Tot Watchers
Encyclopedia
Tot Watchers is the 114th one reel animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, created in 1957, produced and directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
with music by Scott Bradley. The short was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
on August 1, 1958, over a year after it was produced. It is the last Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon (including "Cinemascope" and "Academy") produced or directed by Hanna and Barbera during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation.
Tot Watchers was animated by Lewis Marshall, James Escalante and Kenneth Muse, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. The story was written by Homer Brightman. This cartoon marks the second and final appearance of the supporting characters from the 1956 short Busy Buddies
: Jeannie the babysitter, a baby, and the baby's parents.
While this cartoon was still in production, Hanna and Barbera were told that MGM were shutting down the MGM cartoon studio
, after the studio bosses realized that re-releases of older cartoons brought in as much money as the new cartoons did. Hanna and Barbera found themselves out of a job, but quickly picked themselves back up by setting up Hanna-Barbera Productions and creating cartoons made for television as opposed to the cinema. This began Hanna Barbera's work in limited animation
in order to mass produce these cartoons for television on a significantly lower budget.
MGM later decided that Tom and Jerry were a viable property after all, and in 1960, decided to continue production of new Tom and Jerry cartoons with director Gene Deitch
of Rembrandt Films. This short would be the last Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon produced by William Hanna
throughout his life. This cartoon also marks the final appearance of Spike
during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation. It is also the last Tom and Jerry cartoon with Scott Bradley as the music composer.
.
The baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the cat and mouse can only look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves the baby from crawling off a wooden plank and plummeting, by grabbing falls, but he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the baby's diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while the baby crawls off, nonchalantly.
Tom and Jerry catch up with the baby, only to lose it again, and fearing that it has crawled into a cement mixer, the cat and mouse dive straight in, only to find that the baby never did enter the mixer but instead playing with a hammer. The baby then playfully bonks Tom on the head.
Later on, Jeannie is in panic, crying, telling a police officer
that she was babysitting
, took her eye off the baby for "one teensy minute", and the baby was gone. She then sees the baby saying: "There's the baby!". Tired, Tom and Jerry arrive, Jeannie grabs the baby while the two try to escape. A policeman arrests them, assuming they were babynappers. In a police car, the police officer isn't taking Tom and Jerry's explanation. The baby crawls off past the police car and into the distance and Tom, Jerry and the officer look on the baby, both of them are right. They are surprised.
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 1957, produced 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 music by Scott Bradley. The short 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 August 1, 1958, over a year after it was produced. It is the last Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon (including "Cinemascope" and "Academy") produced or directed by Hanna and Barbera during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation.
Tot Watchers was animated by Lewis Marshall, James Escalante and Kenneth Muse, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. The story was written by Homer Brightman. This cartoon marks the second and final appearance of the supporting characters from the 1956 short Busy Buddies
Busy Buddies
Busy Buddies is the 100th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1956, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts...
: Jeannie the babysitter, a baby, and the baby's parents.
While this cartoon was still in production, Hanna and Barbera were told that MGM were shutting down the MGM cartoon studio
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was the in-house division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture studio in Hollywood, California during the Golden Age of American animation, responsible for producing animated short subjects to accompany MGM feature films in Loew's Theaters...
, after the studio bosses realized that re-releases of older cartoons brought in as much money as the new cartoons did. Hanna and Barbera found themselves out of a job, but quickly picked themselves back up by setting up Hanna-Barbera Productions and creating cartoons made for television as opposed to the cinema. This began Hanna Barbera's work in limited animation
Limited animation
Limited animation is a process of making animated cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but variably reuses common parts between frames. One of its major trademarks is the stylized design in all forms and shapes, which in the early days was referred to as modern design...
in order to mass produce these cartoons for television on a significantly lower budget.
MGM later decided that Tom and Jerry were a viable property after all, and in 1960, decided to continue production of new Tom and Jerry cartoons with director Gene Deitch
Gene Deitch
Eugene Merril "Gene" Deitch is an American illustrator, animator and film director. He has been based in Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia and the present-day Czech Republic, since 1959. Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston...
of Rembrandt Films. This short would be the last Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon 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...
throughout his life. This cartoon also marks the final appearance of Spike
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...
during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation. It is also the last Tom and Jerry cartoon with Scott Bradley as the music composer.
Plot
Babysitter Jeannie is instructed to look after the baby while Joan goes out. However, Jeannie pays more attention to the telephone than her actual babysitting. In the midst of Tom and Jerry's usual fighting, they see a baby crawling out of its pram. Any attempt to return the baby to where it came from simply results in the baby escaping from the pram again. The baby crawls into Spike's dog house, and Tom, thinking that he has got the baby, is carrying Spike in his hands, and is promptly attacked. This time, Tom angrily brings the baby back to Jeannie herself, who hits Tom over the head with a broom thinking Tom has taken the baby. Realising that the baby is no longer worth the trouble, Tom does nothing the next time that it crawls from its pram. However, he and Jerry are forced to react after the baby crawls out into the street and onto a construction siteConstruction Site
Construction Site is a television series created by The Jim Henson Company in 1999, and consists of 7 construction vehicles. The show was broadcast on ABC Kids for a while, and had a range of videos. It was originally produced for and shown on CITV starting in 1999. In 2000 it was nominated for a...
.
The baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the cat and mouse can only look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves the baby from crawling off a wooden plank and plummeting, by grabbing falls, but he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the baby's diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while the baby crawls off, nonchalantly.
Tom and Jerry catch up with the baby, only to lose it again, and fearing that it has crawled into a cement mixer, the cat and mouse dive straight in, only to find that the baby never did enter the mixer but instead playing with a hammer. The baby then playfully bonks Tom on the head.
Later on, Jeannie is in panic, crying, telling a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
that she was babysitting
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
, took her eye off the baby for "one teensy minute", and the baby was gone. She then sees the baby saying: "There's the baby!". Tired, Tom and Jerry arrive, Jeannie grabs the baby while the two try to escape. A policeman arrests them, assuming they were babynappers. In a police car, the police officer isn't taking Tom and Jerry's explanation. The baby crawls off past the police car and into the distance and Tom, Jerry and the officer look on the baby, both of them are right. They are surprised.