Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse
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| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse | |
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 The title card of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse |
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| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
|---|---|
| Story by | William Hanna (unc.) Joseph Barbera (unc.) |
| Animation by | Ed Barge Michael Lah Kenneth Muse Al Grandmain |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date | June 14, 1947 |
| Format | Technicolor, 7 min 24 secs |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse is a 1947 cartoon featuring Tom and Jerry, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons in 1947, but lost to the Merrie Melodies short Tweetie Pie. The cartoon was released on 14th June 1947, and was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby and animated by Ed Barge, Michael Lah, Kenneth Muse and Al Grandmain.
The film starts with Tom delightfully grabbing a bottle of milk and rushing into the living room to pour it in his bowl and drink it. Just as he begins to drink from his bowl, he notices Jerry drinking his milk. Tom attempts to hit Jerry, but ends up hitting himself in the process. Further attempts to prevent Jerry from drinking the milk prove fruitless. Just then, Tom has an ingenious plan.
The next scene shows Tom craftily mixing several chemicals into his milk, such as mothballs, ammonia and a variety of poisonous substances. He mixes the deadly elixir together with a spoon, but the toxic chemicals cause the spoon to break apart. A fly flies onto the edge of the bowl and takes a little sip, before crying in pain and dropping down dead.
Confident that his potion works, Tom carries the bowl and places it outside Jerry's hole, gleefully watching as Jerry drinks from the bowl. Jerry yells in pain and collapses. Just as Tom is checking that Jerry is dead or not, the effects of the potion take place. Jerry becomes an oversized, muscular, super-strong version of himself, more than able to defend himself against the cat, scaring Tom into running away. Tom tries to squash Jerry with a large phone book, but the super-rodent effortlessly rips the book into shreds. Tom opens up a safe and jumps inside, closing the door behind him. Jerry's powerful strength allows him to punch through the metal safe and pull Tom out of the resulting hole. As he grabs Tom and smacks him against the safe, the potion's effects wear off and Jerry returns to his normal size.
After drinking the rest of the potion and getting his revenge on Tom, Jerry reverts to his normal self once again and hurries to make more of the concoction himself. Before Jerry has a chance to drink it, Tom gulps down the mixture and ends up shrinking. The tables are turned, and by the cartoon's end, Jerry is chasing Tom with a fly swatter.
