The Cat's Me-Ouch!
| The Cat's Me-Ouch | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title Card | |
| Directed by |
Chuck Jones Maurice Noble (co-director) |
| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Story by |
Michael Maltese Chuck Jones |
| Voices by |
Mel Blanc June Foray |
| Music by | Eugene Poddany |
| Animation by |
Ben Washam Ken Harris Don Towsley Dick Thompson |
| Studio | Sib Tower 12 Productions |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |
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| Color process | Metrocolor |
| Running time | 6:14 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Year of the Mouse |
| Followed by | Duel Personality |
The Cat's Me-Ouch is a 1965 cartoon produced and directed by Chuck Jones. The title is a parody of "The cat's meow", a phrase coined by Thomas A. Dorgan. The short features a tiny bulldog who would go on to make another appearance in the final Tom and Jerry cartoon produced by Chuck Jones, Purr-Chance to Dream in 1967.
Plot
Jerry steps out of his mouse hole, only to be met by a cleaver-wielding Tom, who scares a layer of fur off him. Tom tries to get him with the cleaver, and after a few tries, he hides underneath the "DOG" magazine. He falls down the stairs, and when he lands at the bottom the magazine opens to a page where a bulldog can be ordered for $15.95. He smiles, thinking of the time in Tom-ic Energy where Tom was chased by the Spike. Deciding to order one in order to scare Tom, he writes a letter and takes it out to the mailbox, at one point flying on the letter like a magic carpet. Tom looks out the bedroom window and sees him flying on the letter, not knowing the true intentions, but when he steers the letter into the mailbox and lands on top of it his evil laugh scares Tom.
The delivery truck shows up and the delivery man wheels in a large crate containing a loudly-barking dog. As Jerry signs for the crate, Tom is almost too scared to look on as he takes a crowbar to the crate. Jerry whistles for the loud dog to come out...and it is a tiny bulldog even smaller than Jerry is in stature (possibly due to Jerry's surname, "Mouse", making the dog very small, about the same size as him). Tom is amazed to see the dog's small stature, but Jerry orders the dog to take care of Tom. After it sits around panting and barking, Jerry lifts up the dog and compares the dog to himself (Jerry being bigger than the dog), which causes the dog to snuggle up to him and fall on its head due to the dog's short legs. He lifts up the dog, who then licks him, as Tom comes out to investigate. Jerry takes the dog back into the crate with him, and ends up hanging on the tail when the dog wants to go out and meet Tom. Tom tosses the dog up a few times, pointing and laughing, which causes the dog to buzz saw his right arm hair off. He is still smiling until the dog repeats on the left arm, leading him to frantically try and shake the dog off. With a mouthful of fur, the dog hits the ground, only to buzzsaw on Tom's tail, turning part of it into sausages. Seeing the state of his tail, he runs into the house screaming in fear. The rest of this short sees Tom without fur covering either of his arms, although he regains that of his tail.
A satisfied Jerry pats the dog on the head, who then snuggles up again (and as usual, falls on his head due to his short back legs, making Jerry laugh, as seen on "Purr-Chance to Dream"). Stepping back, the dog feels an itch and scratches at a flea. When the pesky flea will not come off, the dog buzz saws itself, killing the flea. The now-proud dog tries to find Jerry searching around the crate, falling, and whimpering before seeing Tom in the window, holding Jerry by the tail in one hand and flicking his head with the other. The angry dog charges up, running around the yard, and as he is about to charge into Tom, he shuts the door while Jerry is trapped in a jar. The door, however, was no match for the dog who brings it down from the top. Tom and the dog flip the door over lengthwise (whenever Tom is up, he yells "A-HA!") as the trapped Jerry watches on. When the door gets to the wall, they flip widthwise until the door is back in the door frame, and Tom is on the outside (with an "A-HA!"). Realizing his predicament he runs and grabs an axe and tries to chop down the door as the dog opens the lid on the jar, landing in with the now-free Jerry. The two watch Tom, and when he breaks in (another "A-HA!"), the dog buzz saws the axe handle, leaving the blade part to fall hits on his foot and Tom yells in pain before the dog buzzsaws the entire body.
At night when Tom was seriously injured on crutches with his head, tail, and left foot are bandaged before heading onto the Hospital. Tom winces in pain while the doctor unwraps his foot, revealing the dog is still biting. Tom shrugs his shoulders confidently before unwrapping his tail, which Jerry is also biting on it.