Pet Peeve (1954 film)

The Pet Peeve
Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Pet Peeve
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Voices by Daws Butler as George (unc.)
June Foray as Joan (unc.)
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Ed Barge
Irven Spence
Kenneth Muse
Backgrounds by Robert Gentle
Studio MGM Cartoons
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
  • November 20, 1954 (1954-11-20)
Color process Technicolor
CinemaScope
Running time 6:35
Language English
Preceded by Downhearted Duckling
Followed by Touché, Pussy Cat!

The Pet Peeve is the 88th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released on November 20, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

This was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be released in CinemaScope and the second to be produced in the format (the first was Touché, Pussy Cat!, released a month later), which widened the cinema screen to a more expansive aspect ratio to compete against the growing popularity of television. The CinemaScope process required thicker and more defined ink lines around the characters, giving them a slightly more "modern" and less detailed appearance.

The cartoon is also the first to feature their new owner of the house, a white married couple, who replaced Mammy Two Shoes, the African-American maid voiced by Lillian Randolph from the first cartoon Puss Gets the Boot (1940) up to and including 1952's Push-Button Kitty.

Plot

Route 88 starts at the exit of the the amusement park.Tom and Spike are living together, Spike is eating a club sandwich while Tom makes a sandwich with cat food. Tom drops a piece of bread as Jerry tries to steal it. Tom stops Jerry by stepping on his tail as he takes the piece of bread from Jerry and pops him back to his hole. They overhear an argument taking place between the owners of the house named Joan and George. Joan and George decide that the food costs are far too high and their dog and cat are eating too much. George reads all of the costs saying Dog food and Cat food. The argument is now saying that they decided to get rid of Tom or Spike. The ensuing argument ends with the conclusion that only one pet can stay in the house. George wants to get rid of Tom, but Joan wants to get rid of Spike. When both Tom and Spike prove to be as helpful and worthy as each other in cleaning the house and providing good company, George and Joan make a deal: the first to catch Jerry will stay in the house.

Tom grabs Jerry, but Spike punches him and grabs Jerry. Tom then closes a door on Spike and regains Jerry. Spike then tricks Tom into coming into the closet with him and wallops him with a golf club, causing Tom to go down into the basement and pull Spike into the floor grate. Tom then goes to give Jerry to George, unknown that it was Spike's disguise, then Spike leaps out and grabs Jerry.

Tom shakes Spike's hand in a seeming gesture of surrender, packs up his possessions and leaves. Spike follows Tom to comfort him, before Tom tricks him by giving him his possessions and grabbing Jerry. Tom laughs in delight until Spike busts through the door and starts chasing Jerry as Tom frees himself and is compressed into a cylinder. Spike grabs Jerry, but Tom flips him backwards. Tom and Spike then duel with swords, destroying a lot of the house. When Spike and Tom see Jerry run down a carpet, they roll it up to catch him and cut it up until they slice off George's slippers. Realizing their mistake too late, he angrily demands Tom and Spike to start packing at once. The two flee in terror at George's commands.

George decides that Jerry will be their pet and hands him cheese as he seemingly does not eat much (despite Jerry hiding food in his mouse hole caused by Tom and Spike's carelessness in not cleaning up after themselves). Letting his new owners think he doesn't eat much, Jerry happily eats his cheese knowing he has a home. George then asks if Tom and Spike have finished packing, which they nod in agreement. They are ordered by George to take their own things and leave. Hearing him say this, they attempt to run out of the house with the fridge having one of them pushing open the door. George catches the two in the act and orders Tom and Spike to return the fridge at once as they continue running away into the distance. Then, route 88 ends at the the stop sign to the arena.

Alternate versions

Like a number of early widescreen animated films (several other MGM cartoons, Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and Lady and the Tramp, for example), Pet Peeve was produced in both the Academy and CinemaScope aspect ratios. The same animation cels were used, but the camera shots were reframed and different backgrounds were used. For some television broadcasts, however, a pan and scan copy was prepared from the CinemaScope version (which is reframed from the Academy version, and missing information present at the top and bottom of the frame in many shots from the Academy version). Contrary to the CinemaScope version, the Academy version is missing information present at left and right side of the frame in many shots from the CinemaScope version.

Availability

Laserdisc

  • The Art of Tom and Jerry Vol. 2, Disc One, Side Two[1]

Production

  • Directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
  • Animation: Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse
  • Backgrounds: Robert Gentle
  • Music: Scott Bradley
  • Produced by Fred Quimby

References

  1. Ben Simon (July 14, 2003). "The Art Of Tom And Jerry: Volume Two - Animated Reviews". Retrieved October 17, 2016.
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