His Mouse Friday

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name=His Mouse Friday
series=Tom and Jerry


caption=The title card of "His Mouse Friday"
director=William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist=William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator=Kenneth Muse
Irven Spence Ray Patterson
Ed Barge
voice_actor=
musician=Scott Bradley
producer=Fred Quimby
distributor=Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date=July 7 1951
color_process=Technicolor
runtime=7 min 11 secs
movie_language=English
imdb_id=0043644
preceded_by=Sleepy-Time Tom
followed_by=Slicked-up Pup

"His Mouse Friday" is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 59th "Tom and Jerry" cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby for Metro Goldwyn Mayer. It was animated by Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence, Ray Patterson and Ed Barge and released in theatres on July 7 1951. However, the cartoon has been banned from television due to racial sensitivities. The title is a pun combining references to the film "His Girl Friday" and the character of Friday from the novel "Robinson Crusoe".

Plot

The cartoon begins with Tom stranded at sea, floating on a wooden raft after presumably being shipwrecked, a la Robinson Crusoe. The poor cat has nothing to eat but shoes and shoelaces. [This scene is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's classic "The Gold Rush".] When he spots an island, the waves catapult him there. Tom attempts to feast on the coconuts but they prove to be difficult to break open. Moments later, Tom breaks his teeth after trying to sink them into a turtle. However, Tom does see a creature that is undeniably more edible - Jerry. Tom chases after the rodent and the pair end up in an uninhabited village. Jerry spots a large drum and beats a tune on it, frightening Tom. Jerry also finds a large black cauldron and rubs the soot onto his face and body, making himself black. When Tom emerges from his hiding place, Jerry jumps out at him, hollering in a thick dialect. He orders Tom to "hop in pot"; to cook himself with carrots, potatoes and radishes; but to "hold the onion." Tom starts to feel the heat, and resigned to his death, he looks out of the cauldron and sees Jerry performing his "native" dance, but the movement of the dance causes Jerry's makeshift skirt to fall down, revealing his brown mouse fur. Tom notices this and makes sure that Jerry is aware of it. Tom tries to catch Jerry but stumbles upon some genuine black natives. One licks his lips and declares "Mmmm... barbecued cat!" They chase after Tom. Meanwhile, Jerry, overlooking the whole fracas is attacked by a younger (and thicker-lipped) black native who also licks his lips in delight, saying "Mmmm... barbecued mouse!" The native boy chases after Jerry.

Censorship

*Because of the short's racial stereotyping "His Mouse Friday " has been removed from rotation on american TV in the early 2000s.
*There are two versions of this cartoon that have aired on television prior to being banned:
**One version mutes out all the stereotypical black savage dialogue.
**Another version retains the dialogue, but edits the part where Jerry meets a real black savage by using pan and zoom to crop out the real black savage's appearance.

References

Footnotes