Solid Serenade
Encyclopedia
Solid Serenade is a 1946
one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 26th Tom and Jerry
short
, produced in Technicolor
and released to theatres on August 31, 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby
and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
, and animation by Ed Barge, Michael Lah, Pete Burness, Ray Patterson and Kenneth Muse.
Near a house is a doghouse labeled "Killer" with a dog (Spike
) in it. Tom pokes his head over the wall and spots a female cat (Toodles Galore) in the window. Tom brings along his double bass, then wakes up Spike and neutralizes him by whacking him in the head with a mallet and tying him up. Tom uses his bass as a pogo stick to hop over to the window, stopping to taunt Spike along the way.
Tom plays "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
"; the sound waves from the instrument shake Jerry's mousehole, bouncing Jerry off the bed, then under the table, and Jerry's head is hit by a vase that falls off the table when the mouse comes out the other side. Having had enough, the mouse gets his revenge by going into the kitchen and hurling a pie with an iron stuffed inside; the cat is angered, but continues with a few more bars. Seconds later, he is hit in the face again--this time with a Jell-O
mold covered in whipped cream. Spotting Jerry, chases him through the house.
Both animals dive off an ironing board; with Jerry ahead of Tom, Jerry drains the kitchen sink he landed in, leaving Tom to crash into the crockery. Tom follows Jerry through the open window, but Jerry pulls the window stop out of the window, which falls on Tom's neck leaving him shrieking in pain. Jerry then runs out and unties the bulldog, and the dog lets out a loud bull roar, which starts a new chase. Spike swaps his small teeth for heavy-duty ones, blows off some pent-up steam, and goes after the cat.
Tom ducks as Spike's teeth come at him, which instead get lodged in a tree trunk. Tom then barely avoids getting his tail bitten and hides behind a wall, holding a brick up ready to attack. Spike sees the brick and investigates, but gets knocked out on the head with it. With his ally eliminated, Jerry hides, attempts to revive the dog, and fails until he finds a 2x6 one foot away. He slams Spike with it, who leaps high in the air in pain, and when Tom attempts to chase the mouse, Jerry hands off the board to him, framing the cat.
Knowing he is in trouble (and that Spike hasn't seen the board yet), Tom tricks the dog into believing the board is a bone by playing "fetch". Spike obliges and fetches, then almost licks the 2x6 when he realizes he's a "jackass" and chases Tom back and forth; the lady cat watches the chase, and Tom stops periodically to kiss the cat. Catching on to this habit, Spike substitutes himself on the third pass, and gets wooed in a Charles Boyer voice (originally used in The Zoot Cat
). He stops his speech abruptly when he sees the female cat and, realizing his mistake, drops Spike onto the rock landing.
Tom hides from Spike's rampage until Jerry walks around the corner; he chases Jerry to Spike's house, which Jerry immediately hides in. Tom then sneaks into the doghouse with an evil Dracula
laugh while closing the door. A second later, the door opens and Spike pokes his head out, helps Jerry out of his house and laughs even more evilly. Spike is then shown viciously fighting Tom, and Tom writes a quick will, then submits. At the end, the female cat watches Spike strum Tom, who has replaced the strings on his bass, while Jerry plays a quick riff on Tom's whiskers.
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
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 26th 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...
, produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and released to theatres on August 31, 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was 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...
and 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....
, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
Scott Bradley
Scott Bradley was an American composer, pianist and conductor.Bradley is best remembered for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry , Droopy , Barney Bear , and the many one-shot cartoons.Bradley was a...
, and animation by Ed Barge, Michael Lah, Pete Burness, Ray Patterson and Kenneth Muse.
Plot
Spike and Tyke (characters)
Spike and Tyke are fictional characters from the Tom and Jerry series, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Spike is a stern but occasionally dumb British bulldog who is particularly disapproving of cats, but a softie when it comes to mice, and later, his son Tyke...
) in it. Tom pokes his head over the wall and spots a female cat (Toodles Galore) in the window. Tom brings along his double bass, then wakes up Spike and neutralizes him by whacking him in the head with a mallet and tying him up. Tom uses his bass as a pogo stick to hop over to the window, stopping to taunt Spike along the way.
Tom plays "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" is a 1944 Louis Jordan song, released as the B-side of single with "G.I. Jive". "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" reached #1 on the US folk/country charts. The Louis Jordan recording also peaked at number two for three weeks on the pop chart and peaked at...
"; the sound waves from the instrument shake Jerry's mousehole, bouncing Jerry off the bed, then under the table, and Jerry's head is hit by a vase that falls off the table when the mouse comes out the other side. Having had enough, the mouse gets his revenge by going into the kitchen and hurling a pie with an iron stuffed inside; the cat is angered, but continues with a few more bars. Seconds later, he is hit in the face again--this time with a Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
mold covered in whipped cream. Spotting Jerry, chases him through the house.
Both animals dive off an ironing board; with Jerry ahead of Tom, Jerry drains the kitchen sink he landed in, leaving Tom to crash into the crockery. Tom follows Jerry through the open window, but Jerry pulls the window stop out of the window, which falls on Tom's neck leaving him shrieking in pain. Jerry then runs out and unties the bulldog, and the dog lets out a loud bull roar, which starts a new chase. Spike swaps his small teeth for heavy-duty ones, blows off some pent-up steam, and goes after the cat.
Tom ducks as Spike's teeth come at him, which instead get lodged in a tree trunk. Tom then barely avoids getting his tail bitten and hides behind a wall, holding a brick up ready to attack. Spike sees the brick and investigates, but gets knocked out on the head with it. With his ally eliminated, Jerry hides, attempts to revive the dog, and fails until he finds a 2x6 one foot away. He slams Spike with it, who leaps high in the air in pain, and when Tom attempts to chase the mouse, Jerry hands off the board to him, framing the cat.
Knowing he is in trouble (and that Spike hasn't seen the board yet), Tom tricks the dog into believing the board is a bone by playing "fetch". Spike obliges and fetches, then almost licks the 2x6 when he realizes he's a "jackass" and chases Tom back and forth; the lady cat watches the chase, and Tom stops periodically to kiss the cat. Catching on to this habit, Spike substitutes himself on the third pass, and gets wooed in a Charles Boyer voice (originally used in The Zoot Cat
The Zoot Cat
The Zoot Cat is a 1944 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 13th Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on February 26, 1944 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer...
). He stops his speech abruptly when he sees the female cat and, realizing his mistake, drops Spike onto the rock landing.
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
laugh while closing the door. A second later, the door opens and Spike pokes his head out, helps Jerry out of his house and laughs even more evilly. Spike is then shown viciously fighting Tom, and Tom writes a quick will, then submits. At the end, the female cat watches Spike strum Tom, who has replaced the strings on his bass, while Jerry plays a quick riff on Tom's whiskers.