The Midnight Snack

File:The Midnight Snack title card (1957 reissue).png

On-screen title card of the 1957 reissue.

The Midnight Snack is the second animated theatrical short of the Tom and Jerry series. It was released on July 19, 1941 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was written and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It was produced by Fred Quimby.

Tom tries to prevent Jerry from raiding Mammy Two-Shoes's fridge at night.

Characters

In order of appearance:

• Jerry Mouse
• Tom Cat
• Mammy Two-Shoes (Lillian Randolph)

Locations

• Mammy Two-Shoes's house

Objects

• Fridge

Vehicles

• None

Development

The original title card in 1941.

Jasper and the unidentified Jinx officially become Tom and Jerry with this short by way of a series title card, which the previous short, Puss Gets the Boot, did not receive, likely because it was a one-off gamble. However, Tom was still called Jasper in his model sheet for this short.

In 1957, it was re-issued with the then new series title card introduced in 1954, as well as a new title card specifically for the short, which was more personalized than the original, which was simply of Tom and Jerry's heads. It also changed--or corrected--the credits for Joseph Barbera and Bill Hanna, who were at first billed as supervisors, when they were really the directors. Fred Quimby was also added as producer.

Behind the scenes

• Within the short, Tom is in fact called Thomas by Mammy Two-Shoes, and Jerry isn't referred to by name.
• The original print of this was destroyed in the 1965 vault fire at MGM.