Little School Mouse

Little School Mouse
Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Little School Mouse
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Irven Spence Ed Barge
Backgrounds by	Robert Gentle
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	May 29, 1954
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7:11
Language	English
Preceded by	Hic-cup Pup
Followed by	Baby Butch

Little School Mouse is a 1954 the 83rd one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Irven Spence and Ed Barge, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle, and released on May 29, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Little School Mouse features Jerry trying (and failing) to instruct Tuffy in cat evasion, with Tuffy befriending Tom in the end. It is one of the very few shorts in which Tom emerges victorious over Jerry.

Jerry begins teaching Tuffy the basics of outwitting a cat by way of a couple of cartoon strips on the chalkboard. The first one demonstrates how the cat chases the mouse and, if he catches the mouse, will eat him. Tuffy is unhappy about this. Jerry directs his attention to the other picture sequence, which shows the mouse reaching his hole and the cat saying "bad words." Tuffy couldn't stop laughing.

For the next lesson, Jerry shows Tuffy an imitation cat's paw in front of a mousehole facade. He demonstrates the procedure and Tuffy goes into the hole, where he makes a show of looking for danger, walks straight out of the hole and ends up walking on the spot with his tail getting caught in the cat's paw. Jerry isn't pleased, so he has Tuffy work the cat's paw while he gives another demonstration. Tuffy winds the crank with such enthusiasm that Jerry can't get away and ends up flat on the floor like a carpet before the little mouse realises what he's doing. He looks under the paw and twinges with embarrassment, then rushes into the classroom and puts up a CLASS DISMISSED sign. However, as he is leaving the mousehole, he is caught by Jerry by the diaper. Tuffy immediately retreats to the stool in the corner and dons the dunce cap.

Following a lesson book, the mice are hidden behind a sofa, as Jerry attempts to show Tuffy how to pluck a whisker from the cat without waking him up. Using the furniture and the rug as cover, he succeeds in obtaining one of Tom's whiskers (without awakening him and actually pulling off one-half of one whisker) and makes it back to the sofa to show Tuffy. To Jerry's annoyance, Tuffy approaches Tom directly, instead of stealthily. His annoyance quickly turns to horror when his young charge returns not only with a whisker, but with a very bemused Tom still attached. Jerry grabs Tuffy and flees back to the hole with an enraged Tom in pursuit. Tuffy reaches the hole first, but he doesn't leave the door open for Jerry, who frantically bangs on the door to be let in to safety, when Tuffy finally opens the door again, Tom has beaten up Jerry, who descends into the floor with a black eye and wearing the lesson book around his neck, making Tuffy realizes what he has done; letting Tom beat Jerry up.