Jerry and the Goldfish

Jerry and the Goldfish
Tom and Jerry series
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices by	Daws Butler
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Irven Spence Ray Patterson Ed Barge Kenneth Muse
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	March 3, 1951
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7' 21"
Language	English
Preceded by	Casanova Cat
Followed by	Jerry's Cousin

Jerry and the Goldfish is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 56th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Irven Spence, Ray Patterson, Ed Barge and Kenneth Muse, with music by Scott Bradley and backgrounds by Robert Gentle.

Plot

Jerry approaches a sleeping goldfish, feeds him, and makes friends. Meanwhile, Tom is listening to a French cookery show, which is explaining a fish soup recipe (possibly bouillabaisse); the chef is voiced by Daws Butler. The most important thing, as described by Chef Françoise, is "one, small, fresh, FISH." Tom's mouth waters, and then he remembers where he can get one small fresh fish: the fishbowl. Tom crawls towards the fishbowl, takes the table with him and dumps the goldfish bowl onto the stove. He turns it on and chops up some of the directed vegetables: carrots and scallions. He tastes the water, then salts the fish and puts it back in the bowl.

Jerry is strolling into the kitchen and is aghast when he sees Tom trying to cook his friend. Jerry opens the oven door and Tom falls into the oven. Jerry swipes the goldfish bowl and scrams. Tom hangs back and takes it off Jerry's hands as he runs past. Jerry sees he no longer has the bowl and trips up Tom with a baseball bat, then catches the goldfish and some water in a water glass. Jerry runs to his hole and stands aside as Tom slams into the wall, then skips through Tom's ears into the hole, safe. Tom won't give up and prepares a trap for the fish. Jerry spots a full fishbowl on the table and moves the fish to within jumping range. He jumps for his bowl, but Tom is behind the curtain and catches the goldfish in a frying pan, the cat having abandoned the fish soup idea. Tom breads the fish in flour and tosses it into his mouth after a brief sizzle. Jerry hits Tom in the face with the pan and pulls one of Tom's whiskers to open his mouth, allowing the goldfish to escape. He jumps into a cup of water with Jerry and Jerry runs from Tom, who runs through a wardrobe and squeezes through Jerry's mousehole in order to reach the fish. Jerry stops and holds out an iron, which stops Tom's charge. Tom seizes a pistol, shoots the cup and steals the fish. Jerry doesn't notice until safe in his mousehole.

Tom is now trying to roast the fish over a fire. Jerry upends a clay bucket onto Tom's head and whacks it with a fireplace tool, causing it to vibrate. Jerry steals the fish back, but Tom snaps the carpet and sends the fish careening into the toaster. Tom prepares a fish sandwich, but Jerry sticks his tail in the clothes roller. Tom screams in pain, but grabbing onto the toaster won't keep him from being flattened. Tom then holds a saucepan just above Jerry's hole, such that when Jerry runs into the hole, the fish is captured. Tom moves a cabinet in front of the hole and goes off to steam the fish.

Jerry takes an alternative route that happens to lead to where Tom is attempting to cook the fish. Tom puts the fish underneath himself and chops up a potato while Jerry substitutes dynamite for a carrot and Tom's tail for the fish. Tom suspects nothing until his tail starts turning red and the covered saucepan starts steaming and shaking. Tom screams, run outside, closes the door on his tail and braces for the explosion. When it has passed, Tom pulls on his tail and sees the best he could hope for: Only part of his tail is gone. That is, until he opens the door and sees himself speeding away from Earth.

Jerry puts on goggles and joins the fish in the fishbowl as they watch Tom blown into outer space. The two shake hands.

Voice cast

• Daws Butler as The Chef on the radio (uncredited)