The Flying Cat

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The Flying Cat

Tom and Jerry series


The title card of The Flying Cat
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Kenneth Muse
Irven Spence
Ed Barge
Ray Patterson
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s) January 12, 1952
Color process Technicolor
Running time 6 minutes 44 seconds
Preceded by Cat Napping
Followed by The Duck Doctor
IMDb profile

The Flying Cat is a 1952 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. The cartoon's music was composed by Scott Bradley, and the animation was by Keneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ed Barge and Ray Patterson.

[edit] Plot

Tom sets out to capture and eat a sleeping canary. Jerry is walking out, preparing for a new day, when he spots the vulpine manner in which Tom is acting. As Tom steals the canary in its cage, Jerry trips the cat and Tom loses the canary. The cage rolls into the tree, jolting the canary and waking it up. The first thing he sees is the ongoing chase and he helps Jerry out by tangling Tom in the power lines and sectioning him. Tom instead chases the canary with an axe, but misses and chops down a pole, which bops Tom on the head down to successively lower heights. As Jerry is being pursued, the canary motions for him to join him up in the birdhouse. Tom follows him up, but the canary gives him a 2,000-lb weight and Tom plummets. The two shake hands but the peace doesn't last long asTom erects a ladder and starts to climb it. But before Tom can reach the top, the canary torches it. Tom is left completely black.

Tom now winds up a swing and manages to hang on to the birdhouse with his fingers, but the two allies crush them and Tom falls back down, causing Tom to yell and let go of the birdhouse. His head goes so low that it digs through the ground.

Tom tries to pole-vault to the birdhouse, but the canary provides a rollerskate and Tom is sent out of control into a nearby house. After wrecking the entire second floor, Tom comes out the other side. Tom is hanging by a girdle, but it doesn't hold for long. Tom soon discovers, though, that the girdle makes a pair of wings. He delights in his new ability until he fails to spot a mailbox in his path.

Tom, complete with wings/girdle, waters the plants after having his bottom impaled by some nails.
Tom, complete with wings/girdle, waters the plants after having his bottom impaled by some nails.

Tom recovers and sets out to the roof of the house and jumps off. HE CAN FLY! Tom makes sure to pass by the window of the birdhouse so Jerry can see him. Jerry does spot him, but it takes a double take to realize what he's seeing. He lets out a gasp and wakes the canary to tell him. Jerry articulates what he's seen, but the canary laughs and goes back to sleep. Jerry finally gets his way, and the canary goes out to investigate. He is soon scared out of his feathers. Tom flies after the canary, but both of them run into a church bell. The canary and Jerry pull up the roof and turn it inside out. Tom can't avoid the nails. Tom lands in a pond and waters the local plants due to the holes in his rear end.

Jerry slides down the pole, salutes the canary, and walks away, but is soon overtaken by Tom. The canary unties Tom's wings and Tom falls 300 feet, slicing a tree in half because of his speed. He then carries Jerry away, but Tom chases them into a train tunnel. Unfortunately for Tom, a train is coming out of the tunnel and slams the cat into a trestle from which he is suspended, as the canary and Jerry, who are on the train, shake hands one last time.