The Midnight Snack
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| The Midnight Snack | |
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 The Midnight Snack title card |
|
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
|---|---|
| Story by | William Hanna (unc.) Joseph Barbera (unc.) |
| Animation by | No animation credits given |
| Voices by | Lillian Randolph (unc.) |
| Music by | Scott Bradley (unc.) |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date | July 19, 1941 |
| Format | Technicolor, 8 min 15 secs |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
The Midnight Snack is a one-reel Tom and Jerry animated cartoon, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on July 19, 1941 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley. This cartoon featured the second appearance of Tom and Jerry, and was the first in which the characters were so named. (The first cartoon, Puss Gets the Boot had the cat named Jasper, and an unnamed rodent.) The Midnight Snack also features the black housemaid Mammy Two-Shoes, voiced by Lillian Randolph, and typically ends in destruction and Tom being kicked out of the house.
[edit] Overview
[edit] Plot
The Midnight Snack takes place in a kitchen, with a refrigerator at the centre of the action. Jerry emerges from the refrigerator, carrying a large piece of cheese on his back. A malevolent Tom creeps up behind an unsuspecting Jerry and does his best to trip up the mouse. Jerry runs back to the refrigerator to put the cheese back, overseen by Tom. Tom notices the abundance of food, and just can't help himself. He pins Jerry down to the kitchen counter by placing an iron on Jerry's tail. Tom devours plenty of food, but picks up a rather smelly piece of cheese and tosses it away. Unfortunately, this breaks some crockery. Mammy Two Shoes hears this, and charges downstairs to confront the cat. Tom acts quickly, and shoves Jerry into the refrigerator and hides, effectively framing Jerry. The housemaid screams, and Tom emerges from his hiding place to pursue Jerry. In the midst of the chase, he gets tied up around the stool that Mammy is standing on to escape the mouse, knocking the stool over in the process. Tom corners Jerry behind a pedal bin, but Jerry jumps on the pedal, sending the bin crashing into Tom's face. Jerry hides in the toaster to escape from Tom, but Tom calmly pushes the button on the toaster. Jerry pops up, his bottom on smoke, and places his rear end in a sinkful of water, only to be chased again by Tom. He climbs up a blind but at the last minute is cornered again. Tom pounces onto Jerry but loses his grip and gets his tail caught up in an ironing board, facing the refrigerator. Jerry gets a fork and injects it into Tom's backside. The cat is sent down the ironing board, into the sink, breaking the clean/dirty dishes, onto a grater, and straight into the fridge. The door closes on Tom. Mammy re-enters the room, on the mistaken assumption that Tom has caught and disposed of Jerry. She opens the refrigerator door to get Tom a nice big bowl of delicious cream, only to find Tom in the refrigerator, covered in food. We cut to Jerry overhearing Mammy screaming at Tom and kicking the cat out of the house (again).
[edit] Release and reaction
The Midnight Snack was the second Tom and Jerry cartoon to be released, after Puss Gets The Boot in 1940. Puss Gets The Boot was released to relatively little fanfare and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were not given the go-ahead to create any more cat and mouse cartoons. However, the owner of the Loew's theater chain in Dallas, Texas enquired as to whether there would be any more cat and mouse cartoons, having greatly enjoyed Puss Gets The Boot. This, together with the cartoon getting an Oscar nomination, resulted in MGM giving Hanna and Barbera the green light to create a further two Tom and Jerry cartoons. The cat and mouse were named, and in 1941 The Midnight Snack became the second Tom and Jerry cartoon, with The Night Before Christmas later that year. The latter received another Academy Award nomination, and it would not be until 1943 with The Yankee Doodle Mouse that Tom and Jerry would win their first of seven Oscars.
