1962 film by Gene Deitch
| The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit |
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 The title card of The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit. |
| Directed by | Gene Deitch
Animation direction:
Václav Bedrich |
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| Story by | Chris Jenkyns |
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| Produced by | William L. Snyder |
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| Starring | Allen Swift |
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| Music by | Steven Konichek |
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| Animation by | Uncredited animation:
Jindra Barta
Antonín Bures
Mirek Kacena
Milan Klikar
Vera Kudrnová
Vera Maresová
Olga Sisková
Zdenka Skrípková
Zdenek Smetana
Checking:
Ludmila Kopecná (uncredited) |
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| Backgrounds by | Background paint:
Bohumil Siska (uncredited)
Assistant background paint:
Miluse Hluchanicová (uncredited) |
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| Color process | Metrocolor[1] |
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Production
company | |
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[1] |
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Release date | August 10, 1962 |
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Running time | 6:39 |
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| Countries | United States
Czechoslovakia |
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| Language | English |
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The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit is a Tom and Jerry animated short film, produced and released on August 10, 1962.[2] It was the ninth cartoon in a series of thirteen to be directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder in Czechoslovakia.[3] It updates its copyright to the current year 1962 as opposed to the 1961 copyright of Dicky Moe.
The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit is a sarcastic attack on the series as a whole and its formulaic approach, which the short mocks as excessively violent and designed solely for profit.[4] Deitch had strongly divergent views on animation compared to Tom and Jerry's creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, that he openly expressed throughout his lifetime.[5]
Plot
The cartoon begins with a demonstration for the Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, with which "anyone can now enter the lucrative field of animated cartoons." The items in the kit include the following:
- "One mean, stupid cat" (Tom)
- "One sweet, lovable mouse" (Jerry)
- "Assorted deadly weapons" (a knife, a hammer, and a stick of dynamite)
- Coffee and cigarettes (removed from the kit and described as being "for the cartoonists")
- A slice of watermelon
The narrator says, "First, put the sweet, lovable mouse into a simple situation expressing a natural human need, such as eating a slice of watermelon contained in our kit. The result may not make sense, but it will last long enough for you to be comfortably seated before the feature begins." This statement refers to the original theatrical exhibition of the cartoon, which ran ahead of a feature film.
At first, Jerry eats the watermelon on the table and spits the seeds out, hitting and waking Tom, who initially grabs the hammer to attempt to hit Jerry but instead flicks him in the back of his head. Jerry swallows the seeds by accident, causing him to turn green for a moment and then make sounds like a shaker when he moves and goes into a lively dance until Tom traps him in a metal can. Tom uses Jerry as a maraca for his own dance; when the effect suddenly stops, Tom peeks inside only to get a mouthful of seeds spat into his face. He gets outraged and devours the rest of the watermelon and turns his head into a cannon to fire blasts of seeds at Jerry, who takes cover in the kit box just before Tom hits it, blowing up the stick of dynamite and destroying the box.
The knife included in the kit sticks in the floor, barely missing Jerry, who begins to teach himself judo from a book that has landed nearby. He emerges with enough fighting skill to easily overpower Tom, even after the latter undergoes boxing training and then tries to attack with the knife. Tom eventually attends a judo school in order to face Jerry on even terms. The two then hold a breaking contest, in which each tries to outdo the other: Jerry with a wooden board, Tom with a brick, then Jerry again with a cement block. When Tom tries to break a huge block of marble, the bricks holding it up fracture and it crashes through the floor, taking him with it.
An unconscious Tom ends up in the battered box. Jerry replaces the lid as the narrator concludes, "Our next film will be for the kiddies, and will demonstrate a new poison gas. Thank you and good night." The wording on the lid has changed to read "The End – An MGM Cartoon." The music winds to a stop as if being played o a slowing phonograph record, and Jerry bows to the audience before the screen fades to black.
Reception
While the Deitch shorts were generally negatively received by Tom and Jerry fans,[6] this particular short is often considered one of the best of the thirteen cartoons, due to its inventive plotline and satirical nature.[7]
