon fades.
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 is the 15th 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....
, 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...
and animated by Ken Muse
Kenneth Muse
Kenneth Lee Muse was an American animator. He is best known for his work on the Tom and Jerry series at MGM.-Biography:...
, Ray Patterson
Ray Patterson (animator)
Raymond "Ray" Patterson was an American animator, producer, and director. Patterson was born in Hollywood, California, and was the brother of animator Don Patterson.-Early career:...
, Irven Spence
Irven Spence
Irven Spence was an American animator. He is best known for his work on MGM's Tom and Jerry animated shorts. Spence has been credited variously as Irven Spence, Irvin Spence, and Irv Spence....
and Pete Burness
Pete Burness
Wilson D. "Pete" Burness was an American animator and animation director. He won two Academy Awards during his career and was perhaps best known for his work on the Mr. Magoo series. He also contributed to the Tom and Jerry series, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, and Rocky and His Friends.Burness...
. The cartoon features 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...
in his second role, though this is the first time that we hear him speak. It was produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and released to theatres on July 22, 1944 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.
Plot
The cartoon opens with Tom chasing Jerry. Jerry hides behind a potato mound in a garden when he hears Spike the bulldog call to him. Spike has been caught by a dog catcherAnimal control officer
Historically, Dog whippers were charged with keeping dogs out of churches in 16th- to 19th- century Europe; they also sometimes filled a general animal-control role in villages, confining strays...
and locked in the back of his truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
, and Jerry is the only one who can help him escape from the truck before it drives away. Despite their differences (previously shown in 1942's Dog Trouble
Dog Trouble
Dog Trouble is a 1942 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 5th Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in Technicolor, released to theatres on April 18, 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and reissued for re-release in 1952. It was animated by George Gordon, Irven Spence, Jack Zander, Cecil Surry and Bill...
), Jerry shows Spike mercy and frees him by removing a piece of wood that latches the cage shut. Spike falls out of the truck just as it pulls away, and thanks Jerry by vowing to assist the mouse at any time at the sound of a whistle.
Completely carefree, Jerry strolls down the sidewalk, and Tom jumps out from around the corner with a plate, a fork, and a knife, and a napkin around his neck. As Jerry screeches to a stop and reverses direction, Tom sneaks around the fence and holds out two pieces of bread just as the mouse passes by, such that Jerry is unable to stop in time. Just as Tom starts to cut the bread in half with Jerry in it, Jerry whistles and Spike makes the save by grabbing Tom by the neck. He checks on Jerry to make sure he is O.K. and then issues Tom an ultimatum: the cat had better leave Jerry alone or he will face the consequences; and to prove his point, he squashes Tom into an accordion before walking off, reminding his pal once again to "just whistle". Seeing an opportunity to provoke Tom, Jerry picks up a tiny board and challenges the cat to a fight, who flippantly flicks the board away and prepares to punch the mouse into oblivion. Jerry then whistles and before the punch lands, Spike zooms in and his own punch lands onto Tom's face, which leaves the cat dazed in front of a city mailbox behind him. Once again, Spike reminds Jerry of their pact: "Anytime, chum."
Tom then tries to smash Jerry with a lead pipe and the resulting chase takes the duo to Spike. Jerry perches on the dog and pushes on Spike's nose to reveal a sharp set of teeth, as if to say "Stay away from me". Before the canine can attack him, Tom wriggles out of the situation by kissing Jerry, dropping him in a stroller and rolling the mouse down the street, using the pipe as a flute. When he passes behind a set of garbage cans, Tom basks in his victory by laughing menacingly; in the same evil voice, he utters "In me power!" Unfortunately, the cat's attraction to the opposite sex gets the better of him when he soon spots a cute female cat and loudly wolf-whistles at her (Musical theme: "Dark Town Strutters' Ball"), momentarily forgetting that this will lead to Spike attacking him. The dog pops up behind him and use two garbage can lids as cymbals on Tom's head.
Later, Tom spots Jerry strolling along, still on top of the world (Musical theme: "Spreadin' Rhythm Around"), and soon the cat notices a bubble gum machine in the distance. He shakes, throttles, and nudges the machine to obtain two gumballs, then covers one of them in glue. So as to get Jerry to eat the other piece of gum, the cat sits down and draws attention to himself chewing his piece. The manner in which Tom methodically enjoys his gum makes Jerry hungry for a piece. Tom then offers Jerry the glue-covered gumball, and Jerry suspiciously smells it, but follows through and starts chewing the gum. Jerry then shakes Tom's hand as a thank you and Tom winks at the camera. Quickly, the mouse figures out that the gum has glued his mouth shut and that he is unable to whistle (this gumball has glued his mouth shut so that he cannot whistle anymore because his voice is muffled). Using a similar trick to Tom's earlier in the cartoon, Jerry points to his lips and rubs his stomach as if to say that he adored the gum, then leaves the scene with Tom in pursuit. Jerry quickly shakes his hand again and runs away with Tom behind him.
Jerry briefly stops the chase to attempt to whistle a second time, and when he is still unable to do so, shrugs and begins to run away again. When he sees an anvil up ahead, the mouse holds it up and Tom runs into it, causing the cat to resemble a table. Jerry tries to escape through a hole in a fence but gets stuck, and as he unsuccessfully tries to free himself, Tom then grabs a slim wooden board and motions to hit Jerry with it...until he sees Spike walk by and decides to wait. Jerry tries to gesture to Spike that he needs help and that he can't whistle, but Spike doesn't understand what Jerry is saying and will only respond to the whistle. With the danger of retaliation past, Tom whacks Jerry all the way towards Spike again. Jerry tries again to tell his friend what happened and begs Spike to help him ("Please help me" is clearly audible even though it is muffled). Spike laughs at this, calls it "baby talk", and goes inside a yard. Jerry then pounds on the door for help, but has to run away from the approaching cat. As Spike opens the door, Tom's head gets stuck in Spike's mouth, forcing the cat to again shrug and run away.
The mouse eventually crawls through another hole in a different fence and tries to whistle until he turns red in the face. Eventually, Jerry blows a bubble and it keeps enlarging as Jerry forces more air into it. Tom climbs over the fence to chase the mouse, but soon sees the bubble growing to a gigantic size and cringes in terror as it explodes and bursts into flames. A long, shrill whistle is emitted by the released air and Jerry's cleared mouth, and Tom pleads with Jerry to stop whistling, but he keeps going. "Knowing" Spike will completely whale on him, he digs his own grave, but Spike doesn't appear. Tom then writes his will, which says "I Thomas leave all to charity". As Tom finishes writing, both cat and mouse look up in puzzlement at the dog's disappearance
Disappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
, and once more find him locked up in the back of the dog catcher's truck again. This time, a padlock keeps the door shut so that Spike will no longer be able to escape the same way again and can no longer help his friend. Jerry chases the truck down the road with Tom mad at him until the cartoon fades.