Fine Feathered Friend

Fine Feathered Friend
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Released:	October 10, 1942 Reissue: January 1, 1949
Runtime:	7 min. 43 sec.
Series:	Tom and Jerry
MPAA Number:	8405
Production Number:	81
Copyright Renewed:	October 30, 1969
Starring:	Tom Cat Jerry Mouse Hen
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Harry E. Lang (uncredited) William Hanna (uncredited)
Director:	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Written By:	William Hanna (uncredited) Joseph Barbera (uncredited)
Producer:	Fred Quimby
Animated By:	Kenneth Muse Peter Burness George Gordon Jack Zander Bill Littlejohn (uncredited)
Layout Artist:	Harvey Eisenberg (uncredited) Robert Gentle (uncredited)
Background Artist:	Joseph Smith (uncredited)
Film Editor:	Fred McAlpin (uncredited)
Sound Effects:	Fred McAlpin (uncredited)
Musician:	Scott Bradley

Fine Feathered Friend is the eighth Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera released in October 10, 1942.

Plot

The cartoon starts with Jerry trying to get a piece of cheese from a mousetrap in a barn. Tom comes out of his hiding place to watch Jerry and hears the trap go off. He chases after Jerry who has his tail caught in the trap while holding the cheese. Jerry stops and hands Tom the cheese. Jerry then releases his tail, grabs the cheese back, and runs away. Jerry tries to cut Tom's neck with a pair of shears but fails. Tom then chases Jerry near a chicken sitting on her nest. Jerry hides underneath the hen and Tom startles her when he reaches underneath her to grab Jerry. The hen responds by pecking Tom's head, scaring him away.

The hen sits back down and Jerry emerges eating his cheese. Jerry leaves the barn but gets chased back into it by Tom. He runs underneath the hen again, and the hen wakes up before Tom can even try to reach Jerry and she pecks him away again. Jerry then realizes how warm it is underneath the hen and he has to use one of the hen's feathers as a fan. Meanwhile, Tom has returned and he quietly tries to reach Jerry, but ends up stepping into the hen's food bowl and runs away. He briefly disguises himself as a milkmaid while milking the cow and then tries again. As he reaches underneath the hen, he grabs one of the hen's eggs instead of Jerry, which results in the hen clucking at Tom in a mean way. The hen arranges the eggs with a nearby triangle in the same manner as arranging billiard balls. Later, Tom sets up a mousetrap tied to a string and puts it underneath the hen. Jerry comes out with the trap and he sets the trap with Tom's tail on it. Tom doesn't find out that his tail is in the trap for a while and then screams out in pain.

Later, the cat sneaks into the barn inside a butter churner. He pokes the chicken with a fork and searches the nest for Jerry. As the hen lands, he sneaks back into the churner and pokes the hen again. This continues until the hen sees the fork and removes the churner, grabs the fork and ends up poking Tom with the fork. The hen starts to ride on Tom like a horse, but suddenly stops when she hears chirps from her nest. Her eggs have hatched to release some baby chicks. She picks them up from her nest and sends them off to play. Jerry runs away from the nest with a few feathers and he tries to blend in with the other chicks. But one of the chicks mistakes Jerry's tail for a worm.

The mother hen and her chicks then walk in a line past Tom. Jerry sneaks past Tom who doesn't figure out that Jerry is in disguise. He kicks Tom in the inappropriate part and hitches a ride on the hen's backside and waves at Tom who has had enough of Jerry's prank. Tom then has a brilliant beyond idea by standing by an opening in the barn's wall and sees the shadows of the chickens passing by. It is in the next moment that he accidentally grabs a chick, thinking that one of them might be Jerry, and runs away. When he opens his hands the baby chick yells for his mama, who quickly arrives. Tom smiles innocently and hands back the chick. The hen then slams a bucket onto Tom's head.

The chickens cross paths with a family of ducks and Jerry follows the ducks into a pond. He goes underwater and then starts getting chased by Tom again. Jerry again tries to cut Tom's head with the shears but fails; Tom grabs the shears and starts chasing Jerry with them. He runs near the mother hen, who is having a drink of water, and Tom inadvertently cuts off the hen's tail feathers. She responds by grabbing Tom, wrapping a towel around his back and cutting his fur off. Tom is then outside the hen house with bandages on his back. When he looks in, the mother hen has tied a feather duster to herself and Jerry is resting, uses the hen's feathers as a small pillow to lie on.

Gallery

• Screenshots
• Production
• Other

Model sheet

Background painting

Original poster for the shorts release in 1942

Reissue poster of the re-release of the cartoon later on in 1949

Availability

• (1993) LaserDisc - The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume I (MGM/UA)
• (2005) DVD - Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 2 (Warner Bros.)
• (2009) DVD - Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 3 (Warner Bros.)
• (2011) DVD - Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume 1 (Warner Bros.)

Notes

• In the original nitrate release, the Tiger Rag opening theme as previously heard in "Blitz Wolf" and "Chips Off the Old Block" was used in the opening titles. This was replaced by the Tom and Jerry theme on its reissue. Bill Littlejohn was credited on original issue.
• This is the first Tom and Jerry short to be animated by Kenneth Muse, who would go on to animate for the series until Tot Watchers.