The Cat and the Mermouse (1949)

A day at the beach. Tom wants to lay in the sand, but his rest is disturbed by Jerry, who walks by to go fishing. Tom ends up falling off the end of the pier as he chases Jerry and lands ... See full summary »

Directors:

Joseph Barbera, William Hanna

Storyline

A day at the beach. Tom wants to lay in the sand, but his rest is disturbed by Jerry, who walks by to go fishing. Tom ends up falling off the end of the pier as he chases Jerry and lands underwater, where he encounters a mermaid whose top half looks just like Jerry. A chase, naturally, follows, all underwater. The mermouse, however, runs into a swordfish, and it begins chasing Tom, too, turning into mer-Jerry's ally, until it gets stuck in what looks like a telephone pole. The chase is next interrupted by an octopus, which grabs hold of Tom until Jerry yanks him free when we discover this is all a fever dream of Tom's, and Jerry has actually been performing artificial resuscitation.

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Plot Keywords:

chase | beach | mermaid | dream | pier | 

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Genres:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1949 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Down Beat Bear (1956)

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Soundtracks

"Here's to the Girls"
Music by Roger Edens

User Reviews

Blow the man down, matey

The cartoon begins with Tom preparing himself with loads of ointments and lotions for a day of sunbathing at the beach. It's immediately ruined by Jerry coming along and bothering him. For a minute they do their usual chasing before Tom runs of the end of a pier and 'drowns'.

But at the bottom of the ocean (all three feet of it beneath the pier) he comes across a mermouse who also annoys him. Cue more chases, only with an underwater twist this time involving sunken ships (three feet under a pier, a swordfish and an octopus. It's a welcome break from the generic house T&J shorts are usually set in. Some nice underwater animation earns this one a 7/10.