The Two Mouseketeers
Encyclopedia
The Two Mouseketeers is a 1952 American one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 65th Tom and Jerry
short
, produced in Technicolor
and released to theatres on March 15, 1952 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby
and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley
. The cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence. The character of Nibbles was voiced by Francoise Brun-Cottan, then six years old. The Two Mouseketeers won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
. Such was the cartoon's success, that Hanna and Barbera created a total of four adventures in the Mouseketeers series, the second of the tetralogy
, 1954's Touché, Pussy Cat!
which got an Oscar nomination .
who decide to help themselves to a lavish banquet, which Tom has been ordered to guard from the King's Mouseketeers with his life; failure to do so, and he will be executed. Jerry and Nibbles enter the castle hall through a stained glass window, through a suit of armor, and by parachuting down to the table. They unsuspectingly catch Tom's attention by showering him with champagne.
Later, Nibbles is helping himself to some of the food while singing Alouette
to himself, when Tom emerges behind him and pokes him with his sword. The little mouse yells angrily. Before Nibbles can get away, Tom impales the little mouse's cape with his rapier. Jerry manages to stab Tom in the rear-end and rescue Nibbles. Jerry puts custard in Tom's face launching a swashbuckling fencing display against Tom, ending in Tom catching Jerry. Nibbles launches an axe toward Tom and it slices off half of Tom's back, and Nibbles hides in some fruit. Nibbles runs away and falls into a drink - but Jerry saves him by hurling a tomato at Tom, as well as multiple vegetables which Tom impales on his rapier; heating them up and eats them like a shishkebab. Nibbles walks out of the drink, drunk, and pokes Tom in the bottom. Tom screams in pain and jumps up. Nibbles waves his sword while saying, "Touche, pussy cat!" but as he runs away Tom catches him. Jerry makes the save by hitting Tom on the head with a gada so much that Tom falls through the table, which leads into Tom and Jerry having a sword fight. While this goes on, Nibbles brings along a cannon and stuffs it with everything that is on the banquet table. He lights the cannon and it explodes.
As the smoke disappears, Jerry and Nibbles are walking triumphantly down the street with stolen banquet food. Suddenly, in an unusually morbid ending, they see a guillotine
blade coming down, strongly suggesting that Tom was executed, though off-screen in compliance with the Hays Office. Both mice gulp, and then Nibbles sighs, "Pauvre, pauvre, pussycat", (Poor, poor pussycat) and shrugs: "C'est la guerre." (That's war.) Then the two Mouseketeers resume their victorious march off into the distance.
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 65th 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 March 15, 1952 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...
. The cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence. The character of Nibbles was voiced by Francoise Brun-Cottan, then six years old. The Two Mouseketeers won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
. Such was the cartoon's success, that Hanna and Barbera created a total of four adventures in the Mouseketeers series, the second of the tetralogy
Tetralogy
A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
, 1954's Touché, Pussy Cat!
Touché, Pussy Cat!
Touché, Pussy Cat! is the 89th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1954 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley...
which got an Oscar nomination .
Plot
Jerry and Nibbles are two mouseketeersThe Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
who decide to help themselves to a lavish banquet, which Tom has been ordered to guard from the King's Mouseketeers with his life; failure to do so, and he will be executed. Jerry and Nibbles enter the castle hall through a stained glass window, through a suit of armor, and by parachuting down to the table. They unsuspectingly catch Tom's attention by showering him with champagne.
Later, Nibbles is helping himself to some of the food while singing Alouette
Alouette (song)
"Alouette" is a popular French Canadian children's song originating in France about plucking the feathers from a lark. Although it is in French, it is well-known among speakers of other languages; in this way it is similar to "Frère Jacques"...
to himself, when Tom emerges behind him and pokes him with his sword. The little mouse yells angrily. Before Nibbles can get away, Tom impales the little mouse's cape with his rapier. Jerry manages to stab Tom in the rear-end and rescue Nibbles. Jerry puts custard in Tom's face launching a swashbuckling fencing display against Tom, ending in Tom catching Jerry. Nibbles launches an axe toward Tom and it slices off half of Tom's back, and Nibbles hides in some fruit. Nibbles runs away and falls into a drink - but Jerry saves him by hurling a tomato at Tom, as well as multiple vegetables which Tom impales on his rapier; heating them up and eats them like a shishkebab. Nibbles walks out of the drink, drunk, and pokes Tom in the bottom. Tom screams in pain and jumps up. Nibbles waves his sword while saying, "Touche, pussy cat!" but as he runs away Tom catches him. Jerry makes the save by hitting Tom on the head with a gada so much that Tom falls through the table, which leads into Tom and Jerry having a sword fight. While this goes on, Nibbles brings along a cannon and stuffs it with everything that is on the banquet table. He lights the cannon and it explodes.
As the smoke disappears, Jerry and Nibbles are walking triumphantly down the street with stolen banquet food. Suddenly, in an unusually morbid ending, they see a guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
blade coming down, strongly suggesting that Tom was executed, though off-screen in compliance with the Hays Office. Both mice gulp, and then Nibbles sighs, "Pauvre, pauvre, pussycat", (Poor, poor pussycat) and shrugs: "C'est la guerre." (That's war.) Then the two Mouseketeers resume their victorious march off into the distance.