Jerry's Cousin

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Jerry's Cousin Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Jerry's Cousin
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices by	Paul Frees (as Muscles Mouse, uncredited)
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Ray Patterson Ed Barge Kenneth Muse Irven Spence
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	April 7, 1951
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	6 min 39 secs
Preceded by	Jerry and the Goldfish
Followed by	Sleepy-Time Tom
IMDb profile

Jerry's Cousin is a 1951 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animated Cartoon that features Tom and Jerry. Made in 1950, but released in 1951 on April 7, it was nominated for the 1950 Academy Award for Best Short Cartoon, but lost to Gerald McBoing-Boing, a UPA production. The cartoon was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby, scored by Scott Bradley, and animated by Ray Patterson, Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence. Paul Frees provided the voice of Jerry's cousin, Muscles.

Working titles for this particular cartoon included City Cousin and Muscles Mouse before settling for Jerry's Cousin.

[edit] Synopsis

The cartoon opens with the scene setting on Hogan's Alley. As the camera pans across the alleyway, a multitude of cats are seen being hurled around and knocked unconscious. We see Muscles Mouse, a mouse who looks just like Jerry, except wearing a yellow and black outfit with a bowler hat. Looking through his mail, Muscles learns that he has received a letter from Jerry: "Dear cousin Muscles, am having serious trouble with Tom. Need your help at once. Jerry."

Muscles makes his way towards Jerry's mousehole. The surviving cats in the alleyway, terrified of any confrontation with Muscles, dig their own graves as Jerry's cousin walks on by. We then see the extent of the trouble that Jerry is experiencing with Tom - the cat is throwing stick after stick of dynamite into Jerry's mousehole. Muscles arrives just as a stick of dynamite is thrown into the hole. Confidently picking up the dynamite, Muscles marches out of the hole and promptly opens up Tom's mouth, places the dynamite inside, and holds Tom's mouth closed, until the dynamite explodes, causing smoke to emerge from the cat's ears. Muscles grabs Tom by the chest and gives the cat a stern warning of things to come: "Listen pussycat-- Don't let me catch you picking on my l'il cousin while I'm around. Y'understand? Now beat it!" Muscles throws Tom at a nearby wall, and upon impact, Tom slides down into a vase. Muscles spits at the vase and it cracks, revealing Tom who has taken on the shape of the vase.

Tom undertakes some weight training, and believing that he is more than a match for Muscles, begins another confrontation. However, Muscles blows his thumb, causing his fist to expand to gigantic proportions, and punches Tom with great gusto. The force sends Tom crashing into a wall, and a cuckoo clock to fall on his head. The cuckoo pops out of Tom's mouth. Later, Jerry and Muscles are lying on Tom's bed. The camera tilts up towards the ceiling, where Tom is sawing a hole from the attic. Through the hole, he drops a bowling ball. "Relax, cousin. Nothing is going to happen," reassures Muscles, moments before he is hit by the bowling ball and disappears through the floor. Tom chases after Jerry, but Muscles catches up with him and bowls the ball towards him. Tom cannot get away quickly enough and upon being hit by the bowling ball is turned into ten pins. Tom retaliates by sticking a gun in Muscles' face, but the mouse simply blows into both barrels of the gun, shooting the bullets into each of Tom's eyes. Muscles walks up behind Tom's head with a hammer, and hits Tom in the back of the head, setting off the bullets.

We next see Tom wearing dark glasses, dialing the telephone. He calls Dirty Works Inc. up, speaks to Butch and hires him to 'take care' of Muscles. However, when the cats arrive, they only hit Muscles once, but are not strong enough to defeat Muscles, and eventually Muscles scoops them up with a dustpan and brush and throws them out of the house. Tom is, by now, so intimidated, that he has no choice but to grovel at Muscles' feet. At the end of the cartoon, Muscles gives Jerry an identical suit, telling him that all he has to do is whistle. Jerry puts on the suit, steps out of his hole, and whistles. Tom, believing that Jerry is Muscles, continually bows down to Jerry, kissing his feet.