The Midnight Snack

The Midnight Snack
On-screen title card of the 1958 reissue.
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	July 19, 1941
Starring	Lillian Randolph
Producer(s)	Fred Quimby
Music composed by	Scott Bradley
Screenplay by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Director(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
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Title card

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

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

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Jerry Mouse	N/A
Tom Cat	N/A
Mammy Two Shoes	Lillian Randolph

Locations

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

Objects

• Fridge

Vehicles

• None

Production

Development

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 a producer.

Filming

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

Music

The score was composed by Scott Bradley.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: July 19, 1941; February 26, 1948 (first reissue); January 24, 1958 (second reissue)

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.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • October 25, 2005: Warner Home Video releases Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Vol. 2 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.