His Mouse Friday

His Mouse Friday is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 59th Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby for Metro Goldwyn Mayer. It was animated by Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ray Patterson and Ed Barge and released in theatres on July 7, 1951. The title is a pun combining references to the film His Girl Friday and the character of Friday from the novel Robinson Crusoe.

Plot

The cartoon begins with Tom stranded at sea, floating on a wooden raft after presumably being shipwrecked, a la Robinson Crusoe. The poor cat has nothing to eat but shoes and shoelaces.^[1] When he spots an island, the waves catapult him there. Tom attempts to feast on the coconuts but they prove to be difficult to break open. Moments later, Tom breaks his teeth after trying to sink them into a turtle. However, Tom does see a creature that is undeniably more edible - Jerry. Tom chases after the rodent and the pair end up in an uninhabited village. Jerry spots a large drum and beats a tune on it, frightening Tom. Jerry also finds a large black cauldron and rubs the soot onto his face and body, making himself black. When Tom emerges from his hiding place, Jerry jumps out at him, hollering in a thick dialect. He orders Tom to "hop in pot"; to cook himself with vegetables; but to "hold the onion." Tom starts to feel the heat, and resigned to his death, he looks out of the cauldron and sees Jerry performing his "native" dance, but the movement of the dance causes Jerry's makeshift skirt to fall down, revealing his brown mouse fur. Tom realises he's been had and makes sure that Jerry is aware of it. Jerry tries to order Tom back into the pot ("Hop in pot, hop in pot!"), but the cat simply mocks him ("Nanana, nanana!") and chases him, only to stumble upon some genuine cannibals (although humans eating a cat or mouse would not in fact qualify as cannibalism). One licks his lips and declares "Mmmm... barbecued cat!" They chase after Tom. Meanwhile, Jerry, overlooking the whole fracas is attacked by a younger (and thicker-lipped) cannibal who also licks his lips in delight, saying "Mmmm... barbecued mouse!" The native boy chases after Jerry.

Voice cast

• Paul Frees as Jerry and The Cannibals

Censorship and Bans

• Because of the short's racial stereotyping His Mouse Friday was placed under unofficial ban from broadcast or video distribution by MGM and other rights-holders (such as Turner Broadcasting and TimeWarner).
• There are two edited versions of this cartoon that have aired on television prior to being banned and that have been released on video:
  • MGM/UA Home Video versions (including the VHS tape compilation entitled Tom and Jerry On Parade and the laser disc set compilation entitled The Art of Tom and Jerry) mute out all the stereotypical black savage dialogue.
  • Warner Home Video versions (which was also part of the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 3 DVD set compilation) retains the dialogue, but edits the part where Jerry meets a real black savage by using pan and zoom to crop out the real black savage's appearance.

Notes

• This is one of only seven cartoons in which Jerry speaks. The others are Puss n' Toots, The Lonesome Mouse, The Zoot Cat, The Milky Waif, Saturday Evening Puss, and Mucho Mouse.
• This is one of eleven cartoons in which Tom and Jerry both lose in the end. The other cartoons are Fraidy Cat, Baby Puss, Polka-Dot Puss, A Mouse In The House, Saturday Evening Puss, The Framed Cat, Baby Butch, Blue Cat Blues, Filet Meow, Muscle Beach Tom, and Advance and Be Mechanized, as well as the Tom and Jerry Tales episodes (including Tiger Cat) which now aired on MBC 3 and Spacetoon.
• This is also notable as one of the very few cartoons in which Tom actually tries to eat Jerry.
• This is the only short where Jerry actually tries to eat Tom.

References

1. ^ This scene is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's classic The Gold Rush.