Professor Tom

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Professor Tom Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Professor Tom
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Ray Patterson Irven Spence Kenneth Muse Ed Barge
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	October 30, 1948
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 min 47 seconds
Preceded by	Old Rockin' Chair Tom
Followed by	Mouse Cleaning
IMDb profile

Professor Tom is a 1948 Tom and Jerry cartoon, directed by the duo's creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby, and animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge.

[edit] Plot

The cartoon opens with Tom, complete with pointer and mortarboard, as a teacher to a small brown kitten. On the blackboard is the lesson, "Mice live in holes, cats chase mice". This lesson is boring to the kitten and he falls asleep in class. Tom wakes him up by hitting his teaching stick on the board and the kitten sits up straight. As Tom tries to emphasize the lesson, Jerry has written that, "Mice are very nice." Tom sees this and screams. He is just about to grab Jerry when he takes his piece of chalk and makes a loud screech on the chalkboard. Tom corners and catches Jerry, but lets him go after his student makes another screech on the chalkboard. Tom again teaches his student that cats chase mice and he sends him on his way. The kitten starts to run toward Jerry and when he reaches him, Jerry shakes hands with the kitten. This causes Tom to scream and the chase continues.

The chase goes into the living room and the kitten runs into a chair. Jerry comes back to help him up. The chase goes on and the kitten gets stuck between the couch and an end table. Jerry helps the kitten by pulling on his tail. The chase goes into the bathroom, but the kitten ends up slipping on the rug and crashing through the glass shower door. Tom shows up and the kitten is wearing a rainhat and starts scrubbing himself with a brush. Tom sends him on his way and Jerry emerges from his hiding place under the kitten's towel. Jerry ends up running behind the kitten who then hides Jerry. Tom runs off to search for Jerry and then he screams when he sees him teaching the kitten that, "Cats and mice are buddies, cats and mice are pals, cats and mice are chums". But the lesson is cut short when Tom interrupts. Jerry responds by poking him with the pointer. This causes Tom to laugh. Jerry then hands the stick to the kitten and when Tom realizes that he is being poked by the kitten he sends him on his way to catch Jerry. The kitten starts to run in the wrong direction and Tom sends him in the right direction. The kitten then runs past Jerry and Tom ends up chasing him. The kitten then changes direction and starts heading back toward Tom and Jerry. Tom ends up sitting on the kitten's head and ends up smashing into a table. Tom then starts to chase Jerry in a circle after handing the kitten a vase. After a few laps around, Tom stands right behind the kitten and points to the vase, then points to Jerry. The kitten then hands the vase to Jerry who hits Tom in the head and runs into his mousehole.

Tom then grabs a cigar and starts blowing smoke into the mousehole. But with each puff, Tom starts to get sick and he turns green. Jerry then emerges from the mousehole with a clothespin on his nose. Tom quickly recovers but Jerry smashes the cigar in Tom's nose making him turn green again. Jerry runs over to the kitten who grabs Jerry as if he had caught him. Tom comes over and his pleased to see that his student has finally learned. Tom shakes the kitten's hand, kisses him, and pats him on the head. He then holds his own hand out as if to say, "Let me have him" but the kitten refuses and releases Jerry. As Tom starts to chase after Jerry, the kitten trips Tom. Tom then grabs the kitten and gives him a spankin'! Jerry sees this and ends up breaking the tip of Tom's tail. (Tom screams) Jerry then runs on a carpet and Tom traps him by rolling it up. As Tom takes the carpet outside, Jerry escapes and even helps Tom throw the carpet into a garden pool. Jerry runs back into the house and slams the door in Tom's face and closes the windows before Tom can get in. After the front door gets slammed in Tom's face, Tom decides to break the door down. He takes a few steps back and then takes a few more steps back to get a good running start. He runs toward the door at full force. Jerry sees this through the mail slot and runs away. The kitten opens the door and gets flattened by Tom. Jerry runs to the back of the house and stretches an innertube across the two back posts. Tom runs into it and get slingshotted back through the house and through the mailbox with his backside hanging out. Jerry arrives with a board and is just about to hit Tom when he stops him and hits Tom for himself. (That had to hurt!) The kitten then takes the teacher's hat and walks away with Jerry, arm in arm.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• A small portion of "We're Off to See the Wizard" from The Wizard of Oz is played as the cartoon closes.
• Tom and Jerry's positions on cat/mouse education, as presented here, will be almost entirely reversed in a later cartoon, Little School Mouse, where it is Jerry who teaches hostility to a rebellious student (Nibbles) and Tom who ends up supporting cat-mouse friendship.