Mouse for Sale is a 1955 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Plot[]
Tom is reading the newspaper when he notices an ad that reads “BIG MONEY PAID FOR WHITE MICE.” He paints a bolt to look like a piece of Swiss cheese and knocks it into Jerry’s mousehole. Once the mouse swallows the bolt, Tom uses a magnet to pull Jerry towards him, then paints him white and sells him to the pet shop. He hides the money under the rug, then lies down and fantasizes about being rich. However, Joan finds the money under the rug and uses it to buy a white mouse, who is actually Jerry painted white.
Jerry hops out of the box and dances on a spindle, then balances an orange on his nose. Joan turns on the radio and Jerry dances to the music on Tom’s head. Tom tries to hit Jerry with a coal spade, but misses. Jerry runs around the table while Tom tries to catch the mouse. Finally, Tom does catch Jerry, but Joan notices and hits Tom with a broom several times, causing him to run outside. Tom notices that the curtains are closed on one of the windows. The curtains open and Jerry holds a sign reading “Jerry, the Dancing Mouse.” Tom turns on the garden hose, opens the window, and blasts Jerry with the hose, rinsing off the white paint in the process. Tom runs into the house and traps Jerry under a teapot. Joan notices and tells Tom that he is not supposed to be in the house. Jerry sneaks out the spout of the teapot and hops in a canister of flour, turning himself white. Joan asks if Tom has Jerry under the teapot. He lifts it up, revealing Jerry, so Joan hits Tom on the head with a broom.
Tom runs into the living room and grabs a fireplace bellows, which he uses to blow the flour off Jerry’s torso. Jerry quickly tears off a piece of a feather duster to cover his torso. When Joan notices, he does a quick dance before leaving. Tom sticks the bellows behind Jerry’s back and blows the rest of the flour off of the mouse. Jerry runs into a closet and Tom tries to open it, leading to repeated whackings on the head from Joan. Tom breaks the room in half and opens the door, and out leaps Jerry—once again colored white. Tom grabs one half of the broom, begins whacking himself on the head again, and runs into the garage. He notices Jerry kiss a bottle of white shoe polish, which gives him the idea to coat himself with white paint. He rings the doorbell. When Joan opens the door, Tom holds out a sign reading “Tom the Dancing Cat” and begins doing the same dance that Jerry did earlier. Joan is charmed by the dance, believing Tom was jealous. She lets Tom in, but on the condition that he and Jerry be friends. When she leaves, Tom begins dancing again, but this time while stomping on Jerry.
Availability[]
- DVD - Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 3, Disc 1 (Warner Bros.)
- DVD - Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble (Warner Bros.)
Notes[]
- The title is a pun on "House for sale".