Casanova Cat is a 1951 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 55th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby.
Plot[]
Original titles as shown on the film strip of the 16mm print.
A newspaper headline announces that Toodles has inherited a million dollars. A top-hatted Tom heads to Toodles' home to woo her with flowers and newspaper in hand. Jerry, visibly annoyed and tied to a bow, is being dragged along behind Tom. Toodles' housemaid takes his hat and lets him in. Tom stares at Toodles and offers Jerry to her as a present. Tom then treats Jerry like a toy, forcing him into one humiliating performance after another. During a break in the shenanigans, Jerry exacts his revenge by spoiling a tender moment between Tom and Toodles. Jerry escapes to the window ledge and spots Butch singing 'Over the Rainbow' in the trash can in a nearby alley. Jerry folds the newspaper article announcing Toodles' windfall into a paper airplane and launches it towards Butch. Butch's interest is piqued, and Jerry shows Butch where Toodles is.
Butch catapults himself into Toodles' home like a human cannonball and literally comes between Tom and her. Tom and Butch proceed to battle each other for Toodles' affection: Butch goes inside, then holds his hands on Toodles with her consent and kisses her. Tom attempt to slap Butch with his glove and Butch retaliates by giving him a slap of his paws, launching Tom to a goldfish's bowl on his head, Tom walks to the window to grab hold of a rope of a pole to Butch who tries to appeal Toodles with his looks, awhile not knowing Tom tying, and resulting him tied on the pole like a flag.
A while later, Tom is sitting with Toodles again. As she throws chocolates to Tom's mouth, Butch drops a bowling ball on Tom's mouth, causing him to fall through the couch. Butch holds Toodles' paw, and kisses her arm until Tom place a mousetrap on Toodles' shoulder, getting Butch's mouth caught in the trap. Angered, Butch chases his rival, to the room where Tom slams him between doors on the alley cat. As Butch continues on the pursuit despite his flattened condition, Tom runs back to the room with Toodles, while being chased by Butch, Tom hid behind the sofa, and kisses Toodles in the cheek twice before Butch gives up the chase and goes back and tries to kiss Toodles, as Tom attempts to kiss her as well, but the two end up kissing each other instead.
But they soon discover that in the midst of their brawling, Jerry kisses Toodles on the cheek, which has her take an interest in the mouse. Tom and Butch chase Jerry, he hid himself in a vent, with Tom and Butch stopping at both sides of the wall to find Jerry. While the two cats were busy looking, Jerry grabs both of their tails, ties them in a knot, and pulls on Tom's tail to get his attention. Tom then pulls his tail, thinking Jerry's pulling his tail, which made Butch hit the wall a few times. Then Butch started pulling his tail, also thinking Jerry is pulling his tail, and made Tom hit the wall as well. When Butch couldn't get his tail free, he starts to run straight forward, which starts to pull Tom through the vent butt-first. Tom starts to get squeezed through as Butch can't run any further, when Tom gets stuck for a few seconds. Tom then pops out of the vent in the shape of a cube and bangs into Butch. Tom then manages to pop back to his normal shape, and the two of them glare at each other angrily, until the two of them hear a noise coming from outside. After managing to untie their tails, they ran to the couch, but find that Toodles is no longer on the couch, and immediately they looked out of the window and see a car leaving; Toodles and Jerry are in the back seats of it, when Jerry had put the car shade down, he and Toodles share a passionate kiss together.
Characters[]
Starring[]
Featuring[]
Censorship and Bans[]
- On all television airings in the United States, including on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT and MeTV, the entire scene where Tom blows cigar smoke on Jerry, including Tom making Jerry dance on a burning plate in blackface is cut. In the edited version, there is a cut from Jerry landing in the fishbowl from the balancing act to Jerry escaping to the window ledge,
- Because of the sequence in this cartoon involving Jerry in blackface, this short has been banned from being released on DVD in the United States by Warner Home Video, such as the third Spotlight Collection. However, it was released on the Tom and Jerry Classics Collection in Europe uncensored. When it was announced that neither this short nor Mouse Cleaning would be on the then-upcoming Tom and Jerry Golden Collection: Volume 2, the negative reception prompted Warner Home Video to shelve the set indefinitely.
Notes[]
- This cartoon was created in 1950 and released in early 1951.
- This is the final appearance of Toodles Galore during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation.
- In February of 2018, the original opening titles to the cartoon were found on a 16mm print sold on eBay.
- In May of 2019, a user "@cartoon98100" from YouTube and from Looney Tunes Forum Italia posted screenshots of the full opening titles taken from a 35mm "Safety Film" print.
- This cartoon uses the song Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz as one of the background melodies.
- The title card is similar to Mouse in Manhattan, albeit with the darker background color and different arrangement with the hat, cane and gloves.
- Toodles' housemaid resembles Mammy Two Shoes.
Availability[]
Gallery[]
- Main article: Casanova Cat/Gallery
External links[]
Screenshots of the Original Titles on eBay