The Yankee Doodle Mouse

The Yankee Doodle Mouse is a 1943 American one-reel animated cartoon in Technicolor.^[2] It is the eleventh Tom and Jerry short produced by Fred Quimby, and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley and animation by Irven Spence, Pete Burness, Kenneth Muse and George Gordon. Jack Zander was credited on the original print, but his credit was omitted in the 1950 reissue.^[1] It was released to theaters on June 26, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. The short features Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse chasing each other in a pseudo-warfare style, and makes numerous references to World War II technology such as jeeps and dive bombers, represented by clever uses of common household items.^[3] The Yankee Doodle Mouse won the 1943 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, making it the first of seven Tom and Jerry cartoons to receive this distinction.^[4]

The Yankee Doodle Mouse
Theatrical poster
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story by	Cal Howard (uncredited)
Produced by	Fred Quimby (uncredited on original issue)
Starring	William Hanna (uncredited)
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Irven Spence Pete Burness Kenneth Muse George Gordon Additional animation: Jack Zander (credited on original issue) Ray Patterson (uncredited) Assistant animation: Barney Posner (uncredited) Effects animation: Al Grandmain (uncredited)[1]
Layouts by	Harvey Eisenberg
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	MGM cartoon studio
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	June 26, 1943 (1943-06-26) June 24, 1950 (1950-06-24) (re-release)
Running time	7:28 (reissue version)
Language	no spoken dialogue

This is the first Tom and Jerry short to be animated by Ray Patterson, who arrived from Screen Gems.^[5] Patterson would continue to work for Hanna and Barbera until the 1980s.

Crew

• Directed by: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
• Story: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
• Animation: Irven Spence, Pete Burness, George Gordon, Kenneth Muse
• Additional Animation: Jack Zander, Ray Patterson
• Assistant Animation: Barney Posner
• Effects Animation: Al Grandmain, Stan Quackenbush
• Layout: Harvey Eisenberg
• Music: Scott Bradley
• Co-Producer: William Hanna
• Produced by: Fred Quimby

Missing sequence

The short was reissued in 1950. A gag involving ration stamps was removed in the reissue print. In the sequence where Jerry hits Tom with a board four times, as Jerry attempts to run off, the sequence fades to black. In the original missing sequence, Tom follows him, only to get his head stuck in Jerry’s hole. Jerry then uses Tom’s tongue to lick a war bond stamp. The second war communique reads: "Enemy gets in a few good licks! Signed, Lt. Jerry Mouse".^[1][6]

Availability

VHS

• Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Classics^[7]

Laserdisc

• Tom & Jerry Classics^[8]
• The Art of Tom & Jerry Vol. 1, Side 2^[9]

DVD

• Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc 1
• Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection Disc 1
• Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Vol. 1, Disc 1

Blu-ray

• Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Vol. 1, Disc 1

References

1. "MGM's "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" (1943)". Cartoon Research. July 6, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
2. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 149–150. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
3. Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 27. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
4. Gifford, Denis (March 24, 2001). "William Hanna: Master animator whose cartoon creations included Tom and Jerry and the Flintstones". The Guardian (London).
5. "Irv Spence's "Rugged Rangers" |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020. ...he was hired at Walt Disney's studio but left during the strike two years later. He spent a brief period at Screen Gems when Frank Tashlin (who later moved to Warner Bros.) was its creative head. Patterson soon moved to MGM, assigned to the Hanna-Barbera unit.
6. "Layout drawing of background of missing sequence". Cartoon Network. Archived from the original (JPG) on December 26, 2001. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
7. "..:: The Tom and Jerry Online :: An Unofficial Site : TOM AND JERRY DVD/VHS::." www.tomandjerryonline.com. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
8. "LaserDisc Database - Tom & Jerry Classics [ML102219]". www.lddb.com. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
9. "LaserDisc Database - Art of Tom & Jerry, The: Volume I [ML102682]". www.lddb.com. Retrieved February 14, 2020.

External links

• The Yankee Doodle Mouse at IMDb