In this short, Spike, whose nap is being interrupted by Tom's racket while chasing Jerry, warns Tom not to wake him up. Overhearing this, Jerry tries to wake Spike up in various ways, forcing Tom to stop him.
Plot
Tom (left) is repeatedly trying to hit Jerry, (middle) much to Spike's (right) annoyance.
Spike is trying to take a nap, but Tom disturbs him while chasing Jerry. Before going to sleep, Spike, exasperated with the constant noise, grabs Tom and tells him to keep it down and threatens to skin him alive if he doesn't. Overhearing this, Jerry proceeds to do many things to try to wake Spike throughout the short, which in turn, forces Tom to prevent Spike from waking up. At one point, Jerry makes Tom drop multiple light bulbs, waking Spike up for a second, but Tom quickly makes Spike fall back to sleep by singing Rock-a-bye Baby.
To prevent Spike from waking up again, Tom gives him a medication called "knock out drops". Jerry doesn't realize this, as he starts playing a drum loudly. Tom takes the drum and starts playing it on the asleep Spike and shows Jerry the medication, to his shock. Upon realizing this, Jerry runs to the kitchen and writes a will with it promising a custard pie. Tom asks Jerry to have the pie with Jerry throwing the pie at Tom's face. After this, Jerry would try many ways to wake Spike up, but none of them would work due to the medications given to him earlier.
After getting his toe flattened by Jerry hitting it with a hammer, Tom sees Jerry lighting a stick of dynamite under Spike. As he tries to remove the dynamite, Spike's medication wears off as he wakes up. Since Tom woke him up, Spike growls at Tom which forces Tom to leave him to get blown up by the explosive. This infuriates Spike as he beats Tom up. After this, an injured Tom with casts and patches all over his body rocks Spike and Jerry in a cradle.
Quiet Please was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who directed every Tom and Jerry short before the MGM Cartoon Studio closed down.[8] Fred Quimby produced the short, and the music score was done by Scott Bradley. Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, and Kenneth Muse, who animated previous shorts from Tom and Jerry, animated the short, with Ed Barge having his first credit in a Tom and Jerry short.[9]
Animation production started as early as May 20, 1944.[10]
Reception
Ben Simon states that Quiet Please! "plays on a similar premise as [The] Million Dollar Cat". But he praises the cartoon's formulaic approach, stating that "it’s often amazing to see them picking up plaudits for generally routine outings or cartoons based on others’ ideas, situations and gags."[11] Author Thad Komorowski praises the cartoon as it is "(f)unny stuff," though he finds it strange as it is "an Oscar-winner, for some reason."[8] A Motion Picture Herald editor says that it is a "(g)ood cartoon with a lot of laughs".[12] Another editor called it "everything a cartoon should be," as "it is hilarious, well made and satisfying to the audience."[13] Audience appreciated the cartoon.[14]
Fred Quimby, the producer of the cartoon, with the short's Oscar in hand.
Quiet Please was released to theaters in December 22, 1945,[2][15] and was enjoyed by the audience.[14] As for most Tom and Jerry shorts released in the 1940s, Quiet Please was re-issued on March 28, 1953.[1]
12Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices: of the Golden Age, 1930-1970 - Volume Two: Selected Filmographies with Voice Credits. Orlando: BearManor Media. p.130. ISBN979-8-88771-010-5.
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