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Tom's Photo Finish is a 1957 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 109th Tom and Jerry short with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Dick Bickenbach.

Characters[]

Plot[]

Tom sneaks into the kitchen to the fridge. He grabs a whole chicken and takes a couple of bites out of it before he hears George coming his way. Tom hurriedly shoves the chicken back into the refrigerator and hides. George, upon discovering the half-eaten chicken, first asks his wife Joan whether she has eaten the chicken before concluding that either Tom or Spike is guilty and is determined to figure out which, even if it means X-raying them. Panicked, Tom frames Spike; he creates phony ink footprints leading from the sleeping dog to the refrigerator. As Tom moves to plant the chicken on Spike, a bright light flashes, and Jerry, holding a camera, runs off. Joan and George see the "evidence" implicating Spike and kick him out of the house. Spike laments being framed as he watches George and Joan allow Tom to gobble down the remainder of the chicken.

Meanwhile, Jerry happily emerges from his darkroom, having made numerous copies of his photo of Tom framing Spike. He plants copies of the photos in places where George or Joan are likely to see them, hoping to get Tom expelled from the house and clear Spike's name in order let him back inside as an apology.

Realizing that Jerry knows the truth about him framing Spike, Tom is forced to use the guise of being a recklessly playful cat as he swoops in to destroy the photos before George and/or Joan see them in an attempt to prevent from getting kicked out of the house and clearing Spike's name. To make matters worse, Tom taunts Spike from inside, leading George to think that the cat has gone crazy, and pulls down the window-shade with the photos. But Joan tries to convince him otherwise.

Jerry begins folding the photos into paper airplanes and tosses them towards Joan in the kitchen and George in the den. Tom swallows the airplane and the cake meant for Joan and begins frantically chasing the airplane headed towards George with a pair of scissors. Tom's efforts to stop the plane only serve to cut up George's newspaper and his trousers. George intercepts him right before the cat nearly cuts his head off and Tom flees, but George grabs him by his tail with one hand after having enough of his crazy behavior. He prays for mercy as George catches the paper plane with his other hand and unfolds it. Upon learning about Tom's deception in framing Spike now knowing it was Tom who really did eat the chicken, he decides to kick him out of the house as his punishment for deceiving them.

As George kicks Tom out of the house, Jerry has his camera out again and photographs the moment as if to say, "So Long, Tom!" Joan and George let Spike back into the house and ask for forgiveness for falling into Tom's deception, which the dog gladly grants. Then, Jerry calls Spike over and gives him something that he laughs over: a photo of Tom being kicked out of the house by an angry George in his boxers.

Voice Actors[]

Trivia[]

  • Jerry made a total of 41 copies of the photo of Tom framing Spike in this cartoon, with 36 of them destroyed by Tom himself, four of them still remaining intact pasted on the window-shade, and one George successfully caught near the ending.
  • This short was considered for an Academy Award in 1957, but was not nominated.[1]
  • This is Spike's last major appearance in a Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by William Hanna & Joseph Barbera. He later had a cameo appearance in Tot Watchers, the final Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Errors/Goofs[]

  • On the infamous pan-and-scan version, the shot where Tom's head pops from his shoulders is poorly-framed, as the panning camera aimed at Tom's legs while the headless shoulders and the head are cropped out.

References[]

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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