O-Solar Meow
Encyclopedia
O-Solar Meow is a 1967
cartoon
featuring Tom and Jerry
. It was the first of three outer space
-related shorts to be released in the Chuck Jones
era (though the second of the three to be produced, according to the MPAA code seen in the opening credits). Also according to the MPAA code and not episode number, this Tom and Jerry cartoon is the last one to feature music from Eugene Poddany (both regarding in its entirety, and regarding the Sib Tower 12/Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons). The cartoon was produced by Chuck Jones and directed by Abe Levitow. The animation was supplied by Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson and Ben Washam. The title of the cartoon is a play-on-words of the popular Italian song "'O Sole Mio
."
No.1 and moves around like a ball in a roulette wheel, after which the station appears to be designed, until it comes to rest on number 36
. Immediately, "baggage" is deposited out of a machine and one of the packages is a large hunk of cheese, which attracts Jerry
. He gets in his Space Age
vehicle and goes after what he saw on his monitor, but soon breaks a beam without even noticing. This beam sets off a rocket
, which then sets off a Rube Goldberg
contraption in order to alert the resident cat on duty - Tom. Tom is thrown into his work chair in front of his surveillance monitor and woken up with a stream of water. Tom wakes up, and seeing Jerry in his cheese-vehicle, signals his robot
cat to go after it.
The robot cat chases Jerry and attempts to chomp on Jerry's vehicle, but Jerry leaves a stream of exhaust in the robot's mouth
causing it to cough repeatedly. Jerry speeds past Tom and Tom moves his chair to the left, but is soon dragged along on the chase by his robot. Tom remotely stops the robot and cruises along the floor without even paying any attention to what is in front of him. He runs into a nearby wall and is temporarily knocked out. Tom then runs up to his robot, turns it around, and kicks it. As a result, all three of Tom's right toes swell red and Tom is left to clutch his foot and hop around in pain.
Tom is then shown testing out a new incisive laser
machine. He tests it out on a safe and a glass water container, which both slice cleanly in half. Tom then cuts out a large portion of the wall containing Jerry's hole, causing the mouse to walk out in bewilderment. He suffers a near miss from the laser and Jerry puts on his jetpack and blinds the cat with its smoke. Tom then chases Jerry and the mouse cuts him in two with the laser beam. Jerry is hovering in the air and Tom jumps at the mouse, without success, until he realizes he's in two pieces and then, embarrassed, checks himself into the nearby medical facility.
Tom then puts on an Ajax Flying Belt, but it repeatedly backfires on him: It slips to his feet and drags him by the feet, and then flips over and carries him through the air as if he was being hung by the feet. Tom runs into another wall and then is shown being dragged across the ground by his ankles and then returning to being hung by the feet. Tom blocks the air flow, but soon suffers under gravity. The cat points the jet stream down and floats in the air next to Jerry, who starts laughing at him. Tom bites at the mouse and then starts chasing him, but instead of biting the mouse on the second try, he bites a pipe and spins around again in an exercise wheel. But Jerry stops the spinning with a rod and the cat falls down, with a "BONK!".
Jerry is then shown cruising through the air, and then spots Tom behind him. He continues on his course, but pulls up just in front of a fast-rotating fan, leaving Tom to fall into the duct and be shredded. Tom falls out of the duct and has a striped appearance. The belt starts flying by itself in the air until Tom squirts it with gas and stops the belt from working again.
The wheel of cheese is then shown being propelled through the air. Jerry is inside, about to dine on a tiny bit of cheese, when Tom shoots a harpoon into the wheel and pins it to a wall. Jerry finds himself looking down the barrel of a gun and is forced to surrender. Tom places him inside a large, powerful cannon and fires it, sending Jerry to the Cheese Moon, which is shown to contain large quantities of cheese
. Tom celebrates by shooting off his gun everywhere. It is then revealed to create holes in anything it hits, puncturing
the hull
of the space station
and causing it to lose air.
Tom is then shown being pressed into patching up the holes he has made and re-inflating the space station as an angry space police officer (resembling Moe Howard
from The Three Stooges) points a large gun at Tom, a bigger version of the gun Tom used to hold up Jerry. Meanwhile, Jerry is enjoying himself on the Moon, which is shown to contain large quantities of cheese because the Moon is made of green cheese
.
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
featuring 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...
. It was the first of three outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
-related shorts to be released in the Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
era (though the second of the three to be produced, according to the MPAA code seen in the opening credits). Also according to the MPAA code and not episode number, this Tom and Jerry cartoon is the last one to feature music from Eugene Poddany (both regarding in its entirety, and regarding the Sib Tower 12/Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons). The cartoon was produced by Chuck Jones and directed by Abe Levitow. The animation was supplied by Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson and Ben Washam. The title of the cartoon is a play-on-words of the popular Italian song "'O Sole Mio
'O Sole Mio
"O sole mio" is a globally known Neapolitan song written in 1898. The lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the melody was composed by Eduardo di Capua. Though there are versions in other languages, "'O sole mio" is usually sung in the original Neapolitan language...
."
Plot
A (comparatively) small white ball labeled Supply Satellite No.1 is hit with a very strong spring and shot into space. It falls into a groove running along the outer edge of Space StationSpace station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
No.1 and moves around like a ball in a roulette wheel, after which the station appears to be designed, until it comes to rest on number 36
36 (number)
36 is the natural number following 35 and preceding 37.- In mathematics :36 is both the square of 6 and a triangular number, making it a square triangular number...
. Immediately, "baggage" is deposited out of a machine and one of the packages is a large hunk of cheese, which attracts 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...
. He gets in his Space Age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
vehicle and goes after what he saw on his monitor, but soon breaks a beam without even noticing. This beam sets off a rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
, which then sets off a Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
contraption in order to alert the resident cat on duty - Tom. Tom is thrown into his work chair in front of his surveillance monitor and woken up with a stream of water. Tom wakes up, and seeing Jerry in his cheese-vehicle, signals his robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
cat to go after it.
The robot cat chases Jerry and attempts to chomp on Jerry's vehicle, but Jerry leaves a stream of exhaust in the robot's mouth
Mouth
The mouth is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food andsaliva. The oral mucosa is the mucous membrane epithelium lining the inside of the mouth....
causing it to cough repeatedly. Jerry speeds past Tom and Tom moves his chair to the left, but is soon dragged along on the chase by his robot. Tom remotely stops the robot and cruises along the floor without even paying any attention to what is in front of him. He runs into a nearby wall and is temporarily knocked out. Tom then runs up to his robot, turns it around, and kicks it. As a result, all three of Tom's right toes swell red and Tom is left to clutch his foot and hop around in pain.
Tom is then shown testing out a new incisive laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
machine. He tests it out on a safe and a glass water container, which both slice cleanly in half. Tom then cuts out a large portion of the wall containing Jerry's hole, causing the mouse to walk out in bewilderment. He suffers a near miss from the laser and Jerry puts on his jetpack and blinds the cat with its smoke. Tom then chases Jerry and the mouse cuts him in two with the laser beam. Jerry is hovering in the air and Tom jumps at the mouse, without success, until he realizes he's in two pieces and then, embarrassed, checks himself into the nearby medical facility.
Tom then puts on an Ajax Flying Belt, but it repeatedly backfires on him: It slips to his feet and drags him by the feet, and then flips over and carries him through the air as if he was being hung by the feet. Tom runs into another wall and then is shown being dragged across the ground by his ankles and then returning to being hung by the feet. Tom blocks the air flow, but soon suffers under gravity. The cat points the jet stream down and floats in the air next to Jerry, who starts laughing at him. Tom bites at the mouse and then starts chasing him, but instead of biting the mouse on the second try, he bites a pipe and spins around again in an exercise wheel. But Jerry stops the spinning with a rod and the cat falls down, with a "BONK!".
Jerry is then shown cruising through the air, and then spots Tom behind him. He continues on his course, but pulls up just in front of a fast-rotating fan, leaving Tom to fall into the duct and be shredded. Tom falls out of the duct and has a striped appearance. The belt starts flying by itself in the air until Tom squirts it with gas and stops the belt from working again.
The wheel of cheese is then shown being propelled through the air. Jerry is inside, about to dine on a tiny bit of cheese, when Tom shoots a harpoon into the wheel and pins it to a wall. Jerry finds himself looking down the barrel of a gun and is forced to surrender. Tom places him inside a large, powerful cannon and fires it, sending Jerry to the Cheese Moon, which is shown to contain large quantities of cheese
The Moon is made of green cheese
"The Moon is made of green cheese" is a statement referring to a fanciful belief that the Moon is composed of cheese. In its original formulation as a proverb and metaphor for credulity with roots in fable, this refers to the perception of a simpleton who sees a reflection of the Moon in water and...
. Tom celebrates by shooting off his gun everywhere. It is then revealed to create holes in anything it hits, puncturing
Puncturing
In coding theory, puncturing is the process of removing some of the parity bits after encoding with an error-correction code. This has the same effect as encoding with an error-correction code with a higher rate, or less redundancy...
the hull
Hull
Hull may refer to:* Hull , the body or frame of a ship* Chassis of an armored fighting vehicle* Fuselage of an aircraft* Husk or hull, the outer covering of a fruit or vegetable-In mathematics:* Affine hull, in affine geometry...
of the space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
and causing it to lose air.
Tom is then shown being pressed into patching up the holes he has made and re-inflating the space station as an angry space police officer (resembling Moe Howard
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz , known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades...
from The Three Stooges) points a large gun at Tom, a bigger version of the gun Tom used to hold up Jerry. Meanwhile, Jerry is enjoying himself on the Moon, which is shown to contain large quantities of cheese because the Moon is made of green cheese
The Moon is made of green cheese
"The Moon is made of green cheese" is a statement referring to a fanciful belief that the Moon is composed of cheese. In its original formulation as a proverb and metaphor for credulity with roots in fable, this refers to the perception of a simpleton who sees a reflection of the Moon in water and...
.
Credits
- Animation: Ben Washam, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Ken Harris, Dick Thompson
- Story: John W. Dunn
- Layout: Don Morgan
- Design Consultant: Maurice Noble
- Backgrounds: Philip DeGuard
- Music: Eugene Poddany
- Production Supervised by: Les Goldman
- Produced by: Chuck Jones
- Directed by: Abe Levitow
- MPAA Certificate Number: 21150