The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off
Tom and Jerry series

Title Card
Directed by Jim Pabian
Maurice Noble
Produced by Chuck Jones
Earl Jonas
Les Goldman
Story by Chuck Jones
Jim Pabian
Voices by Mel Blanc (uncredited)
William Hanna (gasping - uncredited)
Music by Eugene Poddany
Animation by Tom Ray
Ben Washam
Ken Harris
Don Towsley
Dick Thompson
Robert Gribbroek
Studio Sib-Tower 12 Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s) United States March 3, 1965
Color process Metrocolor
Running time 6:27
Language English
Preceded by Bad Day at Cat Rock
Followed by Haunted Mouse

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off is a 1965 Tom and Jerry cartoon (though the cartoon's year of copyright is actually 1966). The cartoon was directed by Jim Pabian (being the first MGM cartoon produced by Chuck Jones not directed by him), with animation by Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. Eugene Poddany scored the music, while Maurice Noble provided layouts, and Robert Gribbroek did the backgrounds. The title, The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off is a parody of the title of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, published in 1880.

Plot

Jerry is relaxing in a beach chair reading a book. Jerry has actually incorporated a radar system, a chair, a pool, and a tree. Jerry's radar twitches and detects Tom approaching his mousehole. Jerry presses a red button next to the radio which folds the entire patio into the floor and he goes in his mousehole.

Tom creeps up with a box and peers into Jerry's hole while Jerry exits his hole without being seen, though Tom feels something on his head when Jerry perches on it. Tom sets out various food items as traps, while Jerry sweeps up all the food with a fishing line with a plunger attached and dumps it back in the box without being spotted. Tom feels his head and Jerry dances out of the way. He deals out all the food a second time, and this time taps a nail into each one. Jerry merely attracts them all with a magnet. Jerry then dashes away as Tom is aghast to discover the food missing again. Then, he spots the mouse running away and shoots the plunger like an arrow at Jerry and he captures the mouse. Jerry pulls a diminutive hammer out of the food. Tom laughs and sits down without resistance, knowing this will not hurt him. However, the hammer extends and expands six sizes larger and Jerry whacks Tom.

Jerry prances past and soon Tom recovers enough to chase him. Tom leaps in front of Jerry's hole and rolls out his tongue. Jerry is caught, but fights against the tongue so hard that he escapes and Tom's tongue rolls back into his mouth, twisting the cat into a roll. Jerry pulls Tom's tail and uses him as a door mat. Tom glides and jumps over the ground in order to pursue the mouse because he is still flat. Tom spots a bellows and tries to inflate himself before Jerry turns up, disguised as a bearded doctor. He offers to do the job for him, and Tom accepts. Jerry pumps Tom up enough to launch him to crash into a bunch of furniture. Tom tiptoes out of the pile of broken furniture and removes a goldfish bowl from his head and the goldfish from his mouth. He kicks it away with his toe.

Tom chases Jerry upstairs. Jerry shuts himself in a doorway. Unable to open it, Tom charges at it. Jerry opens the door revealing nothing but empty air. Tom's shrieks and he just manages to brake before falling off, but Jerry snaps his fingers and Tom loses balance and plummets. Tom gets a bump forming on his head.

Tom then has an idea. He runs up to the attic, dresses up in a female pretty and beautiful mouse costume suit, and squirts himself with perfume in order to lure Jerry. Tom plays a small guitar as he prances out to the living room. Jerry smells the perfume as he is relaxing in his indoor patio and dashes to Tom and starts kissing him. However, Tom ends up attracting a whole group of mice, who argue among each other over who should have him. As they fight, Tom runs outside. He hides behind a trash can and finds the zip of the mouse costume jammed. He is spotted by several dumb but hungry cats, who chase Tom as Jerry watches with a little disappointment from afar and a heart shaped iris irises in a heart shape in the tree.

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