Cat Fishin'

Cat Fishin'
Tom and Jerry series
Title Card
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by William Hanna (unc.)
Joseph Barbera (unc.)
Voices by William Hanna (screaming - uncredited) as Tom
Billy Bletcher as Killer (Spike) (uncredited)
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Kenneth Muse
Ed Barge
Michael Lah
Additional animation:
Ray Patterson (unc.)
Pete Burness (unc.)
Studio MGM Cartoons
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
  • February 22, 1947 (1947-02-22) (U.S.)
  • October 30, 1954 (1954-10-30) (U.S. )
  • (re-release) ((re-release))
Color process Technicolor
Running time 7:50
Language none (text in English)
Preceded by Solid Serenade
Followed by Part Time Pal

Cat Fishin' is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 27th Tom and Jerry short, created in 1946. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby and animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Michael Lah, Pete Burness and Ray Patterson. It was released to theatres on February 22, 1947 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

Plot

The cartoon opens with a view across a lake fence, where signs are posted that say "No Fishing", "Keep Out", "Private Property", "No Trespassing", and "Beware of Dog". Spike is shown guarding a lake fence while asleep. Tom shows up with his fishing gear and he passes through the gate, but Spike just happens to yawn and recline on Tom's leg. Tom tries to get away, but Spike thinks Tom’s leg is a bone and grabs at it a second time. Spike then licks the leg and takes a bite into it; it causes the cat to scream. Spike wakes up and looks around, but does not see anyone, as Tom hides behind Spike as the bulldog moves around. When he turns around again, Tom sits on top of his fishing pole. Spike still does not see anyone and goes back to sleep. Tom then walks towards the lake, but as he walks, the hook on the end of his fishing line gets stuck on Spike’s collar and drags him along. As the line tugs, Tom looks back and sees Spike about to fall off a small cliff. Frantic, the cat catches Spike and props him up with a stick. Tom then goes to the lake and starts to fish.

In his tackle box are plugs, lures, wigglers, flies, and live bait, which was a sleeping mouse Jerry. Tom wakes up Jerry, and the annoyed Jerry throws off his blanket & takes off his robe with a look of disgust on his face. Tom then ties Jerry to his line and casts. Jerry is about to hit the water when he suddenly stops and dips his toe in the water to test the temperature. The water is extremely cold, and Jerry flees back to the tackle box with his blanket, shivering. A bunch of fish start making noise and Tom lowers Jerry over the water to feed them. The fish leap at him and Jerry fights them off, kicking and punching. Having failed, Tom casts again and a big blue and green pike with sharp teeth emerges. Jerry is cast into, and propelled out of, the fish's mouth. The fish chases Jerry, chomping all of Tom’s fishing line & pole in the process. The fish repeatedly slaps Tom with his tail and returns to the water, where he spits out Tom’s fishing reel and throws it at him.

Tom then cuts a finger off a rubber glove and puts Jerry inside, making him look like a worm. Tom casts again and the fish prepares for mouse dinner. Jerry, however, is on the ball and avoids a fork. As the fish leans in closer, Jerry squeezes lemon juice into it's face, beginning another chase. Tom grabs an oar and swats at the fish as the chase reaches the pier where he stands. However, it turns out that Jerry was the one who was hit and he emerges from the water, who is angry, with a beeping lump on his head. To get back at the cat, Jerry smacks him with an oar, sending him into the water. The enraged cat emerges, but Jerry responds by tying a lure around Tom's tail and shakes it. The fish bites Tom's tail, causing him to scream in pain and hold on to the dock plank as the fish pulls his tail. The impact slingshot throws the fish into Spike's mouth as he is waking up. After the fish repeatedly slaps Spike, the dog looks around to see Tom on the dock, and begins chasing him.

Tom dives in to escape, while Spike looks into the water. Tom emerges through a loose plank and hits Spike with it, and the dog falls. Tom then grabs Jerry and his pole and runs away until Spike emerges from another loose plank and chases Tom back to the end of the pier. Tom shoves Spike and the dog falls in, helped by a swat and/or kick from the cat. Tom runs over to a rock and sees the fish again, so he casts again. Jerry then swims underwater toward Spike who is lying on the dock. Seeing a good chance to frame the cat, Jerry unties the line from himself and ties it to Spike’s foot, then tugs on the line to alert the cat of a bite. Tom yanks the line and gets the dog to fall off the dock and through the water. Spike grabs onto the dock, but the continued backward force causes all the boards to stack up and then the last board to come loose. The dog, followed by the boards, falls into the water.

Tom does not give up the fight, and Spike is squeezed through a pair of rocks on the way back to the cat. Jerry then hands Tom a club to knock out the "fish," and the oblivious cat, believing he has caught the dog and not noticing his bait next to him, wades into the water and hits Spike in the head multiple times with the club. Eventually, Tom sees who he is attacking and yelps with fear. A lump forms on the dog's head, and the cat tries to remove it by pushing and lightly hammering it down when it appears (returns) the second time. When it returns a third time, Tom just whacks Spike's lump in his head and legs it and flees, with the extremely mad dog right behind him. Jerry lowers a fishing line to Tom to help him escape from the dog as the chase passes under the tree where the mouse is, but he also teaches Tom a lesson by dangling him within the dog's range and pulling him repeatedly out of the way as Spike continues to jump & bite at him.

Availability

VHS

DVD

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