Tom and Chérie

Tom and Chérie
Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Tom and Chérie
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Voices by Francoise Brun-Cottan (as Nibbles, uncredited)
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Irven Spence
Kenneth Muse
Lewis Marshall
Ed Barge
Layouts by Richard Bickenbach
Backgrounds by Robert Gentle
Studio MGM Cartoons
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
  • September 9, 1955 (1955-09-09)
Color process Technicolor
CinemaScope
Running time 6:46
Language French
Preceded by Designs on Jerry
Followed by Smarty Cat

Tom and Chérie is a 1955 one reel animated Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. It was the third (of four) cartoons in the Mouseketeer series of cartoons to take place in France, the first of which, The Two Mouseketeers (1952) won an Academy Award, and the second, Touché, Pussy Cat! (1954) received an Academy Award nomination. Chérie is not only a word play of Jerry in Tom and Jerry but also means "sweetheart" in French.

The animation was done by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, and Lewis Marshall, this being Marshall's first Tom and Jerry cartoon for which he received an animation credit (replacing Ray Patterson who had left). The backgrounds were designed by Robert Gentle and the layouts by Richard Bickenbach. The cartoon was produced in CinemaScope, a form of Widescreen, and released to theatres on September 9, 1955 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

Plot

Mousketeer Captain Jerry sits mooning at his portrait of a gorgeous French mouse called Lilli, then writes Lilli a love letter and calls his assistant Tuffy, telling him to deliver it. Tuffy goes out and, after briefly mocking Jerry's infatuation, looks at the letter, opens it and goes a deep shade of red after reading it. But as Tuffy is about to go out and deliver the letter, Guardsman Tom appears shouting "En garde!" ("On guard!" or "Fight!") and swipes his sword at Tuffy, scaring him back in. He pokes his sword through the door. Tuffy tries to tell Jerry about the cat (in very fast French!), but Jerry shows the little mouse his book, reminding him that "Un mousketeer est brave" ("a mouseketeer must be brave"). Tuffy then looks in the mirror and asks himself if he is a man or a mouse, but after going out and encountering Tom again he decides he is a mouse. Later, Tom is hiding in wait for Tuffy. Tuffy tries to disguise himself with a knight's helmet. He says hello to Tom, but Tom is not fooled. He immediately jumps in front of Tuffy and fights him. Jerry hears the commotion from outside. Tom then lifts off the helmet and it falls right on top of his head, knocking him down a nearby cellar window.

Tuffy is still swiping his sword until Jerry pokes him on the back. Tuffy tries to call for the cat but to no avail. He tries to persuade Jerry that Tom was here, but Jerry brings him back to Mouseketeer Headquarters and punishes Tuffy by getting him to write "Un mouseketeer est brave" approximately 100 times on a blackboard. Then Tuffy goes to the door and holds his hat out. It gets chopped into pieces by Tom. Tuffy then nervously peeks out, but Jerry, annoyed by Tuffy having not delivered his letter to Lilli yet because of his cowardice, pokes him in the back with his sword, sending Tuffy rocketing past Tom to Lilli's house. He knocks on the windowsill. Lilli comes to the window and sees the love letter. She giggles while reading it, then disappears and returns with another letter with perfume on it. Tuffy then goes to deliver it to Jerry, but to see if Tom is around, he puts his hat on his sword and waves it. Tom waves his own hat and then appears and fights Tuffy again.

Then Tuffy hides in a vent and pokes Tom in the bottom, saying, "Touche, pussycat!" The fight continues. Tuffy runs inside Jerry's quarters and gives the letter to Jerry. He kisses it, writes another love letter, gives it to Tuffy and then the little mouse delivers it, encountering Tom every time. And by every fight Tuffy has with Tom, he gets more tattered and torn by the minute. Nevertheless, Jerry receives a letter from Lilli telling him that she ended the love with him. Heartbroken, Jerry tears up her letter and throws away her portrait. But all is not lost, as Jerry simply replaces her portrait with that of another beautiful, rich French mouse (Marie) and begins his correspondence with his new amour.

A battered and exasperated Tuffy is forced to deliver this letter. Tom jumps out once again, yells "En garde!" and is ready for another duel. However, the little mouse just ignores him and walks past. Tom then challenges him two more times but Tuffy keeps ignoring him. After the final attempt, Tuffy looks up at him and says with contempt, "En garde, En garde, En garde! Fooey!". He then goes on with his assignment to deliver the letter, leaving Tom behind still holding his sword and looking puzzled.

Voice Cast

Production

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

Availability

VHS

DVD

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