Blue Cat Blues

Blue Cat Blues
Tom and Jerry series
Title Card
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices by	Paul Frees (thinking, uncredited)
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Ed Barge Irven Spence Lewis Marshall Kenneth Muse
Layouts by	Richard Bickenbach
Backgrounds by	Robert Gentle
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	November 16, 1956 (1956-11-16)
Color process	Technicolor CinemaScope
Running time	6:50
Language	English
Preceded by	Down Beat Bear
Followed by	Barbecue Brawl

Blue Cat Blues is a 1956 one reel animated Tom and Jerry cartoon directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. Released on November 16, 1956 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with layouts by Richard Bickenbach and backgrounds by Robert Gentle.

Unusual for a Tom and Jerry short, Jerry "speaks", narrating the story in voiceover via Paul Frees. Since Jerry narrates through inner monologue, the short does not break the "cardinal rule" of not having Tom or Jerry physically speaking on screen. Also, unusually for a Tom and Jerry cartoon, while all the others have comical storylines, this one has a tragic one. Because of this—and Tom and Jerry's implied suicide at the end—this cartoon has rarely been seen on American TV, although it has aired once on TNT in the early 1990s and made its rounds on local affiliate channels. However, the short aired for only once on Cartoon Network Southeast Asia in November 2010. As of March 2014, very few airings are known but it has been shown briefly on Cartoon Network in the USA. This cartoon marks the final appearance of Butch in Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts produced before 1959.

Plot

A depressed Tom sits on the railroad tracks, bent on suicide. Watching from a bridge above the tracks overhead, Jerry laments his old friend's state. Jerry knows that, when he gets home, his own friends will ask him why he didn't even try to stop Tom. Jerry believes that "it's better this way, and for the first time since he met her, he will be happy". Jerry recalls the events leading up to Tom's depression:

Tom and Jerry were inseparable friends, until a beautiful white female cat caught Tom's eye. The white cat initially reciprocated Tom's affections, but that soon changed for the worst. Jerry mentions that the much-wealthier Butch lived next door to the white cat and he also became smitten by her. He rudely interrupting her relationship with Tom to make his move and ignoring Tom's attempts to stop him. Attracted by Butch's wealth, the white cat proves herself to be an opportunist as Jerry always suspected her to be and leaves Tom.

Having seen the white cat for what she was, and how she'd made a fool of his best friend, he urged Tom to give up and let Butch have her. Ignoring Jerry's warnings, Tom pushed himself and his finances to the limit and beyond, in futile attempts at winning back the white cat's affections. He brought her such presents as flowers, perfume, a diamond ring (with the diamond so small it has to be looked at with a magnifying glass), and a car (an utter jalopy, for which Tom literally sold himself into slavery - 20 years of it - so that he could cover 26 years' worth of payments at the annual interest rate of 112%). However, because Butch's presents are much bigger, to the point of outrageous extravagance (a large floral wreath, a tanker truck full of perfume, a ring with a diamond so large and shiny that it could not be looked at without eye protection, and a luxurious car), the white cat rejected the desperate Tom. After this incident (the refusal of his jalopy) Tom gave up all hopes of gaining the white cat. He fell under depression.

Broken-hearted, penniless and hopelessly in debt, Tom drowned his sorrows in milk - despite Jerry's pleas to stop. Tom almost let himself go down the gutter (literally), but Jerry rescued him. Then Tom saw his ex-girlfriend riding by in Butch's coupe, which was laden with luggage and had a "Just Married" sign on the back.

Jerry breaks from the sad story to think about his own girlfriend, "Toots". He is happy that, unlike Tom's ex-girlfriend, she has been faithful. Suddenly, Jerry's love world is shattered when Toots rides by with another mouse (who looks like Tuffy), a "Just Married" sign on the back of their car. Jerry, now dejected, joins Tom on the railroad tracks. They sit and wait for an oncoming train, which draws near and run over them. The oncoming train's whistle sounds louder as the cartoon fades out.

Themes

This is one of the very few shorts in which Jerry is not an antagonist, instead he is extremely sympathetic to Tom's plight and even tries to stop or intervine to the point of saving the cat's life. Overall, it's futile but it shows a rare moment of pity towards a character that a lot of fans feel usually goes out of his way to provoke Tom into harming himself or others.

The short is often praised as very realistic and it's gloomy tone has won praise for not editing the very bleak situation Tom gets himself into. Although he begins 'drinking', his beverage is milk instead of alcohol but apparently has the same effect on he tries to commit suicide twice, once passively (saved by Jerry at the last minute) and finally at the train tracks with a similarly broken-hearted Jerry next to him. Both alcoholism and suicide are often taboo subjects and both are never mentioned or represented in modern American animation since most modern American animation is catered to younger audiences.

Notes

. This is one of the episodes in which both Tom and Jerry have bad luck in the end. The other cartoons are Fraidy Cat, Baby Puss, Polka-Dot Puss, A Mouse In The House, His Mouse Friday and Filet Meow.

. This is one of only three cartoons where Butch is a house cat. The other two are A Mouse In The House and Scat Cats.

. This is one of only two cartoons where Jerry actually dies at the end. The other one is Southbound Duckling. Both were off-screen.

. This is one of only four cartoons when Jerry actually dies. The others were Southbound Duckling, tom-ic energy, and Snowbody Loves Me.

. This is the only cartoon where Tom and Jerry both are about to die.

Availability

DVD

• Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 3
• Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc Two

ITunes Tom and Jerry Vol.1 Tom and Jerry and Friends Vol.1

External links

• Blue Cat Blues at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Blue Cat Blues at IMDb