Advance and Be Mechanized
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| Advance and Be Mechanized | |
|---|---|
| File:Advance and be Mechanized.jpg Title Card | |
| Directed by | Ben Washam Additional director: Abe Levitow (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Animation by | Dick Thompson Ben Washam Don Towsley Philip Roman Additional animation: Shamus Culhane (uncredited) Ken Harris (uncredited) Tom Ray (uncredited) Emery Hawkins (uncredited) Manuel Perez (uncredited) Al Eugster (uncredited) Effects animation: Harry Love (uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | Phil DeGuard Thelma Witmer (archive footage - uncredited) (additional backgrounds - uncredited) |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | Sib-Tower 12 Productions |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Running time | 6:33 |
Advance and Be Mechanized, released in 1967, was the penultimate Tom and Jerry cartoon. It was directed by Ben Washam and produced by Chuck Jones, and is the third outer space themed shorts from the Chuck Jones era, following O-Solar Meow, and Guided Mouse-ille both released earlier in 1967. It is the last Tom and Jerry cartoon with Dean Elliott as the music composer.
Plot
The cartoon starts from another planet. One day, Jerry wants to get some cheese from the other room. He uses his robotic counterpart (Robot-Jerry) to enter the room and fetch him some cheese. The robot mouse goes in the room, taking a pile of cheese before leaving.
Meanwhile, Tom is a policeman who, as he tries to look at the situation in panoramic area, sees the mouse toy from the camera. He calls for his robotic counterpart (Mechano) to get rid of him for the final time. The mouse robot returns to the hole, but Mechano grabs his tail and unscrews him bit by bit until he has been destroyed, then he takes the cheese. After this scene, Jerry is disappointing that his robot's mission had failed and that he had lost his meal. Tom is seen laughing at Jerry's misfortune as Mechano returns to his master, and then he pats the robot cat, as if to praise him for his success. The next scene, Tom is hungry when a lunch whistle starts to blow loudly. Tom runs to a line of robots, who are waiting at a machine to give them some oil. When Tom is fed, and realizes that it tastes bad, he knocks the can off of the robot arm and bangs on the machine, in an attempt to either get his money back or be served regular food. When he gets no response, he gets set to kick it until it "grabs" him and kicks him.
Tom returns to work until he sees Jerry coming outside from his hole, he chases the mouse so that he can eat him as he enters the same machine Tom ate from. He goes over a coin slot, ends up stuttered in a hamburger, with an arm putting some spicy chilli sauce on him. After it explodes in hotness, Jerry puts the sauce bottle in the hamburger; Tom eats without knowing what Jerry did and it explodes in spiciness. The machine then gives him a glass of water.
The same scene, following on the other space-age shorts, as Tom sees robot-Jerry again continues. After being spotted robot-Jerry rushes once again from the camera, Tom calls for his minion. Then, in a chase reminiscent to the Guided Mouse-Ille, Mechano chases robot-Jerry, but robot-Jerry levitates himself into the air. Mechano extends his legs up and tries again, but then robot-Jerry drops himself. Mechano continues his chase until he is almost wrecked over some obstacles. Mechano crouches to avoid a large fixture, and then extends himself high to avoid a second one. He chases robot-Jerry again until he hits over a doorjamb. Mechano gets angry with Tom (Tom gasps when his robot-cat takes control of his machine, and trying to scold his robot-cat fails), and turns him into a minion. Jerry sees this as a good thing, but since robot-Jerry is injured, the real Jerry becomes robot-Jerry's minion. The robots control both furry leaders as Tom hits Jerry, and in return Jerry slaps Tom battling each other. This repeats over and over before the cartoon concludes.
Crew
- Animation: James Culhane, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Philip Roman, Emery Hawkins, Manny Perez, Al Eugster
- Additional Animation: Shamus Culhane, Tom Ray, Phil Roman, Emery Hawkins, Manuel Perez, Al Eugster, Ken Harris
- Layout: Don Morgan, Bruce Bushman
- Backgrounds: Philip DeGuard, Thelma Witmer
- Design Consultant: Maurice Noble
- Effects Animation: Harry Love
- Production Manager: Earl Jonas
- Story: Bob Ogle, John Dunn
- Music: Dean Elliott
- Co-ordinator: Nick Iuppa
- Production Supervised by: Les Goldman
- Produced by: Chuck Jones
- Executive Producer: Les Goldman
- Directed by: Ben Washam