Life with Tom
| Life with Tom | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title Card | |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices by | Paul Frees |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Kenneth Muse Irven Spence Ed Barge Irving Levine (archive footage - uncredited) Pete Burness (archive footage - uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | Robert Gentle |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 1953 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:49 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Two Little Indians |
| Followed by | Puppy Tale |
Life with Tom is the 79th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1952 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released to theatres on November 21, 1953 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is also one of several "wrap-around" T&J shorts, integrating footage from previous shorts into the plot.
Plot
A mailman delivers two packages and whistles out loud. Tom approaches to see that nothing is in his mailbox. He spots a package in Jerry's mailbox though, and opens it to find a book entitled "Life with Tom". He hides in the bush as Jerry walks towards his mailbox and retrieves a letter. Tom then hears a radio program which announces the publication of "Life with Tom" by Jerry Mouse revealing that Jerry's book is his autobiography. Tom opens the book and flips the page to "Dedicated to Tom.... Without whom, I could do very well". Tom moves on to a page.
Flashback to 1946's Cat Fishin' beginning where Tom uses Jerry as bait and ending where Spike gives chase. Back to the present day, where the book reads: "To this day, Tom still thinks he caught a new species of dog fish". This makes Tom furious and he overhears his alley cats friends laughing. He skims to another page. Flashback to 1948's The Little Orphan beginning where Jerry and Nibbles are walking along the dinner table dressed as pilgrims and ending where Tom surrenders, waving the white flag. Back to the present day, Tom hears Spike and Tyke laughing. He extends his neck out to see what page the dogs are reading and moves to the page where Jerry reveals that while Man's best friend is a dog, Jerry's best friend is a canary.
Back again to the present day. With everyone laughing at his expense, Tom is extremely annoyed to discover he is a laughing stock, his face becomes a bright shade of red. He marches over to Jerry's hole, tearing off the facade and then smashing the book over Jerry. Jerry then angrily shows Tom the letter that he had received that morning. The letter states "Dear Jerry, enclosed find royalty checks for $50,000. In accordance with your instructions, half of this is for your friend Tom". Tom finds a check for $25,000 ...addressed to him! The flattered Tom - realising that even through the ups and downs, Jerry still considers him a friend - has a change of heart about the autobiography and he now starts seeing the funny sides of it all.