Mice Follies is the 85th one-reel

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 1953

1953 in film

The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...

 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 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...

, Irven Spence

Irven Spence

Irven Spence was an American animator. He is best known for his work on MGM's Tom and Jerry animated shorts. Spence has been credited variously as Irven Spence, Irvin Spence, and Irv Spence....

 and Ray Patterson

Ray Patterson (animator)

Raymond "Ray" Patterson was an American animator, producer, and director. Patterson was born in Hollywood, California, and was the brother of animator Don Patterson.-Early career:...

 with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. Mice Follies was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 on September 4, 1954.

Plot

Jerry and Nibbles flood the kitchen and freeze the water, turning the room into a skating rink. The two mice go about their own business, skating and sliding across the frozen floor - until Tom is woken up. Tom pursues the two mice, but is not as mobile on ice as he thought. As he skids across the "rink", he crashes into a closet and comes across a pair of ice skates. Equally matching the skating prowess of the mice, the chase resumes as Tom crashes, bangs and stumbles across many kitchen obstacles, including an ironing board, a door and some stools, before sliding up a table-come-ramp and falling down into the cellar.

Tom emerges from the cellar and just as he is about to catch Jerry, Nibbles wisely defrosts the ice, causing Tom to slip over on the watery floor. Jerry climbs to higher ground as the soaking wet cat searches for him. Ready to squirt Jerry, who Tom has spotted hiding on a shelf, Nibbles sets the freezer to 'Quick Freeze', re-freezing the floor, with Tom frozen and just standing on the floor. Jerry and Nibbles resume their ice dancing, skating around the frozen cat who can do nothing but move his eyes around as the mice skate across the floor.