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Overview


"A Life Less Guarded" is an episode of Tom and Jerry Tales written and directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Tom and Droopy are competing to become a lifeguard at the town pool with Jerry pulling all the stops to make sure Droopy gets the position.

Plot[]

The local pool is hiring one lifeguard and one janitor, and both Tom and Droopy are applying for the lifeguard position. Jerry overhears the Head Lifeguard explaining the qualities necessary for the job, and witnesses Tom trying to make himself look better than Droopy. Tom then kicks Jerry into the pool and walks away laughing, much to Jerry's annoyance.

For their first task, Tom and Droopy have to jump off of the high-dive while being judged by Miss Shapely. Droopy attempts to go first, but Tom sucks him inside a vacuum cleaner and attempts to go first instead. While Tom is climbing the ladder, Jerry raises the diving board so high that it extends into outer space. As a result, Tom clumsily falls into the pool, making a giant splash and causing him to fail. Droopy instead lands gracefully, thanks to Jerry controlling his movements like a puppet. As a result, Droopy gains a slight advantage over Tom.

For their next task, Tom and Droopy have to swim through the pool while avoiding obstacles. Droopy again attempts to go first, but Tom traps him under a bucket. Jerry attaches a buoy to Tom's swimming trunks to slow him down, then releases a shark and a giant squid to attack Tom. Tom narrowly escapes but is crushed by the debris that were collected by the buoy, causing him to fail again. Jerry fills Droopy up with soda then shakes him up, causing him to float and easily breeze through the obstacle course.

The Head Lifeguard still cannot decide who to give the job to (despite the fact that Droopy has performed better on both tasks) so he instructs Miss Shapely to fake a real emergency to see how both would respond. After noticing Miss Shapely pretending to drown, Tom ties Droopy up in a life preserver and jumps into the pool to rescue her. He is distracted when Jerry throws a pizza on a life preserver into the pool, and pauses to eat it while Miss Shapely leaves. Tom finishes the pizza, but suffers from stomach cramps and nearly drowns. Droopy escapes from the life preserver and rescues him, performing CPR. Droopy is then given the position as lifeguard, while Tom is given the position as janitor. Jerry pulls his sunglasses down showing his eyes and smiles to the audience ending the episode.

Gallery[]

Main article: A Life Less Guarded/Gallery

Trivia[]

  • The head lifeguard is a caricature of the famous animator, Tex Avery, who also is the creator of Droopy.
  • This episode has the human characters' faces being shown.
  • This is the first appearance of Droopy in an episode of the second season, and the third time of this series, curiously returns to appear in the next episode related to water sports, Endless Bummer.
    • Droopy has a major role in this episode as Tom's competitor for the lifeguard job.
  • In this, the first episode Tom wears lifeguard swim trunks, instead of his classic red bathing suit since Beach Bully Bingo.
  • Both Tom and Droopy compete in a total of 4 challenges each, 5 when including the final part where Miss Shapely fakes a real emergency for them to save her.
  • This is one of the few episodes where Jerry actually tries to kill Tom, which he does twice: first by releasing a shark and a squid to eat Tom while he is slowed down by a buoy, then by giving him stomach cramps so that he will drown).

Goofs[]

  • Halfway during Tom's turn in the second match, Tom loses his swim trunks. And in the next scene after Droopy's turn, Tom has his swim trunks back on again.
    • It is possible that Tom must've retrieved his swim trunks from the pool after the second match.
  • Oddly enough, neither Miss Shapely nor the head lifeguard are aware that most of Droopy's victories were due to Jerry doing the cheating for him such as Jerry controlling Droopy's diving movements like a puppet and feeding Droopy lots of carbonated beverages to enable him to swim through the debri-laden pool.
  • Tom nearly drowns after getting stomach cramps after eating an entire pizza in the pool. In reality, while cramps during swimming are common, they are never severe enough to the point of drowning.
    • Neither Miss Shapely or The Head Lifeguard attempt to rescue Tom while he is in peril.

In Other Languages[]

Names, etymology and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology and notes
Japanese ドルーピーと水泳対決! Swimming showdown with Droopy!
German Duell im Schwimmbad Duel in the swimming pool
French Tom maître nageur Tom lifeguard
Italian Un bagnino che fa poca guardia. A lifeguard who does little guard
Spanish
(Latin America)
Una vida sin guardia A life without guard
Portuguese
(Brazil)
Salvem os Salva-Vidas Save the Lifeguards
Tom and Jerry Tales
Season 1
Tiger Cat | Feeding Time | Polar Peril | Joy Riding Jokers | Cat Got Your Luggage? | City Dump Chumps | Way-Off Broadway | Egg Beats | Cry Uncle | Bats What I Like About the South | Fraidycat Scat | Tomb It May Concern | Din-O-Sores | Freaky Tiki | Prehisterics | Digital Dilemma | Hi, Robot | Tomcat Jetpack | Fire Breathing Tom Cat | Medieval Menace | The Itch | Ho Ho Horrors | Doggone Hill Hog | Northern Light Fish Fight | Cat Nebula | Martian Mice | Spaced Out Cat | Octo Suave | Beach Bully Bingo | Treasure Map Scrap | Destruction Junction | Battle of the Power Tools | Jackhammered Cat | Tin Cat of Tomorrow | Beefcake Tom | Tomcat Superstar | Piranha Be Loved By You | Spook House Mouse | Abracadumb
Season 2
More Powers to You | Catch Me Though You Can't | Power Tom | Zent Out of Shape | I Dream of Meanie | Which Witch | Don't Bring Your Pet to School Day | Cat Show Catastrophe | The Cat Whisperer | Adventures in Penguin Sitting | Cat of Prey | Jungle Love | Invasion of the Body Slammers | Monster Con | Over the River and Boo the Woods | Xtreme Trouble | A Life Less Guarded | Sasquashed | Summer Squashing | League of Cats | Little Big Mouse | Bend It Like Thomas | Endless Bummer | Game Set Match | The Declaration of Independunce | Kitty Hawked | 24 Karat Kat | Hockey Schtick | Snow Brawl | Snow Mouse | DJ Jerry | Kitty Cat Blues | Flamenco Fiasco | You're Lion | Kangadoofus | Monkey Chow | Game of Mouse & Cat | Babysitting Blues | Catfish Follies
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