- Not to be confused with the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Smitten Kitten.
Switchin' Kitten is a 1961 Tom and Jerry cartoon and the first of the thirteen cartoons directed by Gene Deitch. It is also the first 1960s entry of the Tom & Jerry series.
Plot[]
During a storm, Tom is trying to find a place to stay after being thrown out of a horse-drawn wagon. In the meantime, Jerry is assisting a mad scientist in a castle. When the scientist shows Jerry to a cage full of cats, he allows Jerry to choose to be their subject, then Jerry picks a timid orange cat hanging from the bars with the other cats fleeing in terror to the back of their cage. The scientist takes the orange cat and then they strap him to a table next to a blue bulldog (that resembles Spike) that is strapped to another table that barked at the cat. Then the mad scientist and Jerry push a number of buttons and controls to switch the brains/instincts of the cat and the dog. The orange cat has the dog's brain/instinct and vice versa. The mad scientist gives the now dog-brained cat to Jerry as a companion. While they are sleeping, Tom approaches the castle and looks out in the window to spotting Jerry inside. As the mouse goes to his dog brained cat companion, he then pounced by Tom, the cat catches Jerry in his clutches.
Jerry whistles for his guardian who walks up to Tom and snatches Jerry out of his hand before placing Jerry on the floor. The orange cat gives a scolding expression at Tom who is puzzled to see a fellow cat grabbing Jerry from him, assuming that he was thinking is being selfish for getting Jerry for himself. He gives the orange cat a mallet to smash Jerry with, but the cat does the unexpected and smashes Tom instead, as the orange cat shakes Jerry's hands. Now no longer willing to share, Tom snatches Jerry from the orange cat. The two cats stare to each other down with the orange cat glares and Tom who is confidently smirking at him. However, that confidence vanishes quickly when the orange cat begins to growl at a now confused Tom, making him let go of Jerry and scaring him off.
A few seconds later, Tom acknowledges the unusual behavior from the orange cat acting like a dog. Tom approaches the cat and tries to to acquaint with the other cat. Tom puts his shoulder around the now-curious orange cat in a friendly manner and shows him a "International Brotherhood of Cats" card. Tom then demonstrates the orange cat that he's a cat and are supposed to beat up mice rather than protect them by smacking Jerry on the head repeatedly. This orange cat doesn't react to it well and hits Tom on the head with a bone after seeing Tom harming Jerry. Tom is turns into a bag after of all his bones are shattered, The dog-brained cat takes the cat outside and buries him till Tom comes out of the soil in the form of a flower.
Later, Tom looks in a library for a book and what he finds in the bookshelf is a book of "Lovable Cats", and finds a page that looks like the orange cat. He approaches the orange cat again with Jerry retreats. Tom tries to prove he is a cat, showing him the page. The orange cat doesn't buy it and growls at the page that are filled with cats. Afraid, Tom retreats inside of the book as the orange cat scratches every pages in the book. He stops when he sees Tom, in the "beach cat" page. The cat slams the book crushing Tom and making him into a page before throwing it to the ground.
A flatten Tom opens the book and reinflates himself. Jerry runs over to Tom and ties his whiskers together to mock him before running off. Tom follows soon after, and to chases Jerry till this is cut short when Tom unknowingly runs into orange cat's fist. The orange cat gets ready to attack Tom, but the he grabs a hold of the bone in orange cat's mouth to stop him. Tom tries to push back against the orange cat, but he is ultimately overpowered. At full speed, the orange cat pushes himself and Tom into a grandfather clock. The cats get into a scuffle before both are launched out of the clock and out of a window. The orange cat lands safely on the ground, but Tom is dangling over the balcony holding to the bone. The orange cat barks and causes the bone to fall to the bottom, taking Tom with it.
After coming back inside the castle to see Jerry and the orange cat sleeping together, Tom tries to slice Jerry in half by taking a blade from one of a pair of axes on the wall, sliding it through the cat's tail, placing Jerry underneath the tail and letting go of the cat's tail so that it will come down on Jerry. Unfortunately for Tom, the orange cat wakes up before Tom does so and stops his tail from hitting Jerry. After grabbing Jerry close to him, the cat then swings his axe-tail down on Tom and hits him right into a set of beaker tubes The cat travels through each of them before landing in the final one as Jerry and his guardian arrive. Tom shivers at the sight of orange cat who barks at him, scaring Tom and making him jump out of the beakers.
Tom runs in terror, trying to find an exit. He opens several doors to comes into contact with animals who've switched instincts with other animals, that the mad scientist has experimented on, including an elephant that chirps like a bird, a rooster that bleats like a goat, a cuckoo-bird that moos like a cow, and the blue bulldog who has the orange cat's instincts. Tom eventually runs up to Jerry's hole, begging him to squeak like mouse. Jerry looks away and crawls into his hole. The mouse does the MGM lion roar, making Tom go crazy and fly out of the castle. He quickly runs away as fast as he can while Jerry winks at the viewer, ending the cartoon.
Characters[]
Main Characters[]
Supporting Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
- Chamber cats
- Chirping Elephant
- Rooster
- Coo Coo bird
Development[]
On July 18, 1961, MGM announced that it was going to resume filming of Tom and Jerry cartoons.[1]
A Box office article reported the completion of the short was in May 1961. [2]
Notes[]
- This cartoon was originally going to be called "Dog My Cats".[3]
- Jerry winks at the screen for the first time since The Midnight Snack.
- This is a cartoon that features many animals that had their bodies switch:
- A dog in a cat's body.
- A bird in an elephant's body.
- A goat in a rooster's body.
- A cat in a dog's body.
- A cow in a cuckoo-bird's body.
- A lion in a mouse's body like Jerry.
- This is the first MGM cartoon to be written by Eli Bauer, a story man best known for his work at Terrytoons.
- According to Gene, orange cat did not have his brain swapped, he just had his animal instincts swapped.
- Although released in 1961, the copyright year is written as MCMLX (1960). This is due to the year it was originally produced in.
- This was the first cartoon to use the new logo for the Gene Deitch-era - the image of a happy Jerry with Tom grinning was used in every short (except in High Steaks) until Landing Stripling
- The logo used for the short is different compared to the proceeding shorts starting with Down and Outing until Landing Stripling.
- This is first and only cartoon to use a shocked Jerry in the "Tom and Jerry" screen, while "The End" screen shows a defeated Tom.
- The blue dog in this short has a close resemblance to Spike; it is unknown if it is him or another dog.
- When Tom was ejected from a horse carriage and this is theorized he was sent there for mad scientist's experiment with the other cats.
- Another orange cat resembling the dog-brained cat can be seen along with the other cats from the chamber.
- This was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon made in the 1960s.
- One of Tom's expressions in the short resembles those from Two Little Indians.
- Jerry ties Tom's whiskers in a bow just like in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse.
Availability[]
References[]
- ↑ "M-G-M is going to resume filming of 'Tom and Jerry' Cartoons. The studio hadn't filmed any of the cartoons in the last three years." - The Leader-Post
- ↑ https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/animating-tom-and-jerry-behind-the
- ↑ https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/tom-jerry-the-gene-deitch-collection/
Gallery[]
Main article: Switchin' Kitten/Gallery