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Not to be confused with The Invisible Cat.

Overview
Transcript


The Invisible Mouse is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 33rd Tom and Jerry short.

Characters[]

Starring[]

Featuring[]

Plot[]

The cartoon begins with Tom taunting Jerry with cheese tied to a string: as Jerry jumps at it, Tom draws it back. On his third try, Jerry fakes Tom out once, but still fails to stop the cat from pulling the string completely back. Jerry meets Tom armed with an iron, and Tom drops it; Jerry moves Tom's foot, which gets smashed instead. Tom chases Jerry up the stairs of the house and both animals slide down the railing, but Jerry moves onto an alternate path while Tom is thrown into the wall and a cuckoo clock falls on him, causing Tom to cuckoo.

Tom spots a fireplace bellows on the chase and sucks Jerry away from his mousehole, tosses him into the air, but cannot hold onto the mouse, as Jerry catches onto the shelf of plates near the ceiling and breaks a plate over Tom's head. Jerry hides in an invisible ink bottle labeled Chemo Set as Tom searches for him.

Jerry next to the invisible ink bottle

Jerry discovers his invisibility for the first time and delights at the potential mayhem that he can cause Tom with The Invisible Mouse.

After the coast is clear, Jerry gets out and soon discovers he's half invisible, so he completes the job and has some fun by himself, chowing down a whole bowl of chocolate truffles and trekking across a table and chairs. When he finds Tom has set up another cheese/iron trap for him, the invisible Jerry walks toward his hole, chomps the cheese and walks away. Tom is puzzled and puts the iron on the nearest table to examine the situation, but Jerry smashes Tom's foot with the iron again, then stuffs the cat's tail into an electric socket and gives him a shock.

Tom dashes away in fright and exhaustion, scared stiff from what has happened to him; he settles down for a drink of milk, but Jerry moves the dish back and forth as Tom rubs his eyelids. Seeing nothing, the cat tries to drink his milk, but Jerry slurps every last drop and spits it into Tom's face.

Tom checks himself to make sure nothing is hanging from any part of his body, and overcome with exhaustion, draws up a pillow and goes to sleep. His nap does not last long, as the mouse lights a book of matches between Tom's toes; Tom starts to sweat in bed and wakes up. He sees nothing originally, but then smells the smoke and soon notices his foot is on fire; yelping in pain, he dashes over to a piano stool and sticks his foot in the goldfish bowl, putting out the fire.

Tom then hears the piano playing with no visible assistance and peeks inside the belly of the instrument, but Jerry drops the cover on him. Tom sees a banana being eaten of its own accord and then spots the shadow of Jerry on the nearby wall; guessing the truth, he stealthily whacks Jerry with a book, whose shadow reveals that he has incurred a bump on his head. Tom grabs at where Jerry was, but Jerry grabs an apple and flees. Tom follows him under a refrigerator and, when the mouse throws away his apple core, Tom throws flour all over the kitchen to force Jerry to leave tracks when he comes out. Tom slaps at Jerry with a frying pan, but Jerry writes a cursive "missed me" in the flour.

The second swing from the cat encourages Jerry to run away; Tom chases Jerry and grabs at where the footprints are, but when he opens his hand, Jerry twists his whiskers. Tom seizes a curtain and covers the mouse's footprints with it, trapping the mouse in his tracks as Jerry is shown to struggle helplessly. Tom grabs another book and starts beating the mouse, but Jerry escapes unseen from the cat's hold and swing hits Tom's rear with a golf club. Jerry takes the chase outside. When outside, Tom stops and sees Jerry, but can do nothing as Jerry whacks a sleeping Spike on the head and the golf club is planted on him. Spike angrily starts whacking Tom with the golf club all the way down the street. Inside, Jerry procures a straw and drinks Tom's chocolate milk, which "fills in" his empty silhouette and renders him visible again. And there he is, he is now back to normal was... Jerry the Mouse. Seemingly oblivious, he continues sipping.

Notes[]

  • When Jerry puts his hand in the ink, his hand is invisible, but when he jumps his whole self in the ink, the hand is visible. Therefore, it would have made more sense if he had dived into the bottle headfirst, but then flipped vertically so that his head is faced upwards.
  • This cartoon can be compared to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse in many ways: where the short uses a somewhat bright lighting and cast shadows for the scenery, Jerry goes through some type of experiment which causes and gives him the advantage to turn the tables on Tom, Jerry plugs Tom's tail into an electric machinery (waffle iron and outlet) which affects Tom's tail, and the end results showing Tom being chased away or whacked by an item proving to be menacing for him and Jerry is hit with a book.
  • This is the first time Spike makes a cameo appearance.
  • This is the first time that Jerry becomes invisible. He became invisible again in The Vanishing Duck and Of Feline Bondage.
  • This cartoon references The Invisible Man.
  • Kenneth Muse does uncredited animation in this short.
  • A Patreon user, "Antonio Gabriele Fiori"/"cartoon98100", uploaded a rare 16mm black and white Kodak print of the cartoon with the original titles intact.
  • In the German version, the cursive text "Missed me!", written by Jerry when Tom misses the target to hit invisible Jerry, is translated to "Nicht getroffen!" which translates into "Not hit!"
  • The cartoon was remade in the 1960s with the scene where Spike hits Tom with a golf club, the sky and background looks like evening than afternoon.

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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