Of Feline Bondage
 |
| Of Feline Bondage | |
|---|---|
| File:Of FelineBondagetitle.jpg Title card | |
| Directed by | Chuck Jones Maurice Noble |
| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Animation by | Ben Washam Ken Harris Don Towsley Dick Thompson |
| Backgrounds by | Robert Gribbroek |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Running time | 6:46 |
Of Feline Bondage is a Tom and Jerry cartoon released in 1965, directed and produced by Chuck Jones, with animation by Ben Washam, Don Towsley, Ken Harris, Tom Ray and Dick Thompson. In some ways, the cartoon is reminiscent of the 1948 short, The Invisible Mouse and the 1950 short, "Cue Ball Cat" which was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The title of the cartoon alludes to the novel Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham, and the better-known 1964 film of the same name. This is also the only Tom and Jerry cartoon written by Don Towsley.
Plot
In the opening, Jerry runs in a pool hall and enters into a can that Tom holds out. Tom starts shaking the can and laughs, then tips poor Jerry out against the wall, turning the mouse into a cube. Jerry turns back to normal quickly and then runs along near one of the tables, inadvertently running up a pool cue placed by Tom, and then onto a cue ball on one of the tables. Tom shoots and breaks the cue ball into the rack, until Jerry gets bopped on the head by the cue ball. Then, the 8 ball lands right next to the mouse, following him around the table and into his hole, where it squishes Jerry flat. Jerry shrugs in misery until his fairy godmother appears before him and heals him of his injury.
Jerry acts out the situation that Tom made with him in front of her; watching that, the godmother gives Jerry a bottle of potion, explaining its effects to him in inaudible whispers. They exchange evil grins, and as Jerry thanks her as she disappears, he then pokes his head out of his hole, where he sees a cheese attached to a fishing rod held by Tom. Jerry drinks the potion, which renders him invisible, before leaving his hole unseen. He slowly unties the knot at the end of the line and takes the cheese into his hole while Tom looks on in wonder, dropping the rod. As the cat lies down with his face near the mouse hole, Jerry grabs the fishing line at the end of the rod and, throwing it as a lasso, hooks Tom's nose and loops the line around his neck, pulling his nose up in a shape somewhat reminiscent of a possum. Tom looks in astonishment before the mouse ties Tom's tail in a knot, flees unseen, and then comes around the corner carrying a pair of scissors. Seeing the blades snipping in his direction, Tom screams, escaping the fishing line and rocketing up to the attic, while the scissors barely cut hairs off of his tail.
Very frightened, Tom hides behind a trunk in the attic. Hearing a sound, he then pokes his head out and has enough time to look in horror at the scissors before he gets half of his whiskers cut off. Jerry then steps across the dresser with the scissors before cutting Tom's scalp bald. Tom rockets down the stairs and hides in a vase, only to have his tail sticking out and trembling. Tom is shown in an awkward position in the vase, and while clipping sounds are heard, the cat wincing in the process. He brings his tail down to see that the end has been cut into a fir tree like pattern. The mouse then dives into the vase with the scissors, the porcelain bouncing around the floor and cracking rapidly while hairs shoot out of it like a volcano. The vase comes to a stop and then breaks to reveal Tom's appearance: his remaining whiskers have been cut short, his arms and legs have been shaved of gray fur, and his chest and pelvis have been shaved to resemble gray shorts and a white tank top. The cat looks on sourly, adjusting his left "shoulder strap" as it falls.
Jerry laughs at his handiwork, holding the scissors, until the potion then wears off, rendering him visible again. Tom slowly grins wickedly, just as Jerry and his godmother did earlier, before he holds out a mirror at the mouse Jerry. Jerry notices, and slows his laughing as he realizes the trouble he is in. Tom props the mirror on a nearby piece of the vase, then grabs Jerry and the scissors and cuts off most of his fur, leaving him with fur that makes him looks like he has got pigtails and is wearing a bikini. As Tom laughs at his handiwork, Jerry quickly joins him upon seeing his reflection. After a few seconds of mutual laughter, Jerry poses attractively, fluttering his eyelashes. This is too much for Tom, who bursts out to laughing so hard that he cries until both of him and Jerry roll on the floor and laughing. They briefly stop and look at each other, and they continue to rolling on the floor laughing never stops as a cartoon closes.