Tot Watchers

Tot Watchers
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story By	Homer Brightman
Music By	Scott Bradley
Animation By	Kenneth Muse Lewis Marshall James Escalante
Distributed By	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date	August 1, 1958
Color Process	Technicolor CinemaScope Perspecta
Preceded By	Robin Hoodwinked
Followed By	Switchin' Kitten

Tot Watchers is a 1958 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 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", "Carmen Get It!", and "Buddies Thicker Than Water".

When his unit closed down, Chuck Jones produced 34 more at his studio before being shut down in 1967, ending production of Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Characters

Starring

• Tom Cat
• Jerry Mouse

Featuring

• Jeannie
• George and Joan's Baby
• Police Officer
• Spike Bulldog (cameo)
• Joan

Plot

Babysitter Jeannie (voiced by Julie Bennett) is instructed to look after the baby while his mother (also voiced by Bennett) 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 the baby crawling out of its pram. Any attempt to return the baby to where it came from simply results in the baby escaping from the pram again. During one escape, the 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, thinking that Tom has taken the baby away from her.

Realising that the baby is no longer worth the trouble, Tom does nothing the next time that it crawls from its pram. However, he and Jerry are forced to react after the baby crawls down to the street and into a construction site. The baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the cat and mouse look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves the baby from crawling off a wooden plank by grabbing his diaper. The diaper comes loose, and the baby falls, but he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the baby's diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while the baby crawls off, nonchalantly.

Tom and Jerry catch up with the baby, only to lose it again, and fearing that it has crawled into a cement mixer, the cat and mouse dive straight in, only to find that the baby never did enter the mixer but instead playing with a hammer. The baby then playfully bonks Tom on the head.

Later on, Jeannie is in panic and crying, telling a police officer that she was babysitting, took her eye off the baby for "one teensy minute" and the baby was gone. Tired Tom and Jerry arrive with the baby. Jeannie grabs the baby while the two try to escape, but the police officer (voiced by Bill Thompson) arrests Tom and Jerry, assuming they were "baby nappers". In the police car, the police officer cannot believe Tom and Jerry's explanation. Just then, to their surprise, the baby crawls past the police car and away into the distance.

Quotes

• Jeannie: Yes Ma'am.

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• 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.

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• Jeannie: Scat you bad cat!

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• Jeannie: Hi it's me again. Oh no the baby's all right. It's that cat after watch.

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• Jeannie: Scat you bad cat!

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• Jeannie: That cat keeps bothering the baby. Oh no, he did, really?

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• Jeannie: Gasp oh that's right I saw him in a drive in swell show kid huh?

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• 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?

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• Jeannie: I just turn my back for one teensy minute, and she's oh and the baby was gone! Oh please officer you must get that baby back you-- There's the baby!
• (Tom and Jerry arrive 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. 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.]

Trivia

• This features the final appearances of Joan and her baby. This also marks the final appearance of Jeannie, who was well truly despised by fans due to her character often borders on neglecting her job as a babysitter.
• Joan's husband George is absent in this cartoon.

Reception

Pan and Scan to 4:3 version's reception

The pan-and-scan version of this short was heavily panned by fans, as many important elements are cropped out, such as near the end, Jeannie takes the baby out of Tom's hand is not shown, but shows the baby being removed from Tom (looks as if the baby vanished out of nowhere).

Episode's reception

This cartoon episode was brutally and universally panned by fans as it was hated for its plot, the infamous abysmal ending where Tom and Jerry get arrested falsely by a police officer of baby napping, Tom and Jerry getting tortured for the entire episode for no reason, and also Jeannie showing negligence of doing her own job of taking care of the baby (child neglect) even worse than in Busy Buddies. It was often considered a bad way to end the 1940-1958 era of Tom and Jerry, and is also considered to be the worst of all the 1940-1958 era of Tom and Jerry, along with "Blue Cat Blues", which was equally as bad as said episode.

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