The Milky Waif

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The Milky Waif Tom and Jerry series
The title card of The Milky Waif
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Michael Lah Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Ray Patterson(unc.)
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	May 8, 1946
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 min 58 secs.
Preceded by	Springtime for Thomas
Followed by	Trap Happy
IMDb profile

The Milky Waif is a 1946 animated cartoon short subject featuring Tom and Jerry. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby in Technicolor, released in theaters on May 8, 1946, and re-released in theaters on January 9, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

The cartoon is notable for being the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to feature Nibbles, later renamed Tuffy. It also one heavily-edited cartoon, with an entire scene (awkwardly) cut out, due to racial sensitivities.

[edit] Plot

Nibbles, the Milky Waif makes his first appearance in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Jerry is asleep in his bed, dreaming of Tom catching him and knocking him on the head. The knock is actually a knock at his door. He opens the door to see a basket on his front door. The basket contains Nibbles wrapped in a blanket with a note that says, “Please take care of Little Nibbles---He’s always hungry! P.S. Feed him lots of milk". Nibbles then tells Jerry he’s hungry by licking his lips and rubbing his belly.

Jerry tells Nibbles to be quiet and he tiptoes to the kitchen where he sees Tom asleep by his bowl of milk. Nibbles sees the milk and runs toward it; Jerry tries to stop him and he eventually hangs Nibbles on a hook by his diaper. Jerry then tells Nibbles to stay put and he will get the milk for him.

Jerry tiptoes into the kitchen and Nibbles runs past Jerry. Nibbles then climbs on Tom’s nose and jumps onto the rim of Tom’s bowl. Nibbles loses his balance and has to hang onto one of Tom’s whiskers which causes Tom to wake up. Jerry then grabs Nibbles and then land in the milk. Tom looks around, sees no one and starts to drink his milk. Jerry and Nibbles are under the milk holding their breath. Tom then scoops up Nibbles with his tongue and Jerry rescues Nibbles and runs away. Jerry is holding Nibbles as he runs and when Tom starts to catch up, Nibbles ends up carrying Jerry. They reach the mouse hole but Jerry, who is being held above by Nibbles as the smaller mouse runs straight into the hole, ends up bumping into the wall just above the mousehole. Nibbles quickly pulls him into the hole before Tom, too, crashes headfirst into the wall.

Jerry instructs Nibbles to slam a frying pan into Tom's face.

Jerry then tries to get some milk by connecting straws together and sending them across the kitchen floor and into Tom’s bowl. This works for a little bit but Tom grabs the other end of the straw and starts to drink through his end of the straws. This causes Nibbles to get sucked through the straws. Jerry saves Nibbles just before he ends up in Tom’s mouth by blowing Nibbles back through the straws and into the mouse hole.

Jerry runs toward the mouse hole and Tom actually moves the hole over so Jerry crashes into the wall. Tom grabs Jerry and Nibbles come out to make the save by hitting Tom’s tail with a hammer. The chase starts up again, but Jerry stops in front of Tom’s bowl and Nibbles takes a sip of milk, only to spit it in Tom’s face.

Jerry and Nibbles hide in a closet, while Tom hammers on the door. Jerry uncovers a container of polish and uses the polish to disguise himself and Nibbles as a pair of black women. Emerging from the closet, Jerry, dressed in headscarf and in blackface greets Tom: "How you doin' Mister Tom?" and beckons Nibbles to hurry up. Out comes Nibbles, also in blackface and wearing a headscarf. However, the disguise is revealed when Nibbles' diaper falls down, exposing his tail and gray fur.

The chase continues and Jerry smacks Tom in the face with a frying pan. Then Jerry hands the frying pan to Nibbles and as Tom chases Jerry, Nibbles is supposed to hit Tom. But he ends up hitting Jerry instead. This happens twice. On the third time around, Jerry stops and Nibbles hits Tom square in the face. Jerry and Nibbles then crawl under the rug to escape and Tom grabs a bottle. Tom traps Jerry in the bottle but realizes that Nibbles is still on the loose. Tom puts a stack of books on top of the bottle and goes under the rug to get Nibbles.

Nibbles grabs a pie and Tom runs into it. Nibbles stops at Tom’s bowl again and starts to drink it while Tom watches. Tom then grabs Nibbles and when he opens his hands, Nibbles has crawled under Tom’s fur. Tom grabs his tail and a pistol, pointing it at Nibbles when he emerges. Tom then fires the gun and shoots his tail. Nibbles has escaped and Tom chases him with a flyswatter. Tom corners Nibbles and gives him a swat on the behind.

Jerry sees Tom hitting Nibbles and he becomes furious. He breaks out of the bottle, sees the red mark on Nibbles' behind, and, facing Tom (who, realizing he has pushed Jerry too far, tries to hide the flyswatter), lets out a massive roar. This makes Tom turn yellow with fear and Jerry starts throwing Tom around by his tail. Jerry then corners Tom by the garbage can , near a pipe and hits Tom in the face with it repeatedly.

Jerry is later shown standing over Tom’s shoulder with a wooden meat tenderizer while a bandaged and bruised Tom spoon feeds milk to Nibbles.

[edit] Trivia

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This is the last Tom and Jerry cartoon to feature Tom with nails in both hands and feet. The detail of his feet is now more anthropomorphic-like and closer to bipedal walking.
This is one of the four shorts where Jerry literally beats up Tom (the others being Mouse Trouble, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse, and Matinee Mouse).