Touché, Pussy Cat!
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| Touché, Pussy Cat! | |
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 The title card of Touché, Pussy Cat! |
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| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
|---|---|
| Story by | William Hanna (unc.) Joseph Barbera (unc.) |
| Animation by | Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Irven Spence |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date | December 18, 1954 |
| Format | Technicolor, CinemaScope, 6 min 45 secs |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
Touché, Pussy Cat! is a Tom and Jerry cartoon, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1954, their final Oscar nomination. The short lost to the UPA film When Magoo Flew. Touché, Pussy Cat! is the prequel to the 1951 cartoon The Two Mouseketeers which did win the award that year. The film was released in theaters on December 18 1954. It was the first of the Tom and Jerry shorts to be produced in CinemaScope (it has an earlier MPAA number), but was the second CinemaScope-produced short to be released (after Pet Peeve, released in the previous month). The cartoon also exists in a non-Cinemascope format. Touché, Pussy Cat! spawned two further entries in the Mouseketeer series of Tom and Jerry cartoons, namely Tom and Cherie in 1955, and Royal Cat Nap in 1957, released 1958.
The cartoon was created, presumably due to the success of The Two Mouseketeers and thus, has a conceptually similar plot, featuring swashbuckling swordfights between the main characters. The cartoon begins with the little baby mouse Tuffy, (formerly named Nibbles) walking to the King's Mouseketeers Headquarters in Paris. He knocks on the door of the mousehole. However, the force of Jerry opening the door sends Tuffy into a nearby wine bottle. Jerry notices the note that Tuffy was carrying, explaining that Tuffy is the author's son, whom Jerry promised would make a mouseketeer. Tuffy introduces himself (in French), but his constant talking is too much for Jerry, who cannot shut up (even by covering up his mouth with his clothes).
To see if Tuffy would make a good mouseketeer, Jerry puts him through a series of tests. However, Tuffy fails miserably, bringing destruction to the room, ending with Jerry being stabbed in the rear. While walking with Jerry down the cobbled Parisian streets, Jerry stops to give way to a pretty female mouse, while Tuffy simply stands and watches. Jerry tells Tuffy to give way to ladies, but Tuffy gives way to a large puddle. Jerry trips over Tuffy and falls face-down in the puddle. Tuffy allows another lady mouse to walk over Jerry. Just as Jerry is about to chastise Tuffy, Tom comes into the scene. Jerry tries to hide Tuffy and himself from Tom's view, but Tuffy, ever the confrontational mouse, marches up to Tom and yells En garde! As the little rodent counts to trois, Tom slices his hat. Jerry, fearing for Tuffy's safety, pushes down an axe. It slices through Tom, who appears unaffected by this. He sticks out his tongue, but then splits into two.
Back at Jerry's Headquarters, a stern Jerry is responding to his friend's letter, stating that Tuffy will "never make a mouseketeer." He orders Tuffy out of the building, and Tuffy glumly walks off. Just then, he hears Tom yelling En garde! and the sounds of swords clashing. Running back, he sees Tom fighting Jerry (and apparently winning). Tuffy comes to the rescue by using his sword to slash off the end of Tom's tail. Tom screams and leaps into the air. "Touché, Pussy Cat!" exclaims Tuffy. Tom fights back and pins Jerry to a nearby wall. However, Tuffy pulls down on Tom's clothing, causing it to expose his underwear. As Tom again tries to fight back, Tuffy, who is hiding inside a barrel behind Tom, chops off his tail once more. "Touché, Pussy Cat!" yells Tuffy (again).
In the next scene, Jerry and Tuffy are running from Tom, but end up getting separated. Tuffy spies some paint and begins painting a simple and unflattering picture of Tom, while singing Frère Jacques. Unbeknown to him, Tom is standing right behind him and is not amused. Tuffy points out to Tom his picture of the pussy cat, until he realises his mistake. Still armed with a paintbrush, he paints on Tom's face and runs off, leaving Tom with a painted monocle on his face. Tom races after Tuffy, who delays Tom by cutting open some wine bottles, sending several corks into Tom's face. As Tom begins to catch up with the little mouse, Tuffy slashes open a huge barrel of red wine, which causes a tidal wave of wine to engulf Tom, sending him into the sewers, and presumably, to his death. A drunken Tuffy barely manages to hang on and stay afloat, and seeing Tom's fate, remarks "pauvre, pauvre...(hic!)...pussycat." (Poor, poor, pussycat).
The final scene shows Jerry awarding Tuffy the coveted title of mouseketeer for his heroics after all. He gives Tuffy the mousketeer garments, and as Tuffy proudly shows off his new clothes and swordfighting skills, he accidentally stabs Jerry in the rear. At the end of the cartoon, Jerry repeatedly smacks Tuffy's backside, as Tuffy remarks "C'est la guerre."
