Jerry's Diary is a 1949 one-reel animated cartoon that is the 45th Tom and Jerry short released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby, scored by Scott Bradley, and animated by Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. It is the first of several compilation Tom and Jerry shorts, integrating footage from previous shorts into the plot.
Characters[]
Starring[]
Featuring[]
- Uncle Dudley (on the radio)
Plot[]
Tom places a bunch of traps in front of Jerry's mouse hole. He raises a cleaver over the hole and is stopped by a talking radio. The announcer Uncle Dudley tells him it is "Be kind to Animals" week. He removes the traps he just set up and returns with flowers, a present and a pie with, "To Jerry with Love" written on it. Tom knocks on the wall but there is no answer. Tom removes the grate on the wall and sees that Jerry is not at home. But he does see his diary. Tom reaches in, grabs it, and starts to read it.
The first entry dates on Sunday, April 5, when Tom used Jerry as a Tee when he played golf. The scene from Tee for Two opens, where Tom uses Jerry as a tee. Tom searches for his golf ball; unknown to him, Jerry has the golf ball. Tom then washes Jerry in a ball cleaner. Tom is laughing while reminding this scene. But after reading the next part of the entry, Jerry is forced to hold the tee. Tom hits the golf ball which ricochets on a rock and the ball shatters all his teeth like glass.
Tom's mood goes down and he turns to another entry. The next entry dates on Thursday, May 12, when Jerry got curious about Tom and it almost got him caught. The scene from Mouse Trouble opens, where Tom is reading a book and guffawing. Jerry comes out of his mouse hole, curious about why Tom is laughing. Tom keeps turning the book away and laughing again. Tom finally traps Jerry, takes him out, and then Jerry uses a similar trick and punches Tom in the eye.
Tom gets angry from what he has read and throws away the flowers. He turns to another entry which dates on Monday, June 3, when Jerry got Tom into two nasty surprises in a chase. The scene from Solid Serenade opens, where Jerry is being chased and he dives into the kitchen sink, then he drains the sink forcing Tom to crash into a pile of plates. Jerry traps Tom's neck in a window, causing Tom to scream like a New Year's Eve blow horn.
Tom is enraged that his face turns boiling red at what Jerry has written about him and he destroys Jerry's present. He is just about to throw the diary away when he opens it again and reads one more entry dating Saturday, July 4, when Tom and Jerry fought using firecrackers. The scene from The Yankee Doodle Mouse opens, where Tom and Jerry fight over a firecracker. Just then, an explosion occurs on Tom. Tom traps Jerry in a teapot with a firecracker, which mysteriously goes out. Jerry escapes. Tom looks inside the teapot, ending with the firecracker blowing up in Tom's head with Tom appearing in a blackface sunflower.
Tom then rips Jerry's diary to pieces and Jerry comes home. He is happy to see that Tom has baked him a pie. Jerry points at the pie and then points to himself asking if the pie is for him. Tom is just about to grab Jerry but Uncle Dudley, via the radio, stops him again. "And now before your old Uncle Dudley says goodbye, did you get a nice little surprise for your animal friend?" Tom picks up the pie with a devilish smile. "You did? Well, let him have it." At the end of the cartoon, Tom angrily throws the pie on Jerry while he fishes out his hands, then Jerry who is rather dazed looks into the camera and shrugs his shoulders.
Censorship[]
- When originally shown on the Cartoon Network, the segment from The Yankee Doodle Mouse where the kettle explodes with Tom's face in it was shortened to remove the part where Tom appears in blackface. As of recent airings since 2002, this part has been reinstated.
Notes[]
- This cartoon shares similarities with Life with Tom, in which both cartoons depict Tom reading written entries from Jerry that cover embarrassing moments from Tom's end, which are presented through short footages from past cartoons, and Tom relying on physical violence towards Jerry in the near end as vengeance for humiliating him.
- The scenes about the diary were used on 1980's German opening sequence of Tom und Jerry, with the song, Vielen Dank fur die Blumen by Udo Jergens.
- This is the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be shorter than 7 minutes.
- The scene where Tom's face becomes red with boiling rage while reading the diary has been used as an Internet meme.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Jerry's Diary/Gallery
