Smarty Cat is the 95th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, backgrounds by Vera Ohman and the layouts by Richard Bickenbach.
Title[]
The name is the pun on the saying "Smarty pants."
Plot[]
Tom's friends (Butch, Topsy, and Lightning) peek over a fence and then Butch whistles. Tom shows them a sign with "Nobody Home" written on it. The cats run to the house, sneaking while passing a sleeping Spike.
Tom lets them in then Butch says: "I got the pictures, Tom! These are the funniest home movies I ever took. Wait'll you see what happened to these dumb dogs. Boy will you make a monkey out of them. They don't know where they are coming or going." (the cats laugh) "Okay, douse the lights." (Lightning is about to shut the lights off.) "Hold it!" Having possibly thought that Jerry can spoil the film to Spike, Butch points to Jerry, who merely intends to watch the film with the cats after hearing about the footage they have. Tom kicks Jerry out of the house and he lands in Spike's mouth. Jerry then pops out from Spike's nose, looking furious. Back at the house, Butch says: "OK boys, here we go!" The movie starts. The movie's title is: "Tom the Terrific Cat" "Starring Tom". Then the first part starts and its title is "Lover Boy!"
This part starts with a zoom into a house and to a doghouse labeled "KILLER" with Spike in it (from the 1946 cartoon Solid Serenade). Tom pokes his head over the wall and spots a female cat in the window. Tom whistles and the female cat comes out to the window.
Butch laughs and says: "Here's when the dog started after Tom!"
In the cartoon, Killer chases after Tom, but Tom hides behind a wall and picks up a brick. Killer pokes his head over the wall when he sees a brick, but gets bopped on the head with it.
Meanwhile, Jerry had got back into the house and goes on the sofa to watch.
Killer chases Tom back and forth while Tom's girl is watching. Tom stops periodically to kiss the cat, but the third time, Killer substitutes himself. Tom grabs Killer, but thinks he is talking to the girl and woos Killer in a Charles Boyer speech: "I love you. Now you set my soul on fire. It is not just a little spark. It is a flame; a big roaring flame. I can feel it now..." then he sees the female cat and then drops Killer onto the rock landing.
Butch laughs and says: "Lover boy" while mimicking Tom, but then sees Jerry again and points at him. Tom kicks Jerry out of the house again. Jerry lands in Spike's mouth again. Jerry opens Spike's eyelid like a curtain and frowns.
Butch says: "Part two coming up. This is the time you went fishing, Tom!" Part two is named "The Dumb Dog".
This part starts with a lake scene from the 1947 cartoon Cat Fishin'. Signs are posted that say "no fishing", "keep out", "private property", "no trespassing", and "beware of dog". Spike is shown guarding the fence asleep. Tom shows up with his fishing gear and he passes through the gate. However, Spike just happens to yawn and recline on Tom's leg. Tom tries to get away, but Spike thinks Tom’s leg is a bone and grabs at it a second time. Spike licks the leg and takes a bite into it; this being Tom’s leg, it causes the cat to scream. Spike wakes up and looks around, but does not see anyone, as Tom hides behind Spike as the bulldog moves around. When he turns around again, Tom sits on the top of his extended fishing pole. Spike still does not see him.
Butch says: "Now there is a dumb dog!" and sees Jerry again, watching the movie from the mail slot. The cats frown at Jerry while Butch yells: "Excuuuuuse me!" and runs to kick Jerry away from there. But Jerry crawls out of the mail slot and runs away before Butch can kick him, causing Butch slip and fall down. Jerry runs next to Spike and sees the door being slammed. He gets annoyed and had enough of this, then he pushes Spike to the window and lifts his head over the windowsill, allowing the dog to see the movie. The movie's third part had just started and it is named "New lease on life".
This is a part of the 1952 cartoon Fit To Be Tied, and in this part, Tom reads the newspaper. The paper's headline is:
"LEASH LAW PASSED": Public safety puts dogs on leash. City to impound all unleashed dogs. Under a picture: It shouldn't happen to a dog....say dogs.
Tom removes his black suit and jaunts outside with the paper and 'tsk's at the dog while pulling at his leash. Tom measures the leash (by arm-length), draws a line in the grass, and slaps the dog with the paper. Spike attempts to bite at Tom repeatedly, but the leash stops him just a bit away. Tom plays with the dog, pieing him, smashing him between cymbals, and punching him with a boxing glove. Finally, he uses Spike's teeth to fashion a baseball bat out of a log and knocks out the dog with it. Tom then uses the baseball bat as a pool cue to shoot Spike back into his doghouse.
The cats laugh manically. Butch says "Screwball in a side pocket" then continues laughing. An infuriated Spike then appears behind Butch, who then imitates Spike barking, but, upon realising the imminent danger to come, falters and his voice turns into "bow-wow". In the next scene, the door outdoors is shown while Butch's "bow-wow" voice becomes weaker and weaker. Just then, the door bursts open and Tom runs out of the house. A lamp, chair, book, bookshelf and a table are shown being thrown out from the house. Afterwards, Topsy, Lightning, and Butch run out of the house, with Spike on their trail. Jerry is then seen holding a movie camera and he films the four cats being chased by the dog. Then from the camera appears the title "The End".
Characters[]
Starring[]
Featuring[]
- Butch
- Topsy
- Lightning
- Spike Bulldog
- Toodles Galore (footage only)
Notes[]
- This is the first and only cartoon to end with the generic MGM cartoon ending title instead of the Tom & Jerry ending title since The Yankee Doodle Mouse. MGM mistakenly used the then-current generic MGM Cartoon closing title on this cartoon instead of the reissue of the 1947 Tex Avery directed cartoon Slap Happy Lion, which, in turn, erroneously uses the Tom & Jerry ending titles. (The reissue titles for Slap Happy Lion were likely being prepared concurrently with this cartoon's post-production, which would be a major contributing factor in causing this erroneous end title swap.)
- This is one of the episodes which Butch eventually talks.
- The scene where Tom whistles in the Solid Serenade clip wasn't in the original short and was animated specifically for this episode.
- This is one of the shorts where Tom loses with another cat. The others are Sufferin' Cats!, Casanova Cat, Jerry's Cousin, Saturday Evening Puss, Tennis Chumps, Cat and Dupli-cat, Catty-Cornered, and A Mouse in the House.
Gallery[]
