Designs on Jerry
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| Designs on Jerry
Tom and Jerry series |
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 The title card of Designs on Jerry |
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| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by | Irven Spence Kenneth Muse Ed Barge |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | September 2, 1955 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6 min 39 secs |
| Preceded by | Mouse for Sale |
| Followed by | Tom and Chérie |
| IMDb profile | |
Designs on Jerry is a 1953 Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in 1955. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge.
[edit] Plot
In the attic of a large house, Tom is busy at work, designing (and building) the perfect mousetrap. We see a huge blueprint detailing a Rube Goldberg machine, using many household objects. Tom has also drawn a simplistic caricature of a mouse and a cat with the rest of the trap's design. Tired from a hard day's work, Tom retires to his bed, where he dreams of impending success, fame and fortune. However, while Tom is asleep, the mouse that Tom has drawn on the blueprint suddenly comes to life, abseils down the drawing board and enters Jerry's mousehole to warn him about Tom's plan. The blueprinted mouse drags Jerry to the drawing board, where he shows him the plan and measurements. Just then, the "cat listening for alarm" that Tom had also drawn on the blueprint also comes to life and pursues both the real and imaginary rodent. Together, the two mice use their wits to outsmart the "cat," who ends up being squirted with water, sucked inside a fountain pen and deposited in a bottle of white ink.
Just then, Tom begins to wake up. Jerry and the blueprint mouse realize that they must act quickly, and erase a critical measurement on the plan, replacing it with another figure just slightly off the previous one. Jerry returns to his hole and the sketched mouse returns to his position on the blueprint, as Tom gets to work building his mousetrap according to the altered dimensions.
The next scene shows Tom's complicated trap in all its glory. Tom hides in anticipation as Jerry emerges from his mousehole and tugs on a piece of cheese which is attached to some string. The string causes an alarm clock to ring, which is connected to a saw that chops off a block of wood. Successive elements of the trap work together, including windscreen wipers connected to a bucket of sand, a fan, a snooker table, washing machine, rifle, and cuckoo clock, where the cuckoo is attached to a knife which slowly cuts away at a rope, from which a large safe is suspended. Tom emerges from his hiding place and blindfolds Jerry. Just then, as expected, the safe falls on Tom, while Jerry escapes unharmed. The safe door opens, and a cube-shaped Tom walks out, swearing over his failure.
[edit] Notes
- A significant portion of the cartoon's plot is reused in 1967's Shutter Bugged Cat.
- Inspiration for the opening title sequence of Tom and Jerry Tales.
