A Mouse in the House
Encyclopedia
A Mouse in the House is a 1947
one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 32nd Tom and Jerry
short
directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
and produced by Fred Quimby
. It was animated by Kenneth Muse
, Ed Barge
, Richard Bickenbach, Don Patterson
and Michael Lah
, and was released to theatres on August 30, 1947. The title of this cartoon is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house."
The two cats frantically begin their search for the mouse, and are unsuspectingly aided by Jerry, before realizing the mouse was under their noses the whole time. They scramble to catch Jerry, but instead become entangled. On only one of their four feet, they tiptoe across the floor, until the mouse motions at them to stop and hits that foot with a fireplace log. This was Butch's left foot; he screams, jumping up and down, clutching Tom's left foot and eventually noticing he's got the wrong foot. He lets go of Tom's foot and grabs his foot, screaming appropriately.
The chase continues as Tom and Butch both grab Jerry together and decide to have a duel using a pair of guns they find lying around. Tom turns around early and shoots Butch as he turns around, but Tom finds out he is holding a "novelty gun", which whacks Butch on the nose. Butch (who thinks he has a real gun) angrily chases Tom into the wall, but when Tom sees exactly the same brand name on it, he assumes it is another novelty gun, chuckles at this and snaps his fingers in victory. Extremely angry at this turn of events, Butch proceeds to shoot Tom; the gun goes off, and Tom has barely dodged the bullet, but it comes out of the wall, rolls down Tom's head and onto his nose.
The chase continues in the kitchen, where Jerry jumps into the oven. Tom and Butch slam the door and turn on the gas as Jerry sneaks out, lights a match and drops it in the oven. Tom and Butch open the oven door, puzzled as to wondering why the oven hasn't exploded yet...and then it does, leaving them in blackface
.
Jerry and the cats move into the living room, and the two cats hide to catch the mouse by stealth. The mouse looks both ways, slowly walks out, and is caught by both cats simultaneously. Jerry squeezes out of their grip, but is then grabbed by Butch. Tom grabs his opponent's tail as he flees, keeping the cat from running away, but provokes further attacks: Tom bops Butch on the head, and Butch slips the mouse into a box with a sliding cover before continuing the fight.
Jerry escapes from the box and rings a boxing gong, ending the fight, and cleans up and coaches both cats to hit each other. Jerry rings the gong and both cats end up punching each other, as planned. They realise they've been tricked and glance towards Jerry, who is making fun of them by punching the air. Both of them pull up on either side of the mouse, incensed at the idea of a mouse tricking them into bopping each other. Eventually seeing he is trapped between the two and thus also realising that he pushed them around too far, the mouse chooses Butch via Eeny Meeny Mine Mo, taunts Tom, and sits down in Butch's hand.
Butch assumes that he has Jerry in his clutches and dares Tom to walk out in the morning. Tom slumps down and walks away, then hides behind a curtain. Butch is reveling in his victory until Tom reaches out and grabs Jerry directly out of the other cat's hand. Butch turns the corner and opens the curtain to find only Tom, who pretends to not know where the mouse is; in reality, he is underneath the cat, who lifts Tom up and carries him around to reveal himself. Tom simply continues with the charade, and Butch grabs Tom, revealing the mouse underneath, who soon sees Tom is missing. Butch drops Tom into the trash can and chases Jerry.
Annoyed, Tom runs into the kitchen, dressing himself in Mammy's clothing to trick Butch. Butch enters the kitchen, with Jerry clenched in his fist, and offers him to Tom, thinking that he is Mammy. Tom wallops Butch over the head with a frying pan, dashes out of his disguise and runs off with Jerry. Butch regains consciousness and runs into the living room, wearing Mammy's clothing, while pretending to arrange the bookshelves; Tom manages to fall for the same trick, getting walloped over the head with a chimney shovel. Butch runs off with Jerry until he runs straight into an ironing board and knocks himself out; Jerry escapes from Butch's clutches and runs off. Both cats pick up the weapons used against them and chase after the mouse.
Just then, Mammy walks down the stairs, who is curious as to the cats' progress. Tom approaches from one room, sees Mammy, and refusing to be fooled again, hides behind the stairs with his weapon; Butch is also taken in and hides on the other side of the stairs, neither of them seeing each other. As Mammy peeks through a door, the two cats hit her on the bottom repeatedly with their weapons, both thinking that Mammy is the other cat. Mammy screams in pain and the cats look at each other, and move her pant leg to reveal who they have actually attacked.
They attempt to flee, but Mammy angrily grabs them by their tails and noisily throws them out of the house. Jerry watches and walks back into the house, satisfied with his work, but is met with Mammy tapping her foot, effectively giving the mouse the boot as well. Resigned, the mouse slowly walks back out the door, and shuts it as he dashes away.
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
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 32nd 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...
. It was animated by Kenneth 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:...
, Ed Barge
Ed Barge
Edward John "Ed" Barge was an American animator.Barge was born to Alfred Edward and Margaret G. Barge in San Jose, California. In 1916, the family moved to Bakersfield, where his father was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad and Pacific Western Oil Co. before retiring in 1954...
, Richard Bickenbach, Don Patterson
Don Patterson (animator)
Don Patterson was an American producer, animator, and director who worked at various studios during the golden age of animation, including Disney, MGM, and Walter Lantz. He was the older brother of animator Ray Patterson....
and Michael Lah
Michael Lah
Michael Richard Lah was an American animator. He is best known for his work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, primarily as a member of Tex Avery's animation unit....
, and was released to theatres on August 30, 1947. The title of this cartoon is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house."
Plot
Mammy Two Shoes enters the kitchen which has been ransacked by Jerry, and goes on a tirade against the residents of the house: Tom and Butch. She goes into the living room, where she finds them lazing around and drinking cream. Sarcastically pleased that the cats are satisfied, she yells at them about the mouse in the house and whoever catches the mouse stays in the house.The two cats frantically begin their search for the mouse, and are unsuspectingly aided by Jerry, before realizing the mouse was under their noses the whole time. They scramble to catch Jerry, but instead become entangled. On only one of their four feet, they tiptoe across the floor, until the mouse motions at them to stop and hits that foot with a fireplace log. This was Butch's left foot; he screams, jumping up and down, clutching Tom's left foot and eventually noticing he's got the wrong foot. He lets go of Tom's foot and grabs his foot, screaming appropriately.
The chase continues as Tom and Butch both grab Jerry together and decide to have a duel using a pair of guns they find lying around. Tom turns around early and shoots Butch as he turns around, but Tom finds out he is holding a "novelty gun", which whacks Butch on the nose. Butch (who thinks he has a real gun) angrily chases Tom into the wall, but when Tom sees exactly the same brand name on it, he assumes it is another novelty gun, chuckles at this and snaps his fingers in victory. Extremely angry at this turn of events, Butch proceeds to shoot Tom; the gun goes off, and Tom has barely dodged the bullet, but it comes out of the wall, rolls down Tom's head and onto his nose.
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
.
Jerry and the cats move into the living room, and the two cats hide to catch the mouse by stealth. The mouse looks both ways, slowly walks out, and is caught by both cats simultaneously. Jerry squeezes out of their grip, but is then grabbed by Butch. Tom grabs his opponent's tail as he flees, keeping the cat from running away, but provokes further attacks: Tom bops Butch on the head, and Butch slips the mouse into a box with a sliding cover before continuing the fight.
Jerry escapes from the box and rings a boxing gong, ending the fight, and cleans up and coaches both cats to hit each other. Jerry rings the gong and both cats end up punching each other, as planned. They realise they've been tricked and glance towards Jerry, who is making fun of them by punching the air. Both of them pull up on either side of the mouse, incensed at the idea of a mouse tricking them into bopping each other. Eventually seeing he is trapped between the two and thus also realising that he pushed them around too far, the mouse chooses Butch via Eeny Meeny Mine Mo, taunts Tom, and sits down in Butch's hand.
Butch assumes that he has Jerry in his clutches and dares Tom to walk out in the morning. Tom slumps down and walks away, then hides behind a curtain. Butch is reveling in his victory until Tom reaches out and grabs Jerry directly out of the other cat's hand. Butch turns the corner and opens the curtain to find only Tom, who pretends to not know where the mouse is; in reality, he is underneath the cat, who lifts Tom up and carries him around to reveal himself. Tom simply continues with the charade, and Butch grabs Tom, revealing the mouse underneath, who soon sees Tom is missing. Butch drops Tom into the trash can and chases Jerry.
Annoyed, Tom runs into the kitchen, dressing himself in Mammy's clothing to trick Butch. Butch enters the kitchen, with Jerry clenched in his fist, and offers him to Tom, thinking that he is Mammy. Tom wallops Butch over the head with a frying pan, dashes out of his disguise and runs off with Jerry. Butch regains consciousness and runs into the living room, wearing Mammy's clothing, while pretending to arrange the bookshelves; Tom manages to fall for the same trick, getting walloped over the head with a chimney shovel. Butch runs off with Jerry until he runs straight into an ironing board and knocks himself out; Jerry escapes from Butch's clutches and runs off. Both cats pick up the weapons used against them and chase after the mouse.
Just then, Mammy walks down the stairs, who is curious as to the cats' progress. Tom approaches from one room, sees Mammy, and refusing to be fooled again, hides behind the stairs with his weapon; Butch is also taken in and hides on the other side of the stairs, neither of them seeing each other. As Mammy peeks through a door, the two cats hit her on the bottom repeatedly with their weapons, both thinking that Mammy is the other cat. Mammy screams in pain and the cats look at each other, and move her pant leg to reveal who they have actually attacked.
They attempt to flee, but Mammy angrily grabs them by their tails and noisily throws them out of the house. Jerry watches and walks back into the house, satisfied with his work, but is met with Mammy tapping her foot, effectively giving the mouse the boot as well. Resigned, the mouse slowly walks back out the door, and shuts it as he dashes away.
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 (dubbed version) (uncredited)