Touché, Pussy Cat!

Touché, Pussy Cat!
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Irven Spence
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	December 18, 1954
Color process	Technicolor/CinemaScope
Preceded by	Pet Peeve
Followed by	Southbound Duckling

Touché, Pussy Cat! is the 89th Tom and Jerry cartoon that is made in 1954. The short serves as the prequel to The Two Mouseketeers and the second entry of The Two Mouseketeers quadrilogy.

Plot

François Mouse's son arrives in Paris to be trained as a King’s Mouseketeer. Jerry, the Captain of the Mouseketeers and an old friend of François, attempts to train the garrulous Tuffy, but Tuffy is far too aggressive: he slashes wildly with his rapier, stabs Jerry in the rear, and seeks confrontation with rival Musketeer Tom.

After Jerry must save Tuffy from Tom, he wrote the letter to François Mouse and he prepares to send Tuffy back to François in disgrace and Tuffy take the letter to Jerry and walk away sadly and he look at Jerry he is very angry. However, as Tuffy is walking back home, Tom ambushes Jerry. Tuffy hears the attack and stops it by cutting off the tip of Tom’s tail, with Tuffy exclaiming "Touché, Pussy Cat!" When Tom pins Tuffy to the wall in retaliation, Jerry saves him by causing Tom’s tunic to roll up like a windowshade. Tom continues to ambushes Jerry. Tuffy hears the attack inside the barrel and stops it by grabbing Tom’s tail and cutting off the tip of Tom’s tail once again, with Tuffy exclaiming "Touché, Pussy Cat!"

On the run from Tom, Tuffy is separated from Jerry and begins painting an unflattering portrait of Tom, while singing "Frère Jacques". Tom confronts Tuffy in mid-painting, but Tuffy paints a pince-nez on Tom’s face and escapes. Tom gives pursuit, but Tuffy uses a series of champagne bottles to knock Tom back with their corks, eventually knocking Tom in to an iron gate and crushing him. When Tom attacks again, Tuffy chops open an enormous barrel and washes Tom down the sewers in a massive wave of wine. A drunken Tuffy, observing Tom’s fate, remarks, "Pauvre, pauvre,......Pussycat...".

In appreciation for dispatching Tom and saving his life, Jerry makes Tuffy a Mouseketeer. However, as Tuffy proudly shows off his sword fighting skills in a mirror, he once again stabs Jerry in the rear with his sword. An incensed Jerry turns Tuffy over his lap and gives him a vigorous spanking. As he's being spanked, Tuffy looks at the audience and remarks, "C'est la guerre."

Characters

• Tuffy Mouse
• Jerry Mouse
• Tom Cat
• François Mouse (mentioned)

Notes

• The title of this short would later become Tuffy's catchphrase in the rest of the Mouseketeer cartoons.
• This is the sixth and last Tom and Jerry short to be nominated for an Academy Award.
• This is the only Mouseketeer short where Tuffy has had diaper.
• In the restored DVD version, Tuffy's singing "Frère Jacques" has been muted out for unknown reasons; it is replaced by the background music.
• Like a number of early widescreen animated films (several other MGM cartoons, Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and Lady and the Tramp, for example), Touché, Pussy Cat! was produced in both the Academy and CinemaScope aspect ratios. The same animation cels were used, but the camera shots were re-framed and different backgrounds were used. For some television broadcasts, however, a pan and scan copy was prepared from the CinemaScope version (which is re-framed from the Academy version, and missing information present at the top and bottom of the frame in many shots from the Academy version). Contrary to the CinemaScope version, the Academy version is missing information present at the left and right side of the frame in many shots from the CinemaScope version.
• Due to the difference between the two aforementioned aspect ratios, the end gag of Tuffy needling Jerry's behind with the sword was delivered slightly differently. While the animated elements stayed the same, the shot contains both Tuffy and Jerry with little movement in the Cinemascope version, while the camera focuses on Tuffy and only pans to the right to reveal Jerry after Tuffy shows off his sword.
• On the WB Kids YouTube channel, the cartoon is presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of its CinemaScope format in the Classic Cartoon Compilation videos.
• The title of this cartoon is said by Quacker in Happy Go Ducky after he stabs Tom in the rear with a knife.

Availability

The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II (LaserDisc)

Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection: Volume 4 (DVD)

Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1 (DVD)

Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection

Tom and Jerry: Once Upon A Tomcat (DVD)

Tom and Jerry: Merry Mice

The Last Time I Saw Paris (Blu-ray)

Gallery

Main article: Touché, Pussy Cat!/Gallery