The Mouse Comes to Dinner
Encyclopedia
The Mouse Comes to Dinner is a 1945 American one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 18th Tom and Jerry
short
directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
and produced by Fred Quimby
.
At the meal, Jerry is forced into performing menial duties for the two cats, such as carrying food over and blowing Tom's soup for him. Frustrated at being made Tom's slave, Jerry drinks some of Tom's soup, steps onto his spoon, and proceeds to spit the soup into Tom's face. Tom retaliates by placing the spoon and Jerry directly above a candle's flame, causing Jerry to burn his feet and bottom before shooting off the spoon and landing onto some butter
, which melts on contact.
The girl cat offers Tom some bread, but the angry Jerry sandwiches Tom's tail in between the two slices of bread; Tom even puts ketchup on the tail sandwich before chomping on it (Tom being too busy with the female cat to watch what he is putting ketchup on). After the cat leaps into the air in pain, he tries to keep a cool face towards his girlfriend, but as a result cannot see Jerry repeat the trick the second time again: When he looks back at his tail, he sees only cream, a slice of pineapple, and a maraschino cherry
, which he unsuspectingly chomps again.
Jerry is immediately captured and made into a champagne cork opener. After Tom opens the bottle, he throws Jerry into a glass of water, then pours out two glasses of champagne and drinks his before his girlfriend can notice. Twice he tries to hug her, but she dodges him. Tom kisses his sweetheart's arm from bottom to top, and she (obviously not willing to take this step yet) sticks a spoon out for Tom to kiss. The female cat continually dodges more hugs, and when she starts jumping to avoid him, Tom hangs back and grabs her at the right moment. With no other recourse, she takes out a "wolf pacifier
" and whacks Tom. Jerry laughs at this incident, mocking Tom's kissing the arm of his girl, when Tom opens a cigar with Jerry's mouth and strikes a match on Jerry's behind. Tom gets pied in retaliation, and attempts to return the favor, but instead hits the female cat when Jerry ducks the attack.
Now angry with her boyfriend, she hurls three pies at the scared cat which all miss when Tom ducks; Jerry pokes the cat in the rear with a fork, who stands up and is splattered by pie number four. Jerry runs off along the table and runs into Tom's open mouth, which was previously concealed under a tray; he soon realizes his surroundings are unpleasant and runs out of the cat's mouth. When Tom completes his chomp, he only bites his own tongue thanks to Jerry that sticked it out at the last moment. Happy, Jerry hits the tray with a spoon, causing the cat's head to vibrate like a cymbal, before running away.
Jerry hides in a roast turkey and, as Tom sticks knives into it, escapes and maintains the facade by mimicking yowls of pain as Tom sticks more knives into the turkey. Tom hears the guttural screaming continue even when he's not puncturing the bird, and turns around and spots Jerry's scheme. He pokes Jerry with the tip of the knife he's holding, who sharply says "Ouch". Before the cat can attack him again, the mouse hugs Tom's tail such that he will not be attacked, then bites the cat's tail. Tom yells and jumps in the air, then stops in midair when he sees Jerry has planted another knife just below him, and turns and barely avoids the blade.
Tom chases Jerry across the table, but Jerry breaks a champagne bottle and holds out the jagged edge. When Tom manages to stop in time, Jerry stabs him. Tom flees behind a punch bowl and is pegged by two bread rolls; enjoying the bread more than he dislikes being hit, Tom eats both and points to his open mouth as if to say "more, please." Jerry stuffs the salt shaker into a third bread roll and throws it into Tom's mouth. When chased, Jerry hides inside a candelabra and uses another candle in the candlestick to light up Tom's tail. Tom lights a cigarette from the tail-candle before he realizes what's happening, by which time his entire tail has been turned to ash and remains an ash threw out the entire show.
Tom rushes off to sit on an ice bucket to cool himself down, but before he can sit down, Jerry replaces the ice bucket with an oil lamp
. While relaxing, he sees the female cat shaking her head; he suddenly smells burning and asks her "Hey, what's cooking?", to which she replies: "You are, stupid!" Tom laughs at her, but soon feels his bottom getting very hot, looks down and sees he is burning. The heat eventually becomes so painful that Tom is sent straight up through the ceiling and comes crashing down onto the table, utterly wrecking it except for the punchbowl. Tom is left behind at the top of an incline with one piece of the table left over; Jerry sends the cat off by "christening" Tom as the S.S. DRIP, then he gives the girl cat a champagne bottle, which she smashes it on Tom. Jerry and the girl cat wave as Tom sinks into the punchbowl.
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 18th 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...
.
Plot
Mammy Two Shoes is setting up for a fancy dinner. Jerry appears from under the table and climbs on the tablecloth, observing the room as Mammy sets out more plates. She leaves the room, hoping nothing goes wrong before the company arrives. Tom appears from underneath a houseplant and rushes to the phone to invite his girlfriend, but must first keep Jerry out of the cracker spread. Tom bops him with a spoon and knocks him out, returns to the phone and calls up the female girl cat, who answers and happily exclaims that she'd love to come to dinner.At the meal, Jerry is forced into performing menial duties for the two cats, such as carrying food over and blowing Tom's soup for him. Frustrated at being made Tom's slave, Jerry drinks some of Tom's soup, steps onto his spoon, and proceeds to spit the soup into Tom's face. Tom retaliates by placing the spoon and Jerry directly above a candle's flame, causing Jerry to burn his feet and bottom before shooting off the spoon and landing onto some butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, which melts on contact.
The girl cat offers Tom some bread, but the angry Jerry sandwiches Tom's tail in between the two slices of bread; Tom even puts ketchup on the tail sandwich before chomping on it (Tom being too busy with the female cat to watch what he is putting ketchup on). After the cat leaps into the air in pain, he tries to keep a cool face towards his girlfriend, but as a result cannot see Jerry repeat the trick the second time again: When he looks back at his tail, he sees only cream, a slice of pineapple, and a maraschino cherry
Maraschino cherry
A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties...
, which he unsuspectingly chomps again.
Jerry is immediately captured and made into a champagne cork opener. After Tom opens the bottle, he throws Jerry into a glass of water, then pours out two glasses of champagne and drinks his before his girlfriend can notice. Twice he tries to hug her, but she dodges him. Tom kisses his sweetheart's arm from bottom to top, and she (obviously not willing to take this step yet) sticks a spoon out for Tom to kiss. The female cat continually dodges more hugs, and when she starts jumping to avoid him, Tom hangs back and grabs her at the right moment. With no other recourse, she takes out a "wolf pacifier
Mallet
A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...
" and whacks Tom. Jerry laughs at this incident, mocking Tom's kissing the arm of his girl, when Tom opens a cigar with Jerry's mouth and strikes a match on Jerry's behind. Tom gets pied in retaliation, and attempts to return the favor, but instead hits the female cat when Jerry ducks the attack.
Now angry with her boyfriend, she hurls three pies at the scared cat which all miss when Tom ducks; Jerry pokes the cat in the rear with a fork, who stands up and is splattered by pie number four. Jerry runs off along the table and runs into Tom's open mouth, which was previously concealed under a tray; he soon realizes his surroundings are unpleasant and runs out of the cat's mouth. When Tom completes his chomp, he only bites his own tongue thanks to Jerry that sticked it out at the last moment. Happy, Jerry hits the tray with a spoon, causing the cat's head to vibrate like a cymbal, before running away.
Jerry hides in a roast turkey and, as Tom sticks knives into it, escapes and maintains the facade by mimicking yowls of pain as Tom sticks more knives into the turkey. Tom hears the guttural screaming continue even when he's not puncturing the bird, and turns around and spots Jerry's scheme. He pokes Jerry with the tip of the knife he's holding, who sharply says "Ouch". Before the cat can attack him again, the mouse hugs Tom's tail such that he will not be attacked, then bites the cat's tail. Tom yells and jumps in the air, then stops in midair when he sees Jerry has planted another knife just below him, and turns and barely avoids the blade.
Tom chases Jerry across the table, but Jerry breaks a champagne bottle and holds out the jagged edge. When Tom manages to stop in time, Jerry stabs him. Tom flees behind a punch bowl and is pegged by two bread rolls; enjoying the bread more than he dislikes being hit, Tom eats both and points to his open mouth as if to say "more, please." Jerry stuffs the salt shaker into a third bread roll and throws it into Tom's mouth. When chased, Jerry hides inside a candelabra and uses another candle in the candlestick to light up Tom's tail. Tom lights a cigarette from the tail-candle before he realizes what's happening, by which time his entire tail has been turned to ash and remains an ash threw out the entire show.
Tom rushes off to sit on an ice bucket to cool himself down, but before he can sit down, Jerry replaces the ice bucket with an oil lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....
. While relaxing, he sees the female cat shaking her head; he suddenly smells burning and asks her "Hey, what's cooking?", to which she replies: "You are, stupid!" Tom laughs at her, but soon feels his bottom getting very hot, looks down and sees he is burning. The heat eventually becomes so painful that Tom is sent straight up through the ceiling and comes crashing down onto the table, utterly wrecking it except for the punchbowl. Tom is left behind at the top of an incline with one piece of the table left over; Jerry sends the cat off by "christening" Tom as the S.S. DRIP, then he gives the girl cat a champagne bottle, which she smashes it on Tom. Jerry and the girl cat wave as Tom sinks into the punchbowl.
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) (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) (uncredited) - Sara Berner as the girl cat (uncredited)
- 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 Tom (uncredited)
Censorship
- Some TV showings (particularly those on Cartoon NetworkCartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
) cut the beginning where Mammy Two Shoes is singing and setting up a table due to Jerry resembling an American-Indian when he is searching around the table. The cut version starts when Tom comes out of the potted plant. Other versions (excluding European TV showings) have aired where Mammy does appear, but her voice is redubbed.