DarthGonzo
11-27-2001, 03:41 PM
The Mouse Comes to Dinner
released May 5th, 1945
directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
animated by Kenneth Muse, Pete Burness, Ray Patterson and Irven Spence
musical direction by Scott Bradley
Summary
Mammy has just finished preparing the table for a fancy dinner to be held at the house later that night. Jerry has his eye on the food, as does Tom, for entirely different reasons. As soon as Mammy is out of the room, Tom heads to the phone and calls his girlfriend. Cut to the cute little kitten on the other line, trying to act reserved, "Hello....TOMMY!! Oh, I'd love to come to dinner!" A few hours later the dinner for the felines is about to begin, with Jerry forced to act as the waiter for both of them. Tom makes the mouse blow on his soup before he eats it, so Jerry takes a quick sip and spits it in the cat's face. Tom holds Jerry in his spoon over a candle, buring his feet and rear. Jerry soothes his smoking fanny in the butter. Jerry stick's Tom's tail in both his sandwich and his ice cream, making him eat it not once, but twice. Taking the embarassment in stride, Tom uses the mouse as corkscrew to open the wine. Tom downs an entire glass within seconds and then attempts to make out with Toots. Not one to put out, she clobbers the horny cat with a "wolf pacifier". Jerry dies laughing, until Tom makes the mouse bite off the tip of a ciger and then lights a match on his rear. Having taken all he can stand, Jerry heaves a pie at Tom. Tom tosses one right back, only to hit Toots instead. She tosses several pies at Tom, but he's quick enough to duck them, until Jerry stabs him in the behind with a fork. The cat takes a pie to the face when he stands erect to scream. Now Jerry is on the run. With a serving lid over his head, a desgised Tom tries to get Jerry to run into his mouth. He only ends up biting his tongue, after which the mouse clangs the serving lid with a spood. Jerry next takes refuge inside a turkey. Tom sticks some very sharp knives into the bird, only the discover that the painful-sounding screams are not coming from inside the turkey but from right behind him. Tom gets wise and Jerry escapes by biting the cat's tail. When Tom comes after him, Jerry pokes him in the butt with a broken bottle. Jerry pitches a pastry at Tom, but the cat simply opens his mouth and swallows it. The next pastry Jerry tosses has a salt shaker inside. Tom eventually loses track of Jerry and decides to use a nearby candle to light a cigarette, little realizing that Jerry has replaced said candle with Tom's tail. Tom panics and tries to find a way to put out his flaming backside. Just he's about to sit on a bucket of ice, Jerry replaces it with a lit hot plate. Tom sniffs the air: something smells good. "Hey, what's cookin'?" he asks Toots. "You are, stupid", is his answer. Tom leaps into the air and comes crashing down, knocking himself out and pulverizing the dinner table. Jerry writes "S.S. Drip" on Tom's arse with mustard, Toots christens him with a bottle of champagne and the defeated cat sinks into a bowl of punch.
Commentary
The cartoon food fight to end all cartoon food fights, The Mouse Comes to Dinner is a non-stop parade of flying pastries and derierre injuries. It is also one of the fastest, most energetic and drop-dead funniest Tom and Jerry cartoon of the early 1940s. The Little Orphan and The Two Mouseketeers both may involve bad table manners, and both may have won Oscars, but The Mouse Comes to Dinner does the gags so much better in a no-holds barred sort of way. Anything that can be used in inflict pain is indeed used, no character is spared and no injury too silly. It's one of those cartoons that's simply one humiliation after another for Jerry. When the mouse finally does retaliate, revenge is sweet. Tom takes a tremendous beating here, and his stamina is incredible. He's also not very bright, a characteristic that seems to have started with Sufferin' Cats and The Lonesome Mouse. What made him think that Jerry was going to put up with his abuse for that long? One also wonders what any kitten would see in him. Better lover than a fighter, I presume. The gags in this cartoon come at such a rapid fire pace that by the time one is finished laughing at the first joke, two more have come and gone. Of particular note is the turkey scene. The screams that Jerry is faking don't just sound painful, they're ridiculously painful. Jerry's contorting his entire face to make these silly sounds, and it is one of those situations where a Looney Tunes character would probably turn to the camera and say, "Funny situation, ain't it?" There is a preoccupation with rear ends in The Mouse Comes to Dinner. Helping these silly gags along are Tom's increasingly contrived yelps and hollers. The days when Tom would screech like a real cat are long over. In fact, this cartoon wouldn't be nearly as funny if he did.
Everyone on staff turns in some excellent animation on this cartoon. Tom, complete with bow-tie throughout the entire short, is made to look as silly as possible. Burness, Spence and especially Patterson are great in this regard. Muse doesnt do many scenes outside the first couple of minutes, probably because he seems to have a hard time making Tom like idiotic. The wild eyed takes Patterson gives Tom toward the end of the cartoon are perfect.
Scott Bradley's score works well and is particularly memorable, even though there are not many signiture themes, per se. "Anchors Aways" is used appropriately at the end of the cartoon, as Tom sinks out of sight in the punch.
It's a shame that Cartoon Network cuts Mammy's very brief appearance when they show this cartoon, instead of showing it at a late night hour where it can be shown uncut. Those looking to find a complete version on video can try to seek out the "Starring Tom and Jerry!" videocassette, which was put out in 1990. Whatever version you watch, however, it's obvious the The Mouse Comes to Dinner is another fast-moving, enjoyable Tom and Jerry classic.
released May 5th, 1945
directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
animated by Kenneth Muse, Pete Burness, Ray Patterson and Irven Spence
musical direction by Scott Bradley
Summary
Mammy has just finished preparing the table for a fancy dinner to be held at the house later that night. Jerry has his eye on the food, as does Tom, for entirely different reasons. As soon as Mammy is out of the room, Tom heads to the phone and calls his girlfriend. Cut to the cute little kitten on the other line, trying to act reserved, "Hello....TOMMY!! Oh, I'd love to come to dinner!" A few hours later the dinner for the felines is about to begin, with Jerry forced to act as the waiter for both of them. Tom makes the mouse blow on his soup before he eats it, so Jerry takes a quick sip and spits it in the cat's face. Tom holds Jerry in his spoon over a candle, buring his feet and rear. Jerry soothes his smoking fanny in the butter. Jerry stick's Tom's tail in both his sandwich and his ice cream, making him eat it not once, but twice. Taking the embarassment in stride, Tom uses the mouse as corkscrew to open the wine. Tom downs an entire glass within seconds and then attempts to make out with Toots. Not one to put out, she clobbers the horny cat with a "wolf pacifier". Jerry dies laughing, until Tom makes the mouse bite off the tip of a ciger and then lights a match on his rear. Having taken all he can stand, Jerry heaves a pie at Tom. Tom tosses one right back, only to hit Toots instead. She tosses several pies at Tom, but he's quick enough to duck them, until Jerry stabs him in the behind with a fork. The cat takes a pie to the face when he stands erect to scream. Now Jerry is on the run. With a serving lid over his head, a desgised Tom tries to get Jerry to run into his mouth. He only ends up biting his tongue, after which the mouse clangs the serving lid with a spood. Jerry next takes refuge inside a turkey. Tom sticks some very sharp knives into the bird, only the discover that the painful-sounding screams are not coming from inside the turkey but from right behind him. Tom gets wise and Jerry escapes by biting the cat's tail. When Tom comes after him, Jerry pokes him in the butt with a broken bottle. Jerry pitches a pastry at Tom, but the cat simply opens his mouth and swallows it. The next pastry Jerry tosses has a salt shaker inside. Tom eventually loses track of Jerry and decides to use a nearby candle to light a cigarette, little realizing that Jerry has replaced said candle with Tom's tail. Tom panics and tries to find a way to put out his flaming backside. Just he's about to sit on a bucket of ice, Jerry replaces it with a lit hot plate. Tom sniffs the air: something smells good. "Hey, what's cookin'?" he asks Toots. "You are, stupid", is his answer. Tom leaps into the air and comes crashing down, knocking himself out and pulverizing the dinner table. Jerry writes "S.S. Drip" on Tom's arse with mustard, Toots christens him with a bottle of champagne and the defeated cat sinks into a bowl of punch.
Commentary
The cartoon food fight to end all cartoon food fights, The Mouse Comes to Dinner is a non-stop parade of flying pastries and derierre injuries. It is also one of the fastest, most energetic and drop-dead funniest Tom and Jerry cartoon of the early 1940s. The Little Orphan and The Two Mouseketeers both may involve bad table manners, and both may have won Oscars, but The Mouse Comes to Dinner does the gags so much better in a no-holds barred sort of way. Anything that can be used in inflict pain is indeed used, no character is spared and no injury too silly. It's one of those cartoons that's simply one humiliation after another for Jerry. When the mouse finally does retaliate, revenge is sweet. Tom takes a tremendous beating here, and his stamina is incredible. He's also not very bright, a characteristic that seems to have started with Sufferin' Cats and The Lonesome Mouse. What made him think that Jerry was going to put up with his abuse for that long? One also wonders what any kitten would see in him. Better lover than a fighter, I presume. The gags in this cartoon come at such a rapid fire pace that by the time one is finished laughing at the first joke, two more have come and gone. Of particular note is the turkey scene. The screams that Jerry is faking don't just sound painful, they're ridiculously painful. Jerry's contorting his entire face to make these silly sounds, and it is one of those situations where a Looney Tunes character would probably turn to the camera and say, "Funny situation, ain't it?" There is a preoccupation with rear ends in The Mouse Comes to Dinner. Helping these silly gags along are Tom's increasingly contrived yelps and hollers. The days when Tom would screech like a real cat are long over. In fact, this cartoon wouldn't be nearly as funny if he did.
Everyone on staff turns in some excellent animation on this cartoon. Tom, complete with bow-tie throughout the entire short, is made to look as silly as possible. Burness, Spence and especially Patterson are great in this regard. Muse doesnt do many scenes outside the first couple of minutes, probably because he seems to have a hard time making Tom like idiotic. The wild eyed takes Patterson gives Tom toward the end of the cartoon are perfect.
Scott Bradley's score works well and is particularly memorable, even though there are not many signiture themes, per se. "Anchors Aways" is used appropriately at the end of the cartoon, as Tom sinks out of sight in the punch.
It's a shame that Cartoon Network cuts Mammy's very brief appearance when they show this cartoon, instead of showing it at a late night hour where it can be shown uncut. Those looking to find a complete version on video can try to seek out the "Starring Tom and Jerry!" videocassette, which was put out in 1990. Whatever version you watch, however, it's obvious the The Mouse Comes to Dinner is another fast-moving, enjoyable Tom and Jerry classic.