Fine Feathered Friend

Last updated
Fine Feathered Friend
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Story by Hanna-Barbera (both unc.)
Produced by Fred Quimby (unc. on original issue)
Co-produced by:
William Hanna (unc.)
Starring Clarence Nash and William Hanna as Tom (Both uncredited)
Music byMusical direction:
Scott Bradley
Animation byCharacter animation:
Kenneth Muse (credited as "Ken Muse" on the original issue)
Pete Burness (credited as "Peter Burness" on the reissue)
George Gordon
Jack Zander
Bill Littlejohn (uncredited on the reissue)
Effects animation:
Al Grandmain (unc.)
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • October 10, 1942 (1942-10-10)
  • January 1, 1949 (1949-01-01)(New Year's Day)
  • reissue (reissue)
Running time
7:45
Language English

Fine Feathered Friend is a 1942 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 8th Tom and Jerry short released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Pete Burness, Kenneth Muse, Jack Zander and George Gordon. The animators of the cartoon were not credited, But William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are credited. The original opening theme was the "Tiger Rag" gag, as heard in the Blitz Wolf MGM short. It was replaced by the later of Tom and Jerry theme on re-issue. Bill Littlejohn was credited on original issue.

Contents

Plot

Jerry is trying to retrieve a piece of cheese from a mousetrap in a barn. Tom comes out of his hiding place to watch Jerry and hears the trap go off. He chases after Jerry who has his tail caught in the trap while holding the cheese. Jerry stops and hands Tom the cheese. Jerry then releases his tail, grabs the cheese back, and runs away. Jerry tries to cut Tom's neck with a pair of shears but fails. Tom then chases Jerry near a chicken sitting on her nest. Jerry hides underneath the hen and Tom startles her when he reaches underneath her to grab Jerry. The hen responds by pecking Tom's head, scaring him away. The hen sits back down and Jerry emerges eating his cheese. Jerry leaves the barn but is chased back inside by Tom. He runs underneath the hen again, and the hen wakes up before Tom can even try to reach Jerry and she pecks him away again. Jerry then realizes how warm it is underneath the hen and he has to use one of the hen's feathers as a fan. Meanwhile, Tom has returned and he quietly tries to reach Jerry, but ends up stepping into the hen's food bowl and runs away. He briefly disguises himself as a milkmaid while milking a cow and then tries again. As he reaches underneath the hen, he grabs one of the hen's eggs instead of Jerry, which results in the hen clucking at Tom in a mean way. The hen arranges the eggs with a nearby triangle in the same manner as arranging billiard balls. Later, Tom sets up a mousetrap tied to a string and puts it underneath the hen. Jerry comes out with the trap and he sets the trap with Tom's tail on it. Tom doesn't find out that his tail is in the trap for a while and then screams out in pain.

Later, the cat sneaks into the barn inside a butter churner. He pokes the chicken with a fork and searches the nest for Jerry. As the hen lands, he sneaks back into the churner and pokes the hen again. This continues until the hen sees the fork and removes the churner, grabs the fork and ends up poking Tom with the fork. The hen starts to ride on Tom like a horse, but suddenly stops when she hears chirps from her nest. Her eggs have hatched to release some baby chicks. She picks them up from her nest and sends them off to play. Jerry runs away from the nest with a few feathers and he tries to blend in with the other chicks. But one of the chicks mistakes Jerry's tail for a worm.

The mother hen and her chicks then walk in a line past Tom. Jerry sneaks past Tom who does not realise Jerry is in disguise. He kicks Tom in the inappropriate part and hitches a ride on the hen's backside and waves at Tom who has had enough of Jerry's prank. Tom then stands by an opening in the barn's wall and sees the shadows of the chickens passing by. It is in the next moment that he accidentally grabs a chick, thinking that one of them might be Jerry, and runs away. When he opens his hands the baby chick yells for his mama, who quickly arrives. Tom smiles and hands back the chick. The hen then slams a bucket onto Tom's head.

The chickens cross paths with a family of ducks and Jerry follows the ducks into a pond. He goes underwater and then starts getting chased by Tom again. Jerry again tries to cut Tom's head with the shears but fails; Tom grabs the shears and starts chasing Jerry with them. He runs near the mother hen, who is having a drink of water, and Tom inadvertently cuts off the hen's tail feathers. She responds by grabbing Tom, wrapping a towel around his back and cutting his fur off. Tom is then outside the hen house with bandages on his back. When he looks in, the mother hen has tied a feather duster to herself and Jerry is resting, uses the hen's feathers as a small pillow to lie on.

Production

Availability

DVD

Related Research Articles

<i>Puss Gets the Boot</i> 1940 film

Puss Gets the Boot is a 1940 American animated short film and is the first short in what would become the Tom and Jerry cartoon series, though neither were yet referred to by these names. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Rudolf Ising. It was based on the Aesop's Fable, The Cat and the Mice. As was the practice of MGM shorts at the time, only Rudolf Ising is credited. It was released to theaters on February 10, 1940, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Solid Serenade</i> 1946 animated short film directed by Joseph Barbera

Solid Serenade is a 1946 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 26th Tom and Jerry short, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on August 31, 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and the musical supervision was by Scott Bradley. Ed Barge, Michael Lah, and Kenneth Muse animated it. Excerpts of this cartoon are seen in three other Tom and Jerry shorts: Jerry's Diary, Smitten Kitten, and Smarty Cat, the latter instance with altered audio and an added scene of Tom whistling.

<i>The Two Mouseketeers</i> 1952 film by Joseph Barbera, William Hanna

The Two Mouseketeers is a 1952 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 65th Tom and Jerry short, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on March 15, 1952 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The short is a spoof of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its film adaptations, featuring the mice Jerry and his best friend, Nibbles as the "Mouseketeers" trying to raid the French king's banquet table, which is protected by Tom as a guard. Three years after the cartoon's release, the term "Mousketeer" was also used to refer to the child cast members of the television show, The Mickey Mouse Club.

<i>Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring</i> 2002 American film

Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring is a 2002 American animated fantasy comedy film. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Turner Entertainment Co., it was the first made-for-video attempt to recapture the style of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's original film shorts from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as the final animated collaboration of both Hanna and Barbera, as Hanna died on March 22, 2001.

<i>Mouse Trouble</i> 1944 film by Joseph Barbera, William Hanna

Mouse Trouble is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon short and is the 17th Tom and Jerry short produced by Fred Quimby. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music direction by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Ken Muse and Pete Burness. Mouse Trouble won the 1944 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, the second consecutive award bestowed upon the series. It was released in theatres on November 23, 1944 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and reissued on December 12, 1951.

<i>The Little Orphan</i> 1949 animated short film by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

The Little Orphan is a 1949 American one-reel animated cartoon and the 40th Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in theaters on April 30, 1949 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Ray Patterson. The short features Nibbles, a young mouse who is insatiably hungry.

The Midnight Snack is a Tom and Jerry cartoon released on July 19, 1941. It is the second of the Tom and Jerry films, returning to the basic premise of the previous film, Puss Gets the Boot, following that cartoon's Academy Awards nomination.

The Night Before Christmas is a 1941 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the third Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby and animated by Jack Zander, George Gordon, Irven Spence and Bill Littlejohn. It was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, but lost to the Mickey Mouse short film Lend a Paw, making it the only Tom and Jerry cartoon to lose to a Disney film.

Porky's Poultry Plant is a 1936 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin and composed by Carl Stalling. The short was released on August 22, 1936, and stars Porky Pig. It is most noted for its dramatic camera angles and filmic techniques typically seen in live-action films, something Tashlin specialised in.

<i>Tot Watchers</i> 1958 animated short film by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Tot Watchers is a 1958 American one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. The short was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on August 1, 1958. It is the 114th and last Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon produced or directed by both Hanna and Barbera, and the last cartoon short of the series until Gene Deitch's Switchin' Kitten in 1961. Barbera would return to direct one final Tom and Jerry theatrical short, The Karate Guard, in 2005.

Tee for Two is a 1945 American one-reel Technicolor animated cartoon and is the 20th Tom and Jerry short, first released to theaters on July 21, 1945 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The short is directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, composed by Scott Bradley with orchestration by Edward Plumb, and animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Pete Burness, and Kenneth Muse.

<i>Casanova Cat</i> 1951 animated short film directed by Joseph Barbera

Casanova Cat is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 55th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby.

<i>Saturday Evening Puss</i> 1950 animated short film directed by Joseph Barbera

Saturday Evening Puss is a 1950 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 48th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The cartoon was released on January 14, 1950, produced by Fred Quimby, scored by Scott Bradley and animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ray Patterson. It is the only Tom and Jerry cartoon to feature Mammy's face on-screen, though only briefly. A re-edited version was produced in the 1960s replacing Mammy with a white teenage girl.

<i>The Mansion Cat</i> 2001 film

The Mansion Cat is a 2001 American made-for-television animated cartoon featuring the cat and mouse duo Tom and Jerry. It is the first entry in the original Tom and Jerry series of shorts in the 34 years since Purr-Chance to Dream in 1967 and the 162nd overall. It is also the first short involving William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in the 43 years since Tot Watchers in 1958. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in association with Turner Entertainment Co., and distributed by Warner Bros. Television, making it the first Tom and Jerry cartoon released by Warner Bros. Entertainment since the 1996 Time Warner-Turner merger.

<i>Puss n Boats</i> 1966 film

Puss 'n' Boats is a 1966 Tom and Jerry short directed by Abe Levitow and produced by Chuck Jones, and is the first short with Carl Brandt as music composer. The title's a play-on-words of the phrase "Puss in Boots", and is similar to Cruise Cat (1952), from the Hanna-Barbera era.

<i>The Karate Guard</i> 2005 animated short by Joseph Barbera, Spike Brandt

The Karate Guard is a 2005 American animated cartoon short film, and the 163rd Tom and Jerry short. Directed by Joseph Barbera and Spike Brandt, The Karate Guard was the last Tom and Jerry cartoon that Barbera worked on before his death in 2006. It had a limited theatrical release in cinemas throughout Los Angeles on September 27, 2005, and had its television premiere on Cartoon Network on January 27, 2006.

The EGGcited Rooster is a 1952 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on October 4, 1952, and features Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk and the Barnyard Dawg.

Plop Goes the Weasel! is a 1953 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson and produced by Edward Selzer. The cartoon was released on August 22, 1953, and features Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg.

<i>Along Came a Dog</i>

Along Came a Dog is a children's novel by Meindert DeJong, and Maurice Sendak. It was a Newbery Medal honor book in 1959.

Jerry's Diary is a 1949 one-reel animated cartoon that is the 45th Tom and Jerry short released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby, scored by Scott Bradley, and animated by Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. It is the first of several compilation Tom and Jerry shorts, integrating footage from previous shorts into the plot.