Puss Gets the Boot

"Puss Gets the Boot" is an MGM Oneshot Cartoon, and is the first Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in 1939 and released to theaters on February 10, 1940 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Rudolf Ising (who had virtually nothing to do with the entire production) and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, their first collaboration (which would turn into a partnership lasting for more than half a century), with musical supervision by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Carl Urbano, Tony Pabian, Jack Zander, Pete Burness and Bob Allen.

The only screen credit on this film was "a Rudolf Ising Production." The short is notable for featuring the first appearances of the characters who would later be christened "Tom and Jerry" and would go on to appear in over 110 more short cartoons, seven of which won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject. As such, Puss Gets the Boot gave the animated duo their first Oscar nomination, though the short lost out to another Rudolf Ising MGM cartoon, The Milky Way. In the short, Tom's name is Jasper and Jerry is not given a name, but was known among the animators via model sheets as "Jinx". The plot set up the basic formula for Tom and Jerry cartoons for years to come, and as such, established many of the tropes commonly found in their shorts.

The short begins with the mouse later known as Jerry being tormented by the cat later known as Tom (we'll refer to them as such from here on, for convenience's sake). Jerry struggles to stay alive, being chased by Tom until he unwittingly knocks over a houseplant, raising the ire of Mammy Two-Shoes, his owner. She delivers Tom an ultimatum; if he knocks down one more thing, she'll throw him out. Jerry uses this ultimatum to his advantage, and manages to turn the tables on Tom by threatening to knock fragile things over for the rest of the short, and of course, Hilarity Ensues.


 * Amusing Injuries: Notably less violent than the series would become later, though.
 * Aside Glance: Jerry winks at the 4th wall.
 * Cats Are Mean
 * Dish Dash: Jerry piles dozens of dishes into Tom's paws near the end of the episode,
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Tom looks nearly completely different from his later form, much more like a real cat. Jerry looks a little strange as well, but not so much as Tom.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The puss got the boot.
 * Eye Scream: Jerry poking Tom's eye near the beginning of the short.
 * The Faceless: Mammy Two-Shoes
 * Iris Out
 * Karmic Trickster: Jerry
 * Kick the Dog: It's pretty clear from the beginning who the antagonist is supposed to be as we see Tom toying with Jerry.
 * L Is for Dyslexia: Mammy misspells "out" twice in this short (first as "o-w-t," then as "o-u-w-t") -- in the uncut version. In the redubbed version, the joke is lost in favor of Political Correctness Gone Mad (Mammy's voice was redubbed with one that didn't sound "stereotypically black" and had proper grammar and spelling).
 * Literal Ass-Kicking
 * No Name Given: For Jerry, and Mammy Two-Shoes.
 * Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Jinx says it when he's caught by Jasper, though it's sped up in a chipmunk-like voice and hard to distinguish.
 * One-Shot Character: Jasper and Jinx originally were destined to be this, but positive reaction to this short caused the executives to decide that more should be made, and the Tom and Jerry series was born.
 * Pun-Based Title: An obvious play on "Puss in Boots".
 * Sassy Black Woman: Mammy of course.
 * Say Your Prayers: Jerry does this in a high-pitched chipmunk voice when Tom catches him by the tail.
 * The Speechless: Mammy is the only one with spoken dialog, besides the aforementioned Say Your Prayers scene, which is unintelligible anyway.
 * Spoiler Title: Yes, at the end the 'puss' does indeed 'get the boot'.