A Black Cat in A Hat is the fifth Tom and Jerry cartoon made by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, released on January 6, 1969. This short is notable for being the only DePatie-Freleng cartoon to be composed by Peanuts jazz composer Vince Guaraldi instead of Bill Lava or Walter Greene.
The title is a play on the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat.
Synopsis[]
In a witch house, Tom is sleeping underneath a table with potions. Jerry peeks out from one of the potions, and sees the sleeping cat. Wanting to humiliate him, he carries an empty potion container and drops it on Tom, waking him up. He sees Jerry on top of the table and, knowing he is responsible for the humiliation, chases him like always. They go outside where Jerry almost runs into a black cat which is searching in a trash can and escapes. Tom, however, uses up all his halting power and hits the cat, catching the feline's attention. The black cat sees Tom and instantly bonds with him, believing him to be a witch.
Tom, however, decides to adopt the cat and orders him to cause bad luck for Jerry. Unfortunately, Jerry keeps on retaliating the cat's powers so that they go back on Tom, hurting him in the process. In the end, Tom surrenders and Jerry now has the black cat as his slave, ordering him to cause bad luck for Tom. Horrified, Tom runs away into the distance as several heavy objects fall behind him as he runs, including a safe, a bathtub, an anvil, etc.
Credits[]
- "Tom and Jerry Theme": Scott Bradley
- Produced by: David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
- Director: Robert McKimson
- Story: Irv Spector
- Animation: Don Williams, Bob Matz, Norman McCabe, LaVerne Harding, Hank Smith, Virgil Ross, Al Pabian
- Layouts: Dick Ung
- Backgrounds: Tom O'Loughlin
- Film Editor: Lee Gunther
- Vocal Effects: Don Messick
- Production Supervision: Bill Orcutt
- Musical Score: Vince Guaraldi
Trivia[]
- The gag where Jerry almost runs into the black cat but not Tom is also borrowed from 1942's Dog Trouble.
- The bad luck gags in this cartoon are also from Bad Luck Blackie, a non-Tom and Jerry cartoon from 1949.