The Midnight Snack
Encyclopedia
The Midnight Snack is a 1941
one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 2nd Tom and Jerry
short
, produced in Technicolor
and released to theatres on July 19, 1941 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-released in 1948 and 1957. It was produced by Fred Quimby
and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
. This cartoon featured the second appearance of Tom and Jerry, and was the first in which the characters were named. The first cartoon, Puss Gets the Boot
had the cat named Jasper
, and a mouse known as Jinx
. The Midnight Snack also features the black housemaid Mammy Two Shoes, voiced by Lillian Randolph
, and typically ends in destruction and Tom being kicked out of the house.
The cartoon takes place in a kitchen at midnight. Jerry
pokes his head out of the refrigerator door and steals some cheese, using a celery stick to bridge back to the countertop, and then begins carrying it across the counter as Tom
pokes his head up behind the mouse with a malevolent grin.
The camera cuts to Jerry carrying the heavy wedge of cheese and pans out to Tom strolling along behind him. Jerry senses someone behind him, but Tom grabs a lampshade and disguises himself as a lamp; with the cheese blocking his view of an otherwise obvious trap, Jerry continues carrying the cheese. Jerry soon begins struggling with the cheese and Tom (lampshaded as a precaution) piles assorted dishes and finally an egg on the cheese, which weighs the mouse down enough such that he can no longer see in front of him. Tom has stacked bread slices into stairs and baited the end of it with a rolling pin, which Jerry walks onto and quickly falls off; the dishes scatter while he pokes his head out of the cheese and promptly gets pelted by the egg. After Jerry removes the egg, Tom emerges from his hiding place with a smug face.
Jerry "salutes" the cat and returns the slice of cheese to the refrigerator, breaking the celery stick on the way. He then proceeds to steal just a tiny bit of cheese, but Tom stomps on his tail with one of his hind paws and replaces the cheese as if to say "Leave it alone". However, the cat soon realizes that he has the free run of the refrigerator, so he traps Jerry's tail with an iron and begins eating. Jerry frees himself, but is soon caught by Tom and returns himself to his prison. Tom then spoons out some jiggling Jell-O and eats it, causing his entire body to shake and Jerry to snigger.
Tom then presents Jerry with the wedge of cheese, which he cannot reach due to the iron. Tom then proceeds to allow Jerry to lick some cream off a donut, but then sprays him with the rest of it and adds a cherry on top for good measure. Tom then smells the food in his hand and prepares to eat it, but soon sees that it is the wedge of cheese to his nose's displeasure and tosses it away. Unfortunately, the cheese smashes some crockery and wakes up Mammy Two Shoes, who charges downstairs. Tom quickly shoves Jerry into the refrigerator and hides, framing Jerry in the housemaid's eyes. At her calling, he emerges from his hiding place to pursue Jerry. In the midst of the chase, he gets tied up around the stool that Mammy is standing on, knocking it over. Mammy exits the room because "this here's no place for a lady!"
Tom surprises Jerry behind a trash bin, but Jerry tricks Tom into looking over the bin and jumps on the pedal, sending the bin crashing into Tom's face. Jerry then accidentally jumps into the toaster and Tom calmly starts it. Jerry pops up, his bottom smoking, and cools it in a sinkful of water, only to be chased again by Tom. He climbs blinds and runs across a high-rise counter, but soon stops when he runs out of room. Tom promptly jumps at the mouse, but loses his grip and gets his tail caught up in an ironing board, with his body facing the refrigerator. Jerry climbs down the blind, picks up a fork with his tail, and strolls confidently towards the cat. With dread, Tom stares at the open refrigerator as he is stabbed with the fork.
The blow sends him into the air, then down the ironing board, into the sink and its dishes, up a washboard, onto a cheese grater, and straight into the fridge just as Jerry had planned. Mammy Two Shoes re-enters the room on the mistaken assumption that Tom has caught and disposed of Jerry. She opens the refrigerator door to get Tom a nice big bowl of delicious cream, only to find Tom in the refrigerator, covered in food. The final cut goes to Jerry overhearing Mammy screaming at Tom and kicking the screeching cat out of the house (again) while devouring his wedge of cheese.
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
one-reel animated cartoon
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 2nd 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...
, 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 19, 1941 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-released in 1948 and 1957. It was 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 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....
, 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...
. This cartoon featured the second appearance of Tom and Jerry, and was the first in which the characters were named. 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...
had the cat 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...
, and a mouse known as Jinx
Jerry 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...
. The Midnight Snack also features the black housemaid Mammy Two Shoes, 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...
, and typically ends in destruction and Tom being kicked out of the house.
Plot
Jerry 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...
pokes his head out of the refrigerator door and steals some cheese, using a celery stick to bridge back to the countertop, and then begins carrying it across the counter as Tom
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...
pokes his head up behind the mouse with a malevolent grin.
The camera cuts to Jerry carrying the heavy wedge of cheese and pans out to Tom strolling along behind him. Jerry senses someone behind him, but Tom grabs a lampshade and disguises himself as a lamp; with the cheese blocking his view of an otherwise obvious trap, Jerry continues carrying the cheese. Jerry soon begins struggling with the cheese and Tom (lampshaded as a precaution) piles assorted dishes and finally an egg on the cheese, which weighs the mouse down enough such that he can no longer see in front of him. Tom has stacked bread slices into stairs and baited the end of it with a rolling pin, which Jerry walks onto and quickly falls off; the dishes scatter while he pokes his head out of the cheese and promptly gets pelted by the egg. After Jerry removes the egg, Tom emerges from his hiding place with a smug face.
Jerry "salutes" the cat and returns the slice of cheese to the refrigerator, breaking the celery stick on the way. He then proceeds to steal just a tiny bit of cheese, but Tom stomps on his tail with one of his hind paws and replaces the cheese as if to say "Leave it alone". However, the cat soon realizes that he has the free run of the refrigerator, so he traps Jerry's tail with an iron and begins eating. Jerry frees himself, but is soon caught by Tom and returns himself to his prison. Tom then spoons out some jiggling Jell-O and eats it, causing his entire body to shake and Jerry to snigger.
Tom then presents Jerry with the wedge of cheese, which he cannot reach due to the iron. Tom then proceeds to allow Jerry to lick some cream off a donut, but then sprays him with the rest of it and adds a cherry on top for good measure. Tom then smells the food in his hand and prepares to eat it, but soon sees that it is the wedge of cheese to his nose's displeasure and tosses it away. Unfortunately, the cheese smashes some crockery and wakes up Mammy Two Shoes, who charges downstairs. Tom quickly shoves Jerry into the refrigerator and hides, framing Jerry in the housemaid's eyes. At her calling, he emerges from his hiding place to pursue Jerry. In the midst of the chase, he gets tied up around the stool that Mammy is standing on, knocking it over. Mammy exits the room because "this here's no place for a lady!"
Tom surprises Jerry behind a trash bin, but Jerry tricks Tom into looking over the bin and jumps on the pedal, sending the bin crashing into Tom's face. Jerry then accidentally jumps into the toaster and Tom calmly starts it. Jerry pops up, his bottom smoking, and cools it in a sinkful of water, only to be chased again by Tom. He climbs blinds and runs across a high-rise counter, but soon stops when he runs out of room. Tom promptly jumps at the mouse, but loses his grip and gets his tail caught up in an ironing board, with his body facing the refrigerator. Jerry climbs down the blind, picks up a fork with his tail, and strolls confidently towards the cat. With dread, Tom stares at the open refrigerator as he is stabbed with the fork.
The blow sends him into the air, then down the ironing board, into the sink and its dishes, up a washboard, onto a cheese grater, and straight into the fridge just as Jerry had planned. Mammy Two Shoes re-enters the room on the mistaken assumption that Tom has caught and disposed of Jerry. She opens the refrigerator door to get Tom a nice big bowl of delicious cream, only to find Tom in the refrigerator, covered in food. The final cut goes to Jerry overhearing Mammy screaming at Tom and kicking the screeching cat out of the house (again) while devouring his wedge of cheese.
Voice cast
- 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) - 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 (dubbed version) (uncredited) - 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...
as Tom (uncredited)