Flirty Birdy

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Flirty Birdy
series = Tom and Jerry


caption =
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Irven Spence
Kenneth Muse
Ray Patterson
voice_actor =
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = flagicon|US September 22, 1945
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7' 13"
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0042613
preceded_by = "Tee for Two"
followed_by = "Quiet Please!"

"Flirty Birdy " is a 1945 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 21st "Tom and Jerry" short. It was made and released on September 22, 1945 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. The cartoon was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby. The animation was provided by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, and Ray Patterson, the music by Scott Bradley, and backgrounds by Robert Gentle.The cartoon revolves around Tom's effort to regain Jerry from an eagle by dressing up as a female bird.

Plot

The cartoon opens with Tom laying down a trail of cheese for Jerry. Tom traps Jerry in two slices of bread and makes a sandwich. Just as Tom is about to eat his sandwich, an eagle swoops down and steals the sandwich from Tom's hands. tom breaks his teeth. The eagle tries to eat the sandwich for himself but Tom steals the sandwich back, replacing it with a plate. Eagle breaks his teeth. They fight over the sandwich and almost tear Jerry in half. The eagle then hits Tom with his beak and knocks him out of a tree. Tom then throws a brick at the eagle but it gets thrown back, knocking Tom out cold. Tom then makes a face and yells at the eagle. The eagle grabs Tom, says "Going down?" and throws him back down to the ground. Tom lands near a clothesline where a skirt, some feathers, and some clothespins are. This gives Tom an idea.

The hawk then goes back to eat his Jerry sandwich. Just as Jerry is escaping from the eagle, a whistle is heard from and we see Tom with lipstick and a kazoo on his face. He waves over at the hawk from behind a chimney on a nearby house. Tom has taken the skirt, and stuck feathers on himself and to look like a (rather unconvincing) female bird. This makes the eagle lovestruck. Even Jerry can’t believe what Tom has done. Tom winks at the eagle and he tries to kiss Tom. Jerry, who is looking at Tom in disbelief, unties Tom’s dress, but Tom recovers. The eagle tries to kiss Tom again and Jerry grabs the elastic band of the kazoo and it brings them together for a kiss. The eagle goes wild and he ends up dropping Jerry. Tom then puts Jerry down his dress. Jerry then grabs a pin and sticks it in Tom's rear causing Tom to yell like a cat and jump into the eagle's arms. Tom then runs away with the lovestruck eagle behind him. The eagle again tries to kiss Tom but he ends up pecking the bricks out of the chimney. Tom then gives a flirtatious smile and struts away. This really makes the eagle wild and with Tom hiding around the chimney with a brick in his hand, Tom hits the eagle. But the eagle is still head over heels in love by sayng, "She loves me!". Tom makes another quick escape by jumping off the roof of the house. But the eagle saves him from hitting the ground and continues to try and kiss him. Tom tries to hide and escape in various means, but the lovesick eagle somehow keeps finding him, and Tom keeps losing Jerry in the process.

Tom is later seen standing behind a makeshift kissing booth that advertises, “"Kisses - One Mouse Each!"” The eagle ventures over to the kissing booth, hands over Jerry and puckers up. Tom grabs Jerry and then "smooches" the eagle with a plunger, simulating a giant kiss. But Jerry escapes again. Tom then runs into the eagle who holds out his hands. Tom picks one and the eagle produces a ring box with Jerry sitting in it. Jerry’s tail has been tied in a loop and the eagle places Jerry on Tom’s finger. (This is a marriage proposal.) Tom "accepts", then slams the window cover into the eagle’s face and runs away, but he crashes into the other window cover. Jerry then grabs a rope and ties it around Tom’s foot. Tom regains consciousness and runs away. Jerry hands the other end of the rope to the eagle and the eagle drags Tom back to him, preventing Tom's runaway. As Tom is being dragged to the eagle, Jerry hands Tom a bouquet of flowers and waves goodbye to the happy couple. At the cartoon's end, the eagle is shown sitting in a tree while Tom is sitting on a nest of eggs and knitting a tiny sweater, obviously preparing for motherhood with no choice but to endure a relationship with the eagle.

Notes

*The hawk reappeared in the Tom and Jerry Tales short "Bend it Like Thomas".
*Tom would also dress up as a female bird again to fool an eagle in Tom and Jerry Tales' "Cat of Prey".

Censorship

* The scene where Tom makes a face at the bird and yells, the scene where Tom emerges from a laundry basket like an American indian and when the bird exclaims "Going down!" are current excised from television prints in the U.S. There is another version in which those parts are not cut but the bird's dialogue is muted. (Going down? and She loves me!)