Touché, Pussy Cat!
| Touché, Pussy Cat! | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title card | |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices by | Francoise Brun-Cottan |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Irven Spence Lewis Marshall (uncredited) |
| Layouts by | Richard Bickenbach (uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | Robert Gentle |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | December 18, 1954 |
| Color process |
Technicolor CinemaScope |
| Running time | 6:45 |
| Language | English, French |
| Preceded by | Pet Peeve |
| Followed by | Southbound Duckling |
Touché, Pussy Cat! is the 89th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1954, the series' final Oscar nomination, while Johann Mouse won the last award for the series a year before.
Touché, Pussy Cat! is a follow-up and a prequel to the 1952 cartoon The Two Mouseketeers which did win the award that year (as well as being named after Tuffy's catchphrase in the "Mousketeer" shorts). The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released in theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on December 18, 1954.
It was the first of the Tom and Jerry shorts to be produced in CinemaScope, but was the second CinemaScope-produced short to be released (after Pet Peeve, released the previous month; Touché, Pussy Cat! has an earlier MPAA certificate number). The cartoon also exists in a non-Cinemascope format. Touché, Pussy Cat! spawned two further entries in the "Mouseketeer" series of Tom and Jerry cartoons, namely Tom and Chérie in 1954, and Royal Cat Nap in 1957, released 1958.
Plot
François Mouse's son (portrayed by Tuffy) arrives in Paris to be trained as a King’s Mouseketeer. Jerry, the Captain of the Mouseketeers and an old friend of François, attempts to train the garrulous Tuffy, but Tuffy is far too aggressive, slashing wildly with his rapier, stabbing Jerry in the rear, and seeking confrontation with rival Musketeer Tom.
After Jerry must save Tuffy from Tom (by splitting him in two with an axe), he prepares to send Tuffy back to François in disgrace. However, as Tuffy is walking back home, Tom ambushes Jerry. Tuffy hears the attack and stops it by cutting off the tip of Tom’s tail, with Tuffy exclaiming "Touché, Pussy Cat!" When Tom pins Tuffy to the wall in retaliation, Jerry saves him by causing Tom’s tunic to roll up like a windowshade.
On the run from Tom, Tuffy is separated from Jerry and begins painting an unflattering portrait of Tom, while singing Frère Jacques. Tom confronts Tuffy in mid-painting, but Tuffy paints a pince-nez on Tom’s face and escapes. Tom gives pursuit, but Tuffy uses a series of champagne bottles to knock Tom back with corks, eventually knocking him in to an iron gate and crushing him. When Tom attacks again, Tuffy chops open an enormous barrel of wine, washing Tom down the sewers in a massive wave of wine. A drunken Tuffy, observing Tom’s fate, remarks, "Pauvre, pauvre,...(hic!)...Pushee’ Cat!" ("Poor, poor pussycat!").
In appreciation for dispatching Tom and saving his life, Jerry makes Tuffy a Mouseketeer. However, as Tuffy is posing in a mirror, he once again stabs Jerry in the rear with his sword. At the end of the cartoon, an annoyed Jerry, thinking that it was intentional, repeatedly spanks Tuffy who is without his diaper, and Tuffy remarks,"C'est la guerre!"(That's war)
External links
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