Tot Watchers is a 1958 American one-reel animated Tom and Jerry cartoon with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach.
A sequel to Busy Buddies (1956) two years earlier, it was the 114th and final Tom and Jerry cartoon created at the MGM cartoon studio before its closure.
In 1960, Gene Deitch produced 13 cartoons for MGM at his studio, as most of his shorts were widely panned and considered to be the worst of Tom and Jerry for a number of reasons from fans, with the exceptions of The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, Buddies Thicker Than Water, and Carmen Get It!
When his unit ceased production on T&J shorts, Chuck Jones produced 34 more at his studio before being shut down in 1967, ending production of Tom and Jerry cartoons.
Characters[]
- Tom Cat
- Jerry Mouse
- Voiced by Julie Bennett:
- Police Officer (voiced by Bill Thompson)
- Spike Bulldog (cameo)
Plot[]
Jeannie is instructed to look after the Baby while his mother goes out. However, Jeannie pays more attention to talking on the telephone apathetically than her actual babysitting. In the midst of Tom and Jerry's usual fighting, they see Baby crawling out of his pram. Any attempt to return the Baby to where he came from simply results in him escaping from the pram again. During one escape, Baby crawls into Spike's dog house. Tom accidentally grabs Spike instead of the baby, and is promptly attacked, scratched, and bit. This time, Tom angrily brings the Baby back to Jeannie herself, who hits Tom over the head with a broom four times, thinking that Tom has taken Baby away from her.
Realising that Baby is no longer worth the trouble, Tom does nothing the next time that he crawls from his pram. However, he and Jerry are forced to react after Baby crawls down to the street and into a construction site. Baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the cat and mouse look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves Baby from crawling off a wooden plank by grabbing his diaper. The diaper comes loose, and as Baby falls, he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while Baby crawls off, nonchalantly.
Tom and Jerry catch up with Baby, only to lose him again, and fearing that he has crawled into a cement mixer, the cat and mouse dive straight in, only to find that Baby never did enter the mixer but instead playing with a hammer. Baby then playfully bonks Tom on the head.
Later on, Jeannie is crying, telling a police officer that while she was babysitting, she took her eye off Baby for "one teensy minute", and when she turned her back on Baby to answer the phone (stretching the truth as she actually called on it), Baby was gone. Tired, Tom and Jerry arrive with Baby. Jeannie grabs Baby while the two try to escape, but fail the police officer arrests Tom and Jerry, assuming that they were the "baby nappers". In the police car, the police officer can't believe Tom and Jerry's explanation. Just then, Baby (presumably neglected by Jeannie again) crawls past the police car and away into the distance, much to both Tom and Jerry's shock. The shocked police officer finally realizes that Tom and Jerry were actually telling the truth the whole time.
Quotes[]
- Jeannie: ""Yes ma'am."
- Jeannie: "Goodbye. Hi it's me, Jeannie. Oh no I'm babysitting for two hours oh hehehe he's silly oh oh I did yeah I have a date already oh no you kidding she wouldn't do that."
- Jeannie: "Scat you bad cat!"
- Jeannie: "Hi it's me again. Oh no the baby's all right. It's that cat after watch."
- Jeannie: "Scat you bad cat!"
- Jeannie: "That cat keeps bothering the baby. Oh no, he did, really?"
- Jeannie: "Gasp oh that's right I saw him in a drive in swell show kid huh?"
- Jeannie: "Yeah it's that darn cat again yeah if I could get a passing grade in Algebra oh? I hate Algebra gosh whoever thought that stuff up?"
- Jeannie: "I just turn my back for one teensy minute answering the phone, and the baby was gone! Oh please officer you must get that baby back you-- There's the baby!"
- (Tom and Jerry arrive tired holding the baby and Jeannie grabs the baby. Tom and Jerry try to escape, but the Police Officer grab them)
- Police Officer: "Gotcha, ya babynappers." [Tom and Jerry are now arrested in the police car that the police officer is driving. The light changes from green to red as the sign changes from "GO" to "STOP" and the police car stops] "A baby crawlin' down the street?! Now who would be after believin' that?!" [Just then, to their surprise, the baby crawls past the police car and away into the distance, as the cartoon ends.]
Notes[]
- This features the final appearances of Joan and her baby. This also marks the final appearance of Jeannie, who was hated by fans due to her character often bordering on neglecting her job as a babysitter and unfairly getting Tom and Jerry arrested.
- Joan's husband George is absent in this cartoon, with his final appearance being The Vanishing Duck which was also Quacker's final appearance.
- This cartoon marks the last of a few things:
- The final cartoon to have the 1956-1958 Tom and Jerry title card.
- The final Tom and Jerry cartoon to be produced in Cinemascope, as the Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones eras returned to the 4:3 Academy format used from 1940-1955.
- The final Tom and Jerry production to be produced in widescreen until Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars.
- The last cartoon to use the classic MGM sound effects until the Chuck Jones cartoon, Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life.
- This is also the final short to use the original Tom screams which debut in Fraidy Cat; however, the only Tom scream to survive is the scream from The Bodyguard.
- The final appearance of Tanner The Lion until 1963, starting with Pent-House Mouse.
- This cartoon marks the last of a few things:
- The final Tom and Jerry reissue cartoon to use the 1954-1958 blue-background blue ribbon MGM Cartoons logo until it was modified for cartoons released in CinemaScope starting with the Tom and Jerry cartoon Pet Peeve.
- The final Tom and Jerry reissue cartoon to be produced in the original Academy format as the Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones era returned to the said format.
- The final reissue cartoon to use the ending quotes "An MGM Tom and Jerry Cartoon. Made in Hollywood, U.S.A."
- The final cartoon of the Hanna-Barbera era Tom and Jerry shorts.
- Since the policeman saw the baby escape on his own at the end, he most likely would now have believed Tom and Jerry and so the two probably did not get arrested afterwards, also the policeman released Tom and Jerry and ordered them to bring the baby back and has Jeannie arrested for lying to him and her negligence.
- The music score in the beginning uses the music score heard in Dangerous When Wet.
- In an Animaniacs episode, Cat on a Hot Steel Beam, there is a parody of Tom, Jerry and the baby, along with a parody of Popeye and Swee'Pea on the same construction site where Buttons the Dog chases after Mindy who is following a cute little kitten.
Reception[]
Pan and Scan version[]
The pan and scan version of this short was heavily panned by fans, as many important elements are cropped out. For example, near the end of the cartoon when Jeannie takes the baby out of Tom's hands, it doesn't show Jeannie, making it look as if the baby vanished out of nowhere. It wasn't until in the 2010s when it was reformatted in 16:9. Unlike the 1990s butchered format, not much is lost as it is given more focus on the prominent details that were cropped out incorrectly.
CinemaScope version[]
This short was critically panned by fans alike, and not only is it often considered to be a weak end to the 1940-1958 era of Tom and Jerry, but also as one of the worst cartoons in the entire Tom and Jerry series. This is mainly due to the lack of slapstick in its plot, Jeannie's negligence of taking care of the baby (even further than in Busy Buddies), and the ending where Tom and Jerry get falsely arrested by a police officer (who accuses them of baby napping).
Censorships[]
- This short was banned in Morocco because of the arrest of Tom and Jerry, the interrogation with the police, and the child's victory.
Copyright Gag[]
- Despite this Tom and Jerry short being released in 1958, the roman numerals in the copyright credit reads 'MCMLVII' as it is dated in 1957.
Gallery[]
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