Jerry's Cousin is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 57th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Plot[]
One day at Hogan's Alley, Jerry's cousin Muscles is showing the cats who's boss. After dispatching of his feline nemesis, Muscles retrieves his mail, which includes a letter from Jerry, begging for help in dealing with Tom.
An angry Muscles packs his bag and goes to Jerry's home. As he marches through the alleyway, the cats cower in fear; Butch is so scared of Muscles that he digs his own grave and buries himself.
At Tom and Jerry's house, the mouse is being mercilessly terrorized by Tom, who throws sticks of firecrackers into Jerry's mouse hole. Muscles arrives just as a stick of dynamite is thrown into the hole. Muscles goes out of the hole with the dynamite and forces Tom to endure the explosion in his mouth. This causes the cat's eyes, cheeks and eardrums to briefly pop out as smoke comes out of his ears. Tom, thinking Muscles is another simple, helpless mouse, grabs Muscles, but the mouse easily throws him off and sternly demands that, as long as Muscles is around, Tom lay off his little cousin Jerry "Listen Pussycat! Don't let me catch you picking on my little cousin while I'm around, you understand? Now beat it!" He then gives Tom a further taste of his strength by hurling him into a vase and spits on it, revealing that the cat has conformed into the vase's shape.
Tom tries weight training, but as he visits Muscles and gives Muscles a punch, Muscles blows his own hand into a very big one and punches Tom strongly. Tom then tries a divide and conquer strategy, and even attempts murder, but finds himself outwitted at every turn; Muscles is either too strong or too crafty for him. In desperation, Tom calls a group of feline thugs for hire to dispose of Muscles. Even though the thugs ambush Muscles, they are quickly immobilized and tossed from the house. Tom, thoroughly intimidated, begins to grovel at Muscles' feet. Before Muscles returns home, he gives Jerry an outfit which is identical to his, with him reminding him to whistle. Jerry gets himself dressed and toughen himself up to look more like Muscles. While Jerry steps out of his mousehole and whistles, Tom believes that Jerry is Muscles, rushes there to bow to him and kisses his feet, much to the mouse's delight.
Availability[]
- (1981) CED - Tom & Jerry Cartoon Festival: Volume 1
- (1983) LaserDisc - Tom & Jerry Cartoon Festival: Volume 1
- (1993) LaserDisc - The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume I
- (2004) DVD - Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 1 (unrestored; Warner Bros.)
- (2008) DVD - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection (restored; Warner Bros.)
- (2012) DVD - Tom and Jerry: Tricks & Treats (unrestored; Warner Bros.)
Notes[]
- This is the fifth Tom and Jerry short to be nominated for an Academy Award.
- Irven Spence is credited as Irvin Spence in the opening credits; he was also credited as Irv Spence in other credits.
- A gang of alley cats in this short would later reappear in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "The Police Kitten", as the antagonist who spoke in the episode.
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