Two Little Indians
Encyclopedia
Two Little Indians is the 78th one reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, created in 1952
directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
and produced by Fred Quimby
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released to theaters on October 17, 1953 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.
, dressed as Indians (one with a blue feather, the other w/ a red feather) and walking toward Jerry's house. They knock on the door and hand him a note which reads: "Dear Scoutmaster Jerry. These are the two little orphans you promised to take on a hiking trip. Thanks, Bide a wee Mouse Home". Jerry then pats them on their head and he leaves to put on his scoutmaster uniform. The two mice then start scouting around. When Jerry returns, he sees one of the mice heading toward Spike who is asleep. The mouse goes into Spike's mouth and attempts to shoot an arrow at Spike's uvula, but Jerry stops him. Spike wakes up and looks menacingly at the two of them. To distract him, Jerry starts playing "Turkey in the Straw
" on the bow and arrow like a violin. This allows Jerry and the mouse to get away. Jerry then shakes his head at the little mouse as if to say, "Don't do that." Jerry then sees the other mouse trying to shoot a robin sitting in a tree. The little mouse shoots his arrow in the air and Jerry scolds him. The arrow then falls through the drain pipe and ends up hitting him in the rear.
Jerry then leads his scouts on their hiking trip. But the scouts stop and see Tom asleep under a tree. One mouse grabs his tomahawk and the other grabs his bow and arrow and they head over to Tom. Jerry then realizes his scouts are not with him and he see what is about to happen. The mouse with the tomahawk grabs the top of Tom's head and tries to scalp him, but Jerry stops it. This wakes up Tom. Tom then looks around and goes back to sleep. The mouse with the red feather has made his way to Tom's rear and he gets ready to shoot Tom. Jerry tries to stop the arrow but he doesn't do it in time and Tom jumps up and screams. When he lands to confront Jerry, Jerry readies the bow and points it in Tom's face. But Jerry does not know how to use a bow and arrow and he ends up misfiring three times. Tom, realizing that Jerry is no harm to him (at least in that manner), grins and let Jerry try to aim at him. The little Indian mouse then shows up and successfully shoots an arrow into Tom's nose. Tom then grabs Jerry, but he is saved when the mouse with the blue feather chops off the tip of Tom's tail. Tom screams with pain and grabs the blue-feathered mouse, but he gets saved when the red-feathered mouse scalps Tom. Tom grabs the second mouse and he is saved when Jerry hits Tom with the mailbox. The three of them run away. As they run away, they all split in different directions. When Tom chases them, his head goes one way, his body goes another, and his feet go a third way. Then he brings himself back together. He goes after Jerry and pushes the spikes in the fence together catching Jerry by his tail. Tom grabs Jerry and the two mice try to save him. But Tom uses a flyswatter to send them away. Tom starts to walk away with Jerry but he stops when the blue mouse fools him with fake smoke signals, while the red mouse starts to paint faces on badminton shuttlecocks to make them look like a tribe of Indian mice. This frightens Tom and he ends up tying Jerry to a post. He then grabs a coonskin cap
and defends himself with a rifle behind a table.
One of the mice fires an arrow with a frying pan tied to it. The arrow hits a rail and swings. Tom readies his gun and just before he fires, the pan hits him in the back of the head making him look like an aardvark
with the rifle as a nose. The mice then run away and then dress up Spike like an Indian chief. They also paint a mean face on him with war paint. When Tom sees Spike he gets so scared that the coonskin cap stands on end (sprouting eyes as well!) and he runs away and hides in a folding chair. One of the mice then lights a match and shoots it at Tom. It hits the chair and burns it up. Tom then runs away and hides behind the table he set up. The two mice then run up to Tom and the blue mouse climbs up the barrel of the gun, while the red one opens his pouch of gunpowder. The blue mouse then knocks on the hammer of the gun and he emerges shooting an arrow into Tom's nose. Then he runs away. Tom fires a few rounds and chases after the mouse not realizing that the gunpowder is trailing behind him. The second mouse comes out and lights the gunpowder trail. Tom then chases the mouse into a garage and he escapes through the window. Tom stops at the window where a small pile of gunpowder starts to form and he continues firing at the mouse. Next to him is a can of gas and oil can. Then he sees the flame follow him into the garage. Tom tries to run out the garage but he is still holding the rifle which ends up blocking him from leaving. The flame ignites the gas can and the whole garage explodes. The garage folds neatly and Tom surrenders with a white ribbon tied around his gun.
Jerry and the mice are then shown smoking a peace pipe. They pass the pipe to Tom and he tries to exhale the smoke from his mouth but no avail. Tom accidentally swallows the smoke and ends up coming out of his ears.
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 in 1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
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...
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released to theaters on October 17, 1953 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.
Plot
The cartoon opens with two mice, both resembling NibblesTuffy
Tuffy is a fictional character from the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. He is the little grey, diaper-wearing orphan mouse whose cartoon debut came in the 1946 short The Milky Waif. Tuffy was later featured in the 1949 Academy Award-winning short The Little Orphan...
, dressed as Indians (one with a blue feather, the other w/ a red feather) and walking toward Jerry's house. They knock on the door and hand him a note which reads: "Dear Scoutmaster Jerry. These are the two little orphans you promised to take on a hiking trip. Thanks, Bide a wee Mouse Home". Jerry then pats them on their head and he leaves to put on his scoutmaster uniform. The two mice then start scouting around. When Jerry returns, he sees one of the mice heading toward Spike who is asleep. The mouse goes into Spike's mouth and attempts to shoot an arrow at Spike's uvula, but Jerry stops him. Spike wakes up and looks menacingly at the two of them. To distract him, Jerry starts playing "Turkey in the Straw
Turkey in the Straw
"Turkey in the Straw" is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century.The song's tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers, notably George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell and George Nichols. Another song, "Zip Coon", was sung to the...
" on the bow and arrow like a violin. This allows Jerry and the mouse to get away. Jerry then shakes his head at the little mouse as if to say, "Don't do that." Jerry then sees the other mouse trying to shoot a robin sitting in a tree. The little mouse shoots his arrow in the air and Jerry scolds him. The arrow then falls through the drain pipe and ends up hitting him in the rear.
Jerry then leads his scouts on their hiking trip. But the scouts stop and see Tom asleep under a tree. One mouse grabs his tomahawk and the other grabs his bow and arrow and they head over to Tom. Jerry then realizes his scouts are not with him and he see what is about to happen. The mouse with the tomahawk grabs the top of Tom's head and tries to scalp him, but Jerry stops it. This wakes up Tom. Tom then looks around and goes back to sleep. The mouse with the red feather has made his way to Tom's rear and he gets ready to shoot Tom. Jerry tries to stop the arrow but he doesn't do it in time and Tom jumps up and screams. When he lands to confront Jerry, Jerry readies the bow and points it in Tom's face. But Jerry does not know how to use a bow and arrow and he ends up misfiring three times. Tom, realizing that Jerry is no harm to him (at least in that manner), grins and let Jerry try to aim at him. The little Indian mouse then shows up and successfully shoots an arrow into Tom's nose. Tom then grabs Jerry, but he is saved when the mouse with the blue feather chops off the tip of Tom's tail. Tom screams with pain and grabs the blue-feathered mouse, but he gets saved when the red-feathered mouse scalps Tom. Tom grabs the second mouse and he is saved when Jerry hits Tom with the mailbox. The three of them run away. As they run away, they all split in different directions. When Tom chases them, his head goes one way, his body goes another, and his feet go a third way. Then he brings himself back together. He goes after Jerry and pushes the spikes in the fence together catching Jerry by his tail. Tom grabs Jerry and the two mice try to save him. But Tom uses a flyswatter to send them away. Tom starts to walk away with Jerry but he stops when the blue mouse fools him with fake smoke signals, while the red mouse starts to paint faces on badminton shuttlecocks to make them look like a tribe of Indian mice. This frightens Tom and he ends up tying Jerry to a post. He then grabs a coonskin cap
Coonskin cap
A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail...
and defends himself with a rifle behind a table.
One of the mice fires an arrow with a frying pan tied to it. The arrow hits a rail and swings. Tom readies his gun and just before he fires, the pan hits him in the back of the head making him look like an aardvark
Aardvark
The aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa...
with the rifle as a nose. The mice then run away and then dress up Spike like an Indian chief. They also paint a mean face on him with war paint. When Tom sees Spike he gets so scared that the coonskin cap stands on end (sprouting eyes as well!) and he runs away and hides in a folding chair. One of the mice then lights a match and shoots it at Tom. It hits the chair and burns it up. Tom then runs away and hides behind the table he set up. The two mice then run up to Tom and the blue mouse climbs up the barrel of the gun, while the red one opens his pouch of gunpowder. The blue mouse then knocks on the hammer of the gun and he emerges shooting an arrow into Tom's nose. Then he runs away. Tom fires a few rounds and chases after the mouse not realizing that the gunpowder is trailing behind him. The second mouse comes out and lights the gunpowder trail. Tom then chases the mouse into a garage and he escapes through the window. Tom stops at the window where a small pile of gunpowder starts to form and he continues firing at the mouse. Next to him is a can of gas and oil can. Then he sees the flame follow him into the garage. Tom tries to run out the garage but he is still holding the rifle which ends up blocking him from leaving. The flame ignites the gas can and the whole garage explodes. The garage folds neatly and Tom surrenders with a white ribbon tied around his gun.
Jerry and the mice are then shown smoking a peace pipe. They pass the pipe to Tom and he tries to exhale the smoke from his mouth but no avail. Tom accidentally swallows the smoke and ends up coming out of his ears.