Kitty Foiled is a 1948 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 34th Tom and Jerry short, that was released on June 1, 1948. It introduces a new character, Cuckoo.
Characters[]
- Jerry Mouse
- Cuckoo
- Tom Cat (the main antagonist)
Plot[]
A frightened canary (Cuckoo) watches the chase as glass breaks and other fighting sounds are heard throughout. Tom attempts to smash Jerry with the broom, but swings, and accidentally breaks a lamp and glasses. Jerry hides in the one unbroken glass, and runs away, hoping not to be caught, but is no match for Tom picks up the glass and waits for Jerry to realize he is captured. When he does, his heart starts beating and extending out of his chest. Before Tom can club the mouse over the head with the broken end of the broom handle, Cuckoo escapes from his cage by unlatching the base of the cage, which falls onto Tom, flattening his head with a cymbal noise.
Tom pursues Jerry, chasing him into his mouse hole, into which Tom's face gets caught, elongating his nose. Tom then spots Cuckoo, beating his wings into the air within his cage. The cat leaps for him, but instead gets himself caught inside his cage, which he then seals with the base. He flies onto a table, and then runs away as Tom pursues him, but instead fails when Tom pokes himself through the center of the table and swallows Cuckoo. Fortunately for him, the ever-present "cuckoo...cuckoo...cuckoo" gag allows the bird to escape.
Tom runs after the bird, and then rises into the air, flapping his wings in order to stay afloat in the same matter as Cuckoo. Tom grins at the camera until he runs into the wall and three potted plants hit him on the head. The cat recovers and sees Cuckoo pacing away under a fourth pot. He covers the pot and pokes his eye through the hole. As Tom reaches under the pot to grab the bird, Jerry inserts Tom's tail into the windowsill and snaps the cord. When Tom untangles himself and storms after the mouse, Cuckoo dives down and gives him a lift. They enter the hole, and as Tom's nose is once again elongated, this time, he has swallowed the duo. The mouse and canary squeeze out and take sanctuary in the mouse hole.
After some time, Jerry allows Cuckoo to fly back to his birdcage, but as Tom suddenly appears from behind a sofa, mouth wide open, the bird flies into Tom's mouth. Jerry retrieves the bird by using a hammer to break Tom's teeth, freeing the bird from his prison. Cuckoo kicks out Tom's last tooth and flies off. As Tom snatches Jerry in his hand, Cuckoo pulls up a floorboard and traps Tom's tail under it. In pain, Tom leaps up, and yells in pain, but smacks his head on the cage, causing it to fall down on his head and onto the floor.
As Tom chases Jerry around the corner, Cuckoo pulls him behind a curtain. Jerry and the bird trick Tom by dressing as two Native Americans and setting out from the curtain. Jerry waves and mutters "how" as Cuckoo innocently smiles and waves. Tom does not catch it for a while, but soon sees the trick and chases after the two. Cuckoo flies back into the small white enclosure strapped to Jerry's back. The mouse turns around slowly in dread, and realizes that Tom is coming, so they run off. Cuckoo sticks his tongue out at Tom, only to bump his head on a chair. Tom chases Cuckoo, while Jerry watches the predicament, and as he soon changes direction, Tom goes after the mouse. Jerry and then Tom dive under a polar-bear skin complete with head, and when Tom pops out of the mouth, Cuckoo (on top of it) stomps on the head. Tom shrieks in pain and rolls his tongue out.
Tom dives for Cuckoo, but stops short in midair when Cuckoo picks up a gun. Tom backs up in dread until he is cornered next to the fireplace. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Jerry drops a light bulb, making a noise similar to a shot. Tom, oblivious, believes he was actually shot, utters a dramatic grunt of pain, and sees from the mirror his "grave." Tom flips a coin as he "dies" on the floor. The mouse and canary celebrate, shaking hands with each other, plus a revived Tom.
Noticing the cat, they decide to distract him by repeatedly shaking each other's hands and both of Tom's hands. Tom gets swept up in the moment of goodwill, and Jerry and Cuckoo make Tom's hands shake one and then sneak away to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". Tom soon realizes his hands are shaking each other and now believes he has been duped, so he chases the two, but fails when Cuckoo escapes, while Jerry runs into the leg of a chair. Tom catches Jerry and ties him to a toy train track, and then gets on a long toy train by hoping onto the engine, and activates it by pulling a switch to head toward Jerry to kill him by causing the train to back up and roll forward down the line. The terrified canary grabs a bag with a bowling ball inside and carries it across the room to where the scene unfolds: Tom, with vicious glee, is approaching the mouse fast (accompanied with a fragment of Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture), who begins to say his prayers. However, the bowling ball unzips from its case, falls out and crashes through a floor to split the railroad and the ground apart by creating a big hole, in which the train plunges with Tom still aboard into the basement with loud crashing noises.
The short ends with Jerry and Cuckoo whistling "My Blue Heaven".
Notes[]
- The train scene is used as a flashback in Life with Tom.
- This cartoon features the second time Tom screams with his tongue out, complete with party horn sound effect accompanying it. The first was in Solid Serenade.
- Kenneth Muse returned to animating Tom and Jerry cartoons starting with this one.
- This is the only Tom and Jerry cartoon with animation by Irving Levine.
- The title was seen on the sign of the theatre from The Tom and Jerry Show (2014) episode It Ain't Over Until The Cat Lady Sings.
- This short is included as a bonus feature to the movie Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure on at least Vudu and Prime Video.
- The engine leading the train is modelled after an 0-6-0 tender engine hauling six coaches.
- The title card is mostly similar to Flirty Birdy.
Censorship[]
- Cartoon Network and Boomerang cut out the scene that shows Jerry and Cuckoo dressing up as Native Americans.
- In the UK, everything involving the gun is cut. After Tom is caught in the bear rug, it cuts straight to the hand-shaking scene.
Gallery[]
