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Pet Peeve is the 88th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short.

Plot[]

The cartoon begins with Tom and Spike living together as friends and happily, Spike is eating a club sandwich while Tom makes a sandwich with cat food. Tom drops a piece of bread and Jerry tries to steal it. Tom steps on his tails and pops him back to his hole. They overhear an argument taking place between the owners of the house named Joan and George. Joan and George decide that the food costs are far too high and that the dog and cat eat too much. George reads all of the costs saying Dog food and Cat food. The argument is now saying that they get rid of Tom or Spike. The ensuing argument ends with the conclusion that only one pet can stay in the house, which is followed with both Tom and Spike attempting to kick each other out of the house according to their owners' arguments. When both Tom and Spike prove to be as helpful as each other in cleaning the house and providing good company, George and Joan make a deal: the first to catch Jerry stays in the house. Tom grabs Jerry and gets punched by Spike who then grabs Jerry and makes a run. But Tom shuts the door on his arm and retrieves Jerry. Spike goes into the closet and puts a sign called "DETOUR" and Tom runs into the closet and gets walloped by Spike with the golf club, grabbing Jerry. Spike is pulled into the floor grate and flattened into the likeness of a nail. Tom presents Jerry to George's chair, but instead of George, Spike leaps out and grabs Jerry.

Tom shakes Spike's hand in a gesture of surrender, packs up his possessions and sets out for the door. Spike follows him to comfort the cat, and Tom slyly gives "his" possessions to Spike and ushers him out the door. Spike falls for it until he's about to leave the yard. He then realizes he has been tricked looking at the possession, and his head turns into a Jackass. Enraged, he runs back towards the house roaring like a bull.

Tom laughs at his victory until Spike busts through the door and flattens him. Furious, Spike starts chasing Jerry as Tom frees himself. Spike grabs Jerry and is flipped judo-style by Tom. Tom and Spike then duel with swords, destroying a lot of the house. They see Jerry run across a carpet, and they roll it up and cut it up until Tom accidentally slices off George's slippers.

When they cut his slippers that was the last straw George angrily says "That does it, boys, start packing!" meaning Tom and Spike are evicted. George decides to keep Jerry who doesn't eat much (not knowing he also eats too much like both Tom and Spike, as it is shown that his mousehole has lots of food) as a pet. George asks Tom and Spike if they are done packing and they nod, he tells them to take what belongs to them and leave. With him saying this, Tom and Spike attempt to sneak out with the fridge, but spotted by George who says "Hey! Put that back! Hey, you two come back here!". Panicking they flee with the fridge knocking the front door down and runs away into the sunset.

Characters[]

Notes[]

  • The plot of this cartoon is very similar to the one from "A Mouse in the House", as both cartoons feature Tom and another household pet competing against each other while trying to catch Jerry to prevent being kicked out by their owners, but both pets just end up being kicked out together. The only difference is that in "A Mouse in the House" Mammy Two Shoes kicks Jerry out along with Tom and the other former pet at the end, while in this cartoon George and Joan adopt Jerry as their new pet.
  • This is one of the few cartoons where Tom and Spike partially cooperate with each other.
  • Much like in the cartoons "Solid Serenade" and "The Framed Cat", Spike gets tricked by Tom, and therefore briefly turns into a jackass. Unlike the previous two shorts, the word "Jackass" is not shown during this brief transformation.
  • This is the only cartoon where both George and Joan keep Jerry as a pet, albeit not until near the end. In subsequent cartoons from the Hanna-Barbera era, Tom and Spike happily move back in with George and Joan, while Jerry is not known to the couple and is not their pet anymore.
  • This was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be released in CinemaScope and the third to be produced in the format (the first was Pup on a Picnic, with the second Touché, Pussy Cat!). CinemaScope widened the cinema screen to a more expansive aspect ratio to compete against the growing popularity of television. The CinemaScope process required thicker and more defined ink lines around the characters, giving them a slightly more "modern" and less detailed appearance.
  • Like a number of early widescreen animated films (e.g. several other MGM cartoons, Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and Lady and the Tramp), Pet Peeve was produced in both the Academy and CinemaScope aspect ratios. The same animation cels were used, but the camera shots were re-framed and different backgrounds were used. For some television broadcasts, however, a pan and scan copy was prepared from the CinemaScope version (which is re-framed from the Academy version, and missing information present at the top and bottom of the frame in many shots from the Academy version). Contrary to the CinemaScope version, the Academy version is missing information present at the left and right side of the frame in many shots from the CinemaScope version. This did not work and led to the closure of the original animation studio in 1958. It has not been used ever since.
  • The cartoon is also the first to feature an owner of the house that is not Mammy Two Shoes, the African-American maid from the first cartoon Puss Gets the Boot (1940) up to and including 1952's Push-Button Kitty. Instead, Mammy was replaced with a white married couple named George and Joan due to the changing times.
  • A frame from the scene where Tom & Spike are sword fighting for Jerry became a popular internet meme, being dubbed "Spike and Tom Sword Fight".

Gallery[]

Tom and Jerry Cartoons
1940 Puss Gets the Boot
1941 The Midnight SnackThe Night Before Christmas
1942 Fraidy CatDog TroublePuss n' TootsThe Bowling Alley-CatFine Feathered Friend
1943 Sufferin' Cats!The Lonesome MouseThe Yankee Doodle MouseBaby Puss
1944 The Zoot CatThe Million Dollar CatThe BodyguardPuttin' on the DogMouse Trouble
1945 The Mouse Comes to DinnerMouse in ManhattanTee for TwoFlirty BirdyQuiet Please!
1946 Springtime for ThomasThe Milky WaifTrap HappySolid Serenade
1947 Cat Fishin'Part Time PalThe Cat ConcertoDr. Jekyll and Mr. MouseSalt Water TabbyA Mouse in the HouseThe Invisible Mouse
1948 Kitty FoiledThe Truce HurtsOld Rockin' Chair TomProfessor TomMouse Cleaning
1949 Polka-Dot PussThe Little OrphanHatch Up Your TroublesHeavenly PussThe Cat and the MermouseLove That PupJerry's DiaryTennis Chumps
1950 Little QuackerSaturday Evening Puss • Texas TomJerry and the LionSafety SecondThe Hollywood BowlThe Framed CatCue Ball Cat
1951 Casanova CatJerry and the GoldfishJerry's CousinSleepy-Time TomHis Mouse FridaySlicked-up PupNit-Witty KittyCat Napping
1952 The Flying CatThe Duck DoctorThe Two MouseketeersSmitten KittenTriplet TroubleLittle RunawayFit To Be TiedPush-Button KittyCruise CatThe Dog House
1953 The Missing Mouse • Jerry and JumboJohann MouseThat's My Pup!Just DuckyTwo Little IndiansLife with Tom
1954 Puppy TalePosse CatHic-cup PupLittle School MouseBaby ButchMice FolliesNeapolitan MouseDownhearted DucklingPet PeeveTouché, Pussy Cat!
1955 Southbound DucklingPup on a PicnicMouse for SaleDesigns on JerryTom and ChérieSmarty CatPecos PestThat's My Mommy
1956 The Flying SorceressThe Egg and JerryBusy BuddiesMuscle Beach TomDown Beat BearBlue Cat BluesBarbecue Brawl
1957 Tops with PopsTimid TabbyFeedin' the KiddieMucho MouseTom's Photo Finish
1958 Happy Go DuckyRoyal Cat NapThe Vanishing DuckRobin HoodwinkedTot Watchers
1961 Switchin' KittenDown and OutingIt's Greek to Me-ow!
1962 High SteaksMouse into SpaceLanding StriplingCalypso CatDicky MoeThe Tom and Jerry Cartoon KitTall in the TrapSorry SafariBuddies Thicker Than WaterCarmen Get It!
1963 Pent-House Mouse
1964 The Cat Above and The Mouse BelowIs There a Doctor in the Mouse?Much Ado About MousingSnowbody Loves MeThe Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
1965 Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of LifeTom-ic EnergyBad Day at Cat RockThe Brothers Carry-Mouse-OffHaunted MouseI'm Just Wild About JerryOf Feline BondageThe Year of the MouseThe Cat's Me-Ouch
1966 Duel PersonalityJerry, Jerry, Quite ContraryJerry-Go-RoundLove Me, Love My MousePuss 'n' BoatsFilet MeowMatinee MouseThe A-Tom-Inable SnowmanCatty-Cornered
1967 Cat and Dupli-catO-Solar-MeowGuided Mouse-illeRock 'n' RodentCannery RodentThe Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.Surf-Bored CatShutter Bugged CatAdvance and Be MechanizedPurr-Chance to Dream
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