The Karate Guard
| The Karate Guard | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title Card | |
| Directed by |
Joseph Barbera Spike Brandt[1] |
| Produced by |
Joseph Barbera Sam Register Sander Schwartz Spike Brandt Tony Cervone |
| Story by |
Joseph Barbera Iwao Takamoto |
| Voices by |
Spike Brandt Keone Young Tony Cervone |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Animation by |
Spike Brandt Dave Brewster Tony Cervone Michael Nickelson Barry O'Donahue Wendy Perdue Jeff Siergey |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | September 27, 2005[1] |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8:00 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Tom and Jerry: The Mansion Cat |
| Followed by | Tom and Jerry Tales |
The Karate Guard is a 2005 Tom and Jerry cartoon short directed by Joseph Barbera and Spike Brandt.[1] It was the last Tom and Jerry cartoon to be written, co-storyboarded, co-directed and co-produced by the characters' co-creator Joseph Barbera (who would pass away in late 2006). This is also, to date, the last theatrical cartoon to feature or star Tom and Jerry. It premiered in a limited theatrical run in Los Angeles cinemas on September 27, 2005, then saw its television debut on Cartoon Network on January 27, 2006.
Plot
The short starts at the outside of the house and then goes to Tom, who was taking a nap but was woken up by Jerry. Tom peeks through the mouse hole to see what the noise was and sees Jerry smacking a punching bag that mimics Tom. After Jerry finishes with the punching bag, his spiritual mentor, a ghost-like figure, appears and asks him if he's ready to take on Tom; Jerry agrees. After Jerry walks out of his home he sees Tom at the end of a hallway and becomes afraid of him, until Tom starts to mock Jerry, and laughs at the thought of Jerry defeating him. Jerry then decides to go and fight Tom until Tom pulls out a flyswatter and hits Jerry with it multiple times, then he slingshots Jerry with the flyswatter back into his home where he runs into one of his walls. Jerry's spiritual mentor appears again and gives Jerry a gong to ring that summons a "Karate Guard" named Momo-sumo (played by Spike) to aid him whenever he needs help.
The short deals with Tom's attempts to catch Jerry but does not know about Spike first. As soon as Jerry rings the gong, Spike sticks out his arm as Tom yelps and spins. He is then tied to a lawnmower and is launched into a garbage truck. Tom moans in pain from hitting the garbage truck wall. The garbage truck door then closes on Tom.
In the next scene, Jerry is sitting on a plate, eating cheese and Tom tries again. He grabs Jerry through the open kitchen window. Jerry struggles to free his hands. Spike comes and chops Tom's backside. Tom yelps quickly and puts Jerry back, and falls to the ground. Then Tom puts pillow-like earmuffs on Spike. Tom dings to show Jerry that his guard can't hear his gong. Tom dings the gong close to Spike's ear. Spike wakens and shoots Tom into the air. Tom yells in fear and claws the roof he landed on. it doesn't work and he is teetering on the gutter's edge. Tom does a quick salute and falls. Then Tom takes a giant leap and lands on the roof. Tom, who was shaking in fear, heaves a sigh of relief. Jerry does everything he can to anger Tom, including making funny faces, showing him his (underwear-clad) buttocks, etc. It works and the chase is off again. They run down the street into a toy store where Jerry hides in a toy airplane. Jerry turns it on, pilots it, and scalps Tom's head and then shaves Tom's body with the propeller. As soon as Tom's fur comes back the chase starts again. He gets into a larger toy airplane, chases Jerry's plane in a dogfight-like chase and is shredding Jerry's plane with his propeller. Jerry gongs for Spike and Tom slams into Spike's chest, causing him (Tom) to disintegrate. Spike sweeps him up and throws him in a trash can. A panicked Tom calls an exterminator, Butch, along with three more cats to remove Spike from the household. They do nothing more than fire paintballs at Spike, who is thrown by the force into the swimming pool; Tom then breaks out laughing. However, Spike then grabs Tom and squashes him into a bowling ball which he uses to, literally, strike the cats out of the garden.
In the final scene, Jerry and dog Spike are watching TV (which is showing the battered exterminator cats with Butch cat opening his mouth and catching all his fallen teeth with his right hand) and eating popcorn, leading to Spike eating the whole popcorn and making Jerry ring the gong, but instead of a man, there is Tom, who arrives to bring more popcorn to Jerry and Spike and to kiss Spike's feet. The short draws to a close with a happy Jerry diving in the popcorn and munching it happily.
Availability
The Karate Guard is available as a bonus short on Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection volume 3 and the Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection.
Voice cast
- Keone Young as Ancient Wise One
- Spike Brandt as Tom
- Tony Cervone as Butch
See also
References
- 1 2 3 "The KarateGuard". The Big Cartoon Database.