Timid Tabby
Encyclopedia
Timid Tabby is the 106th one reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, copyrighted 1956, directed and produced by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ken Southworth and Bill Schipek, with backgrounds by Roberta Gruetert and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. It was released on April 19, 1957 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, and is one of the rare cartoons where Tom triumphs over Jerry.
Tom boards up the mousehole to stop Jerry escaping. He opens the door as his cousin George (who looks identical to Tom) arrives perched on a chair.
George enters the house, clinging on to Tom for comfort to not find a mouse. Tom sets George down on a nearby armchair and plays a cruel prank on him to gouge his reaction, winding up a clockwork mouse, which predictably frightens George, causing him to retreat through the chair he is on and crash into the wall behind him.
Jerry meanwhile, escapes from his hole and spots some candies by a chair. Jerry waltzes over to the plate of candy. George sits down and starts eating some. Jerry grabs onto one, but George has grabbed the same one and is about to eat it when he sees Jerry and shoots up onto the ceiling in panic, after which the ceiling plaster breaks and George runs for it. Jerry runs after him to see what is going on and notices that the cat is afraid of him. Jerry, thinking that the frightened cat is Tom, has a ball in scaring George up the wall and then manages to scare him into melting goo that seeps through the floor grate. Jerry then juggles and eats several pieces of the candy. Tom shows up to find out what is going on and sees Jerry. Jerry attempts to scare him (again, he thinks). Tom makes no reaction and instead hits him. Jerry vibrates back into his hole, and Tom pushes a TV in front of it, and sets off looking for George, unaware of his hiding place.
George emerges from the floor grate. Jerry manages to squeeze past the TV and hides under it as George walks over to turn it on. Jerry appears on the TV screen and George hides, then changes the channel. Confident this has gotten rid of the mouse, George peeks at the screens again. But whatever channel he sets the TV to, Jerry pokes his head out; then Jerry runs back and forth, and he appears big and with a scary face. George hides under a windowsill. Jerry comes out of the TV, pulls the windowsill down, and scares the cat, who flees around the corner. Jerry pursues him and runs into Tom, who was standing and watching. Predictably, he tries to scare him and gets bopped on the head again.
George approaches Tom telling him about the mouse. Tom covers George's mouth. He has a plan. Both cats look like each other, they can confuse Jerry. George reluctantly goes along with it. George lets himself be scared by Jerry and gets him to follow the paranoid cat into a closet. Jerry repeatedly opens the door and scares George until Tom substitutes himself and whacks Jerry with a dustpan. Jerry spots Tom, who pretends to be scared like George and crouches in fright, around the corner. Jerry gets ready to kick him, but George sticks his around the opposite corner and advises him not to try that. Jerry again investigates. Tom pokes his head around the corner. Jerry tries to scare him, but he gets scared back. Jerry hides and the two cats tiptoe under a purple rug, appearing to be one long eight-legged cat. Both Jerry and George set out and George gets scared again. Jerry sees George hide behind a curtain, but he doesn't spot Tom there too. As George quickly overcomes his fear, Jerry pulls the curtain out and sees Tom. Jerry tries to scare him shouting "Aboo!". And each time he says it, out pops George's arms, then legs and finally, his head. Now both cats appear as a four-legged, four-armed, two-headed cat monster, laughing eerily, which scares Jerry. A frightened Jerry runs out of the house as Tom and George chase him. Jerry runs straight into a nearby home which has a sign: "Home For Mice With Nervous Breakdowns".
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...
, copyrighted 1956, directed and produced 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 music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ken Southworth and Bill Schipek, with backgrounds by Roberta Gruetert and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. It was released on April 19, 1957 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...
, and is one of the rare cartoons where Tom triumphs over Jerry.
Plot
Tom is chasing Jerry in circles around the house. Tom then receives a letter from his cousin George who says in the letter that he is frightened of mice and is coming to visit.Tom boards up the mousehole to stop Jerry escaping. He opens the door as his cousin George (who looks identical to Tom) arrives perched on a chair.
George enters the house, clinging on to Tom for comfort to not find a mouse. Tom sets George down on a nearby armchair and plays a cruel prank on him to gouge his reaction, winding up a clockwork mouse, which predictably frightens George, causing him to retreat through the chair he is on and crash into the wall behind him.
Jerry meanwhile, escapes from his hole and spots some candies by a chair. Jerry waltzes over to the plate of candy. George sits down and starts eating some. Jerry grabs onto one, but George has grabbed the same one and is about to eat it when he sees Jerry and shoots up onto the ceiling in panic, after which the ceiling plaster breaks and George runs for it. Jerry runs after him to see what is going on and notices that the cat is afraid of him. Jerry, thinking that the frightened cat is Tom, has a ball in scaring George up the wall and then manages to scare him into melting goo that seeps through the floor grate. Jerry then juggles and eats several pieces of the candy. Tom shows up to find out what is going on and sees Jerry. Jerry attempts to scare him (again, he thinks). Tom makes no reaction and instead hits him. Jerry vibrates back into his hole, and Tom pushes a TV in front of it, and sets off looking for George, unaware of his hiding place.
George emerges from the floor grate. Jerry manages to squeeze past the TV and hides under it as George walks over to turn it on. Jerry appears on the TV screen and George hides, then changes the channel. Confident this has gotten rid of the mouse, George peeks at the screens again. But whatever channel he sets the TV to, Jerry pokes his head out; then Jerry runs back and forth, and he appears big and with a scary face. George hides under a windowsill. Jerry comes out of the TV, pulls the windowsill down, and scares the cat, who flees around the corner. Jerry pursues him and runs into Tom, who was standing and watching. Predictably, he tries to scare him and gets bopped on the head again.
George approaches Tom telling him about the mouse. Tom covers George's mouth. He has a plan. Both cats look like each other, they can confuse Jerry. George reluctantly goes along with it. George lets himself be scared by Jerry and gets him to follow the paranoid cat into a closet. Jerry repeatedly opens the door and scares George until Tom substitutes himself and whacks Jerry with a dustpan. Jerry spots Tom, who pretends to be scared like George and crouches in fright, around the corner. Jerry gets ready to kick him, but George sticks his around the opposite corner and advises him not to try that. Jerry again investigates. Tom pokes his head around the corner. Jerry tries to scare him, but he gets scared back. Jerry hides and the two cats tiptoe under a purple rug, appearing to be one long eight-legged cat. Both Jerry and George set out and George gets scared again. Jerry sees George hide behind a curtain, but he doesn't spot Tom there too. As George quickly overcomes his fear, Jerry pulls the curtain out and sees Tom. Jerry tries to scare him shouting "Aboo!". And each time he says it, out pops George's arms, then legs and finally, his head. Now both cats appear as a four-legged, four-armed, two-headed cat monster, laughing eerily, which scares Jerry. A frightened Jerry runs out of the house as Tom and George chase him. Jerry runs straight into a nearby home which has a sign: "Home For Mice With Nervous Breakdowns".