The Mouse Comes to Dinner

The Mouse Comes to Dinner
1952 theatrical reissue poster.
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	May 5, 1945
Run time	7:26
Starring	William Hanna Sara Berner
Producer(s)	Fred Quimby
Music composed by	Scott Bradley
Screenplay by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Animation	Irven Spence Kenneth Muse Pete Burness Ray Patterson
Director(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
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The Mouse Comes to Dinner is the eighteenth animated theatrical short of the Tom and Jerry series. It was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on May 5, 1945. It was produced by Fred Quimby, and written and directed by series creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

Tom asks Toots out when he takes advantage of the prepared dinner made by his owner, and forcibly gets Jerry to act as a waiter.

Memorable quotes

Tom: Hey, What's cooking?
Toots: You are, stupid.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Mammy Two Shoes	Lillian Randolph
Jerry Mouse	William Hanna
Tom Cat	William Hanna
Toots	Sara Berner

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Mammy Two Shoes's residence

Objects

• Wolf pacifier

Vehicles

• None

Production

Filming

There was also a redubbed version made with Thea Vidale as the voice of Mammy Two Shoes.

Music

The music was composed by Scott Bradley.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: May 5, 1944; January 19, 1952 (reissue)

Behind the scenes

• The MPAA certificate number is 9698.
• Compared to Toot's previous appearance in Puss n' Toots, in which she is depicted as a small kitten, she is redesigned in this short as a fully grown adult, despite her short size.
• Tom and Jerry talk in this short.
• It is the last short to be released before May 8, 1945, also known as Victory in Europe Day or V-E Day.
• In airings on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, the scenes of Mammy setting up the dinner table and Jerry sneaking across the table while pretending to be a Native American are cut. For the former scene, it cuts to Tom popping out of a potted plant.
• The original titles for the short were found on eBay in September 13, 2023 on a 16mm black and white print.

Legacy

• Jerry is reminded of this short in another subsequent short Smitten Kitten.

In popular culture

• E.T. watches the scene where Tom's tail is set on fire in the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • October 25, 2005: Warner Home Video releases Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Vol. 2 on DVD.
  • February 12, 2008: Warner Home Video releases Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection on DVD.
  • October 25, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Tom and Jerry Golden Collection: Volume 1 on DVD.
  • October 25, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Tom and Jerry Golden Collection: Volume 1 on Blu-ray Disc.
• In France:
  • November 23, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Tom and Jerry Golden Collection: Volume Un on DVD.