The Zoot Cat

From Hanna-Barbera Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
The Zoot Cat
The Zoot Cat poster.png
Theatrical poster.
Production company Metro-Goldywn-Mayer
Distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date February 26, 1944
Run time 7:08
Starring William Hanna
Producer(s) Fred Quimby
Music composed by Scott Bradley
Screenplay by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Director(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Series navigation
Previous Next
Title card
The Zoot Cat title card.png

The Zoot Cat is the thirteenth animated theatrical short of the Tom and Jerry series. It was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on February 26, 1944. It was produced by Fred Quimby, and written and directed by series creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

Tom tries to impress a girl cat by dressing up in his own "zoot" suit.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Tom: Ah, I love you. When I'm with you, I am what you call, uh, a hep cat. I am hip to the jive. I'm in the groove, darling.
Toots: Now you're really sending me, Jackson.
Tom: Ah, you set my soul on fire. It is not just, uh, a little spark. It is a flame; a big roaring flame. Ah, I can feel it now—It is burning... burning... BURNING... Hey, something is burning around here! (screams in pain)

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor
Jerry Mouse Sara Berner
Tom Cat Jerry Mann
William Hanna (screams)
Toots Sara Berner
Smiling Sam announcer Jerry Mann
Smiling Sam


Locations

Objects

  • Piano

Vehicles

  • None

Production

Development

A model sheet for the cartoon was produced in November 25, 1942, while its story was made to lampoon on a then-current fashion trend in World War II called the zoot suit.[1][2]

Filming

Music

The music was composed by Scott Bradley.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

Behind the scenes

  • Apparently, Tom is now an alley cat.
  • It is one of the few shorts with an extensive amount of dialogue, and has more of it than any previous short up to that point.
  • Tom does a Charles Boyer impression when talking to Toots on the piano, and then switches to Groucho Marx's voice after sniffing the smoke from his hot foot.

Errors

Legacy

  • Beginning in 2016, a series of memes using Tom in a zoot suit were first posted on a 4Chan thread, and later went by the name of "One More Time" in reference to the Stands from the anime/manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It also crossed over with a similar meme with Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes, dubbed "Literally Me", which was based on his appearance in the 1946 short Book Revue.[3]

Home availability

References

  1. ^ Baxter, Devon (2017). Baxter's Breakdowns: Tom & Jerry in “The Zoot Cat” (1944), Cartoon Research. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Model sheet for The Zoot Cat (November 25, 1942) Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  3. ^ Zoot Suit Daffy Duck / "Literally Me". Know Your Meme.