The Missing Mouse
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| The Missing Mouse
Tom and Jerry series |
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 Title card of The Missing Mouse. |
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| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by | William Hanna (unc.) Joseph Barbera (unc.) |
| Voices by | Paul Frees (as the news announcer, uncredited) |
| Music by | Edward Plumb |
| Animation by | Ray Patterson Ed Barge Kenneth Muse Irven Spence |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | January 10, 1953 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6 minutes 33 seconds |
| Preceded by | The Dog House |
| Followed by | Jerry and Jumbo |
| IMDb profile | |
The Missing Mouse is a 1951 Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in 1953 and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was the first and only cartoon in the Hanna-Barbera era (1940-1958) that the music was not composed by Scott Bradley. Instead, Edward Plumb scored the music for this cartoon. It was animated by Ray Patterson, Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence.
[edit] Plot
The cartoon opens with Jerry carrying cheese and milk from the refrigerator as Tom watches him. As Jerry takes a tomato, Tom slams the door and the tomato juice squirts all over Jerry. Jerry runs away but ends up getting splattered by two pies. The chase continues as Tom holds a mouse trap but Jerry grabs his tail away, and he ends up crashing into a wall. Tom laughs and Jerry falls down. This causes a bottle of white shoe polish being poured on him, turning him into a white mouse. Tom is reading a magazine and a radio ends up saying,
Your attention please! We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this urgent warning. A white mouse has just escaped from the experimental laboratories! Before escaping, he consumed enough of a new secret explosive to blow up an entire city! If you see this white mouse, telephone officials at once! And whatever you do, remember! The slightest jar will explode this white mouse and destroy the entire city! Be careful! Please, be careful!
This makes Tom frightened and he runs to close the window. He sits on the couch and starts eating some nuts. As he breaks open the nuts with a hammer, Jerry shows up. Tom grabs Jerry, thinking he is a nut and he freezes with his hammer and looks to reveal a white mouse. Tom becomes frightened and runs to call the police. Jerry whistles at him and tries to fall off the table. Tom saves Jerry with a pillow. Tom tries to call the police again but instead notices Jerry trying to crush himself with the lid of the piano. Tom tries to save him but ends up getting crushed himself.
Tom sneaks away to use the phone again but instead sees Jerry jumping off a butter knife. Tom blows Jerry to safety but Jerry pushes an iron at Tom. He tries to blow it but ends up smashing his face. Jerry runs to a hammer and threatens to hit himself with it. Tom begs Jerry not to hit himself with the hammer and Jerry hits Tom on the head. Tom tries to grab Jerry and Jerry threatens to hit himself again. Tom backs off and smiles and allows Jerry to hit him on the head several times. Tom then sneaks up on Jerry while he is eating a cookie. Tom then takes the hammer away from Jerry and Jerry starts bouncing on the counter and against the bread box. Jerry then bounces away into a sink full of water. When Jerry comes out the white shoe polish washes away. Jerry tries to bounce again, but Tom doesn't flinch. He runs to the hammer and hits himself with it and Tom doesn't get scared. Jerry hits himself a little harder and ends up knocking himself silly. Tom then takes the hammer and pounds Jerry into the counter like a nail. Tom then grabs Jerry by the tail and takes him to the mirror, and Jerry realizes that the shoe polish has washed away. Jerry smiles and Tom kicks Jerry out of the house.
Meanwhile, the real white mouse appears through the mail slot and as Tom kicks Jerry out of the house, he runs into the house. Tom goes back to reading his magazine and he hears the white mouse eating some nuts. Thinking that he's Jerry, Tom tries to attack him with his hammer and catches him. Tom tries to wash the white mouse in the fishbowl, but it doesn't work. He tries using a washboard, and he hears Jerry whistling from the windowsill. Tom realizes that he is carrying the real white mouse. Tom gets so frightened that he ages into an old cat and tries to call the police. Then the radio announcer comes back on the air and says,
Your attention please! We have just learned from laboratory officials that the explosive contained in the white mouse is no longer dangerous. And they have assured us the mouse will not explode.
Tom realizes this and takes the white mouse to be kicked out of the window. As Tom kicks the white mouse, a massive explosion takes place reducing the house to a giant crater. All that is left is rubble and the speaker of the radio which states,
We repeat, the white mouse will not explode.
Tom emerges from a pile of rubble and eerily drones, "Don't you believe it!"
[edit] Production
- Paul Frees was the voice of the news announcer.
- Tom's line "Don't you believe it!" was also used in Mouse Trouble. The origin of that particular line has been debated for many years, but it is widely believed to have begun as a radio show catchphrase.
