Trap Happy
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| Trap Happy | |
|---|---|
 Reissue title card of this cartoon. | |
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Animation by | Ed Barge Kenneth Muse Michael Lah Additional animation: Ray Patterson (unc.) Pete Burness (unc.) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Running time | 7:08 |
Trap Happy is a 1946 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 25th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, Michael Lah, Ray Patterson and Pete Burness. The music was composed by Scott Bradley. It was released to theaters on June 29, 1946. It was re-issued on March 6, 1954.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (February 2010) |
Jerry Mouse is being chased down the steps by Tom Cat. Jerry hides under a chair and Tom runs under it, but gets smacked on the bottom with a board from Jerry. Jerry's mouse hole is then mined with dynamite, but unknowingly for Tom, Jerry has lit another firework under him, and both explode. Tom angrily continues the pursuit until Jerry offers him a fireplace shovel to hit him with. Tom misses several times and Jerry holds the tool down until Tom pulls on it so hard he hits himself when Jerry flees. Tom jumps into Jerry's hole, but his lips are ruffled and Tom has to pull himself out. Tom is tired of the chase and searches in the Yellow Pages for a pest control exterminator. He finds one for Ajax Mouse Exterminators, with the motto One Call - That's All. Tom calls the company up impersonating Mammy Two Shoes and gets them to come over.
Butch arrives within seconds and goes to work. He paints a steel nut two shades of yellow so it looks like cheese, and tops it off with a blast of "Essence of Cheese". Butch rolls it into Jerry's hole. Jerry smells the nut and since it smells like cheese, eats it. Butch then attracts Jerry with a magnet, trapping the mouse. Butch pulls out an axe, holding Jerry down while he attempts to cleave the mouse in two. Tom, not wanting to watch, turns away. Jerry substitutes Tom's tail. Tom screams in pain and the chase begins.
Jerry runs into his hole and Butch pins him to a wall inside the hole with a brace. With nowhere to go, Jerry touches two electric wires to the brace, causing it to backfire onto Butch.
Later, the two cats attempt to kill the mouse with poison gas. Jerry walks out with a gas mask on; the two cats are puzzled, but are unable to figure out his identity. Jerry salutes and the cats salute as if to say "Good day!" Tom returns to pumping gas, but Butch has deduced the little creature must be Jerry. He slaps Tom and points to Jerry removing his mask, taunting the cats and running off. Both cats chase him one behind the other, but fall victim to Jerry placing an iron in their path such that Tom falls into Butch's mouth.
Jerry hides in another mouse hole and the two cats resort to prying up the entire wall. Using a hammer, Jerry slams Tom's foot, causing him to lose grip and Butch's fingers to be crushed. Jerry plays "Yankee Doodle" on six of Butch's fingers as a keyboard and Butch releases them. By then, his fingers turn red as they swell up and pop his nails open, releasing steam with a train whistle sound. Butch instructs Tom to keep quiet and hands him a sledgehammer while he sneaks in through a grate and chases Jerry through the walls of the house, doing significant damage. Jerry pops out of the hole and Tom swings as instructed, but hits Butch's head instead.
Butch lights a bomb and the cats hide. Jerry sees it and throws it back. The cats and the mouse play Hot Potato with the bomb until Butch's hat falls off his head and it is mixed up. Jerry, instead of getting the bomb as intended, gets the hat, and Butch has the bomb on top of his head. Puzzled as to why Jerry is not planting the bomb on Butch again, the cats look up, only to be found as the bomb explodes.
Jerry runs into one hole and comes out the other to find Butch on that side, then comes back out the other and finds Tom on that side. The two cats both grope and feel Jerry at the same time and grab for him just as the mouse jumps, leaving the two cats with hands held (though they are unaware of it). Both cats think they have Jerry and yank the other cat into the wall several times. Butch then pokes at Tom with a broom and Tom proceeds to pull Butch through the entire wall, demolishing it, all with the false impression that their hands are latched on to Jerry.
Tom slaps the pile of brick and rock with a board until he sees an opening. He digs through the pile and finds Butch's hat, with a corner missing. As Tom tries to find Jerry in the hat, Butch revives and replaces the hat as he draws himself up, incensed at Tom and having enough of Jerry. Butch marks out the "MOUSE" in "MOUSE EXTERMINATOR" on his bag and replaces it with "CAT". Tom realizes the title is changed into a cat exterminator and reads, "C-A-T, Cat". Butch then takes a gleaming, double-barreled shotgun out of his bag. Terrified, Tom dashes to the nearest window and crashes through it. Jerry rushes to the nearest window to watch as Butch chases after him and shoots him as the cartoon fades out and the chase ends.
Voice Cast
- William Hanna as Tom and Butch's screams (uncredited)
- Dick Nelson as Butch Cat (speaking) (uncredited)
Censorship
The scene where Butch accidentally chops off Tom's tail with axe was cut when it first aired in syndication.
Availability
DVD
- Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 4
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2, Disc One
- Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, Disc Two