Smarty Cat is the 95th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1955, and released on October 14, 1955 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cartoon was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. Smarty Cat was animated by Kenneth Muse, Michael Lah, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Vera Ohman and the layouts by Richard Bickenbach. It integrates footage from previous shorts into the plot. The name is the pun on the phrase "smarty pants." While most Tom and Jerry cartoons end with their ending titles, it is the only Tom and Jerry cartoon to not end with its ending title but with an MGM cartoon ending title.
Plot
Tom's feline friends, Butch, Topsy and Lightning, peek over a fence and then Butch whistles. Tom shows them a sign with "Nobody home" written on it. The felines run to the house, sneaking while passing a sleeping Spike.
Tom lets them in then Butch says: "I got the pictures, Tom! These are the funniest home movies I ever took. Wait till you see what happened to these dumb dogs. Boy do you make a monkey out of them. They don't know whether they are coming or going. (the cats laugh) Okay, douse the lights. (Lightning is about to shut the lights off.) Hold it!" Butch points to Jerry, who merely intends to watch the film with the cats. But the cats won't allow him to. So, Tom kicks Jerry out of the house and he lands in Spike's mouth. Jerry then pops out from Spike's nose, looking angry. Back at the house, Butch says: "OK boys, here we go!" The movie starts. The movie's title is: "Tom the Terrific Cat Starring Tom". Then first part starts and its title is "Lover Boy!".
This part starts with a zoom into a house and to a doghouse labeled "KILLER" with Spike in it (from the 1946 cartoon Solid Serenade). More scenes from that picture followed. After the cartoon Butch laughs and says: "Lover boy" while mimicking Tom, but then sees Jerry again. Tom kicks Jerry out of the house again. Jerry lands in Spike's mouth again. Jerry opens Spike's eyelid like a curtain and frowns.
Butch says: "Part two coming up. This is the time you went fishing, Tom!". Part two is named "The Dumb Dog" (the opening scene from Cat Fishin'). After that cartoon Butch says: "Now there is a dumb dog!" and sees Jerry again, watching the movie from the mail slot, figuring he'd be safe there. The cats frown at Jerry while Butch yells: "Excuuuuuse me!" and runs to kick Jerry away from there but Jerry crawls out of the mail slot and runs away before Butch can kick him, causing Butch slip and fall down. Jerry runs next to Spike and sees the door being slammed. He gets annoyed and had enough of this, then he pulls Spike over the window and lifts Spike's head over the windowsill, allowing the dog to see the movie. The movie's third part had just started and it is named "New leash on life" (a scene from Fit to Be Tied).
After that cartoon, the cats laugh manically. Butch says "Screwball in a side pocket" and then continues laughing. An infuriated Spike then appears behind Butch and glares at the screen, then at Butch. The latter then imitates Spike's barking, but upon realizing the imminent danger to come, falters and his voice turns into "bow-wow". In the next scene, the outdoors is shown while Butch's "bow-wow" voice becomes weaker and higher in tone. Without delay, the door bursts open and Tom runs out of the house. A lamp, chair, book, bookshelf and a table are shown being thrown out of the house. Topsy, Lightning and Butch runs out of the house afterwards with Spike on their tails. Jerry is seen holding a movie camera and he films the four cats being chased by the dog and the words "THE END" zoom in from the movie camera as the cartoon closes when the chase goes on.
Availability
DVD
- Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 5
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc One
References
External links
- Smarty Cat at The Big Cartoon DataBase
- Smarty Cat at the Internet Movie Database