Puss Gets the Boot | |
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Tom and Jerry series | |
Title card
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Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera (both uncredited) |
Produced by |
Rudolf Ising Co-producer: Fred Quimby (uncredited) |
Story by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera (both uncredited) |
Voices by |
Clarence Nash William Hanna Lillian Randolph (original) June Foray (1966 edited) Thea Vidale (1989 edited) |
Music by | Scott Bradley |
Animation by |
Don Williams Michael Lah Jack Zander Peter Burness Rudy Zamora Ray Abrams Tony Pabian Carl Urbano Robert Allen George Gordon (all uncredited) |
Layouts by | Harvey Eisenberg |
Backgrounds by | Robert Gentle |
Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date(s) |
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Color process | Technicolor |
Running time | 9:08 |
Language | English |
Followed by | The Midnight Snack |
Puss Gets the Boot is a 1940 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the first short in the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Rudolf Ising and Fred Quimby. It was released to theaters on February 10, 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
In this short cartoon, Tom (named Jasper here) takes great pleasure in tormenting Jerry (here called Jinx). Jerry is trying to run away from Tom but the cat keeps grabbing the mouse's tail to keep him from running anywhere. Eventually Jerry breaks free but goes into Tom's mouth, narrowly escaping. Tom then draws a mousehole on the wall to trick Jerry into entering it. Jerry bangs against the wall so hard that it knocks him silly. Tom revives him using water and picks him up. Having slowly realized the situation, Jerry punches Tom in the eye, making him yelp in pain, Same thing from Mouse Trouble and Safety Second. The incensed cat chases the mouse and accidentally bumps into a flower stand, where it explodes. Mammy Two Shoes enters the room and scolds Tom for his unacceptable behavior, issuing him an ultimatum that if she catches him making one more mess, he will get kicked out of the house for good. The cat sulks off, Jerry chuckles at him and this causes the cat to chase him, but when the mouse holds a glass over the edge of the table, the cat backs off after seeing a furious Mammy walking away with the remains of the broken flowerpot, afraid that he will get himself into trouble again.
After Jerry puts the cup down, seeing his chance, Tom rushes at the mouse, but the mouse holds back the cat by threatening to drop the glass again. The mouse then drops the cup and Tom rushes to catch it. Jerry throws more cups, making it very hard for Tom to catch them all. As Jerry walks away with the last cup, the angry cat drops a bunch of pillows on the ground. When the mouse tries to humiliate the cat by dropping the cup, it stays intact when it lands on the soft surface of one of the pillows. The mouse tries to escape but Tom catches him by the tail. The cat inadvertently throws the mouse onto a shelf, where he escapes and begins pelting the cat with several dishes, making sure that in order to blackmail the cat, he will force the victim to immediately "get the boot" once and for all. Tom begins to tire of holding all the dishes, after which, in humiliation, the cat tries to stop the mouse from dropping one last dish on the ground, but it is too late.