Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse
Tom and Jerry series

Original title card (Black and White)
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by William Hanna (unc.)
Joseph Barbera (unc.)
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Ed Barge
Michael Lah
Kenneth Muse
Additional animation:
Ray Patterson (unc.)
Pete Burness (unc.)
Effects animation:
Al Grandmain
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
  • June 14, 1947 (1947-06-14)
Color process Technicolor
Running time 7:25
Language English
Preceded by The Cat Concerto
Followed by Salt Water Tabby

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 30th Tom and Jerry short. The cartoon was made in 1946 and released June 14, 1947, and was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby and animated by Ed Barge, Michael Lah and Kenneth Muse with additional animation by Ray Patterson and Pete Burness (both uncredited) and effects animation by Al Grandmain. The short is a parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons in 1947, but lost to Warner Bros. Tweetie Pie, ending their streak of 4 consecutive wins.

Plot

After the milkman delivers two milk bottles, Tom eagerly snatches one and pours it out to drink, but is met by Jerry, who also wants the milk. Tom tries three times to lock Jerry in a room to keep him away from the milk, but each time, Jerry manages to keep sipping the milk. Tom then plots how to get rid of Jerry so he can drink milk in peace. Tom mixes chemicals such as moth balls, acid, ammonia and poison into milk to create a deadly elixir and stirs it with a spoon until it melts in the formula. After a fly takes a sip from the bowl and immediately drops dead, Tom, delighted, places the bowl outside Jerry's hole, confident will he fall for his new trick. Jerry seemingly drops dead just as the fly did, but instead then rattles and pops around. When the effects stop, Jerry becomes incredibly muscular, and starts advancing on a nervous Tom.

After Tom unsuccessfully tries to stop Jerry with a phone book and fireplace poker, he attempts to lock himself in the living room, but Jerry tears the door down. Tom then seals himself inside a wall safe, but Jerry easily drills through and pulls him out. As Jerry starts smacking Tom against the safe, however, the potion's effects wear off and Jerry returns to his normal size. Jerry then swiftly runs for the milk bowl, and manages to drink the potion again before Tom grabs him. Jerry, with his reactivated power, grabs Tom by the whiskers and starts thrashing him around mercilessly. However, the elixir very quickly wears off. Tom quickly upends all the milk from the bowl before Jerry can drink it for a third time and chases Jerry across the kitchen. Jerry manages to put Tom's tail inside a waffle iron and flee into the fridge.

Jerry then locks Tom inside the fridge and attempts to recreate the elixir before Tom can-opens his way out from the fridge. Tom then steals the elixir from Jerry and holds Jerry next to him as he drinks it. Tom grows larger and larger, but it turns out that Jerry had incorrectly made the elixir and the opposite effect occurs to Tom as he shrinks to a smaller size than Jerry. Delighted with his now superior strength to Tom, Jerry grabs Tom's tail before punching him in the face, which made Tom shrink a little more. Then Jerry snaps Tom's tail, which made him shrink even further. With Tom now the size of an ant, he is forced to flee as Jerry starts to chase him with a flyswatter.

Production

Availability

DVD

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