Sufferin' Cats!

Sufferin' Cats!
Tom and Jerry series
Reissue poster of Sufferin' Cats!
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby (unc. on original issue)
Voices by	William Hanna (uncredited) Harry E. Lang (uncredited) Clarence Nash (uncredited)
Music by	Scott Bradley (unc. on original issue)
Animation by	Kenneth Muse George Gordon Jack Zander) Pete Burness (as Peter Burness on the reissue) (all uncredited on original issue) Additional animation: Ed Barge (unc.)
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	January 16, 1943
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7:40 (original) 7:50 (reissue)
Language	English
Preceded by	Fine Feathered Friend
Followed by	The Lonesome Mouse

Sufferin' Cats!, a 1943 American one-reel animated cartoon , is the 9th Tom and Jerry episode released. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on January 16, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-released on June 4, 1949 as a reissued version. This is the final cartoon to have Clarence Nash to voice Tom Cat, but he will voice the vicious cats from Mouse in Manhattan. After this episode, Tom or any other MGM cat character would just yelp in pain whenever they get hurt. Tom's yelps were done by creator William Hanna. In the short's original release, the original opening theme was "Runnin' Wild", as heard in Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood. It was replaced by the later Tom & Jerry theme on re-issue. On the re-issue, the animators are credited, but on the original, only William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are credited.

The cartoon opens with Jerry running with a fishing line tied to his tail, which proceeds to retreat; Jerry is pulled under the radiator, through a mousehole, and towards Tom at the end of the line. When Jerry reaches Tom, the cat makes a face and scares Jerry, causing him to run away. Tom starts to reel in Jerry again, but the mouse holds onto a bag of jerked beef, forcing Tom to struggle to regain control of the line. As the line returns to Tom, a piece of the bag is on the end, stating "JERK".

Jerry escapes through an open window and smashes into an alley cat, (Meathead), who is going through garbage cans trying to find lunch. Jerry quickly runs the other way, but then runs into Tom who is coming towards him. Choosing between evils, Jerry gives Meathead a kiss and hug, plays with his whiskers, and sticks his tongue out at Tom; in retaliation, Tom grabs Jerry and hisses at the alley cat, who grabs Jerry back and hisses much louder than Tom. Knowing he is outclassed, Tom retreats. Meathead makes a Jerry sandwich, but when he adds pepper, Jerry sneezes and is propelled away from the bread - and into the other cat. The mouse now hugs Tom and snubs Meathead, who grabs Jerry and breaks the bread over Tom's head. Tom then grabs Meathead's whiskers and pulls one of them out; after Meathead locks Jerry in a can, he returns the injury.