"Beanstalk Buddies" is the thirty-first episode of The Tom and Jerry Show (1975).
Synopsis[]
Plot[]
In their abandoned, run-down, boarded-up, ramshackle domicile, all poverty-stricken Tom & Jerry can find to eat is one measly green bean, which they decide to divide between them. But as Tom attempts to cut it in half, it slips from the plate and falls into a crack under the floor. T&J give up and get some shuteye. As they sleep, the bean, which proves to be magic, sprouts into a beanstalk, which carries T&J and the bed in which they sleep up into the sky. The duo wakes up and find a castle; figuring there has to be some kind of sustenance, they make a mad dash for and break into the castle. There they discover a giant, who presides over his food, his dog Houndmutt, his riches, a goose that lays golden eggs, and a magic harp in the shape of a woman that grants peoples' wishes. With a "Fee-Fie-Fo...er, Fum!", the giant sics Houndmutt on the minuscule Tom & Jerry, and the three of them give chase all over the castle. After a while, the big dog eventually defects to Tom & Jerry's side, and, with the aid of the magic harp, they all fly out of the castle away from the giant. Once back at T&J's place, the harp conjures up a big 7-course meal for Tom and Jerry!
Characters[]
Featuring[]
Trivia[]
- This episode is a take on Jack and the Beanstalk.
- As the camera pans from T&J sleeping in the bed past the table to the crack in the floor, notice a huge ax embedded in the table, cracking the plate in half. *Undoubtedly the original script for "Beanstalk Buddies" called for Tom to use an ax to split the bean in half, but was scrapped at the last minute in fear of ABC Broadcast Standards and Practices, who would fear it would be too simple for juveniles to imitate!
- As the beanstalk sprouts and carries T&J up into the sky, a cue from the movie The Man Called Flintstone (Columbia, 1966) can be heard. It was previously used briefly in #80-34, "The Egg And Tom And Jerry".
- Tom & Jerry display their ability to walk up objects instead of climbing them. This is repeated in #80-38, "Hold That Pose," and #80-43, "Planet Of The Dogs."
- The giant (voiced by Henry Corden) speaks in a voice which sounds like Charles Nelson Reilly, star of Filmation's short-lived Uncle Croc's Block, which debuted on the same ABC Saturday Morning schedule as The New Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show in 1975.
- Len Weinrib provided similar vocalizations in Episode #80-10, "Robin Ho Ho," as Little John. (Weinrib also did double duty voicing characters on a segment of Uncle Croc's Block, Fraidy Cat.)
- Tom & Jerry speak in this cartoon; both utter the word "WOW!"
- The physical features of the giant in "Beanstalk Buddies" are patterned loosely after those of the giant which appeared in the February 26, 1967 NBC-TV live-action/animation musical special Jack And The Beanstalk, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera and starred the late Gene Kelly. (Incidentally, Kelly and Jerry Mouse previously shared the screen in 1945's Anchors Aweigh in a dance sequence together; Tom Cat had a brief cameo appearance.) These features would, to some extent, be also used for the giant in the November 24, 1992 episode of Tom & Jerry Kids (FOX, 1990-93), "Jerry And The Beanstalk" (prod. #164-9125), written by Barry Blitzer.
- The giant's irascible inability to remember the simple words "Fee-Fie-Fo...er, Fum!" was probably inspired by that of Willie the Giant, the antagonist in Mickey And The Beanstalk, first seen as part of Walt Disney's 1947 RKO film Fun And Fancy Free!.
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