Professor Tom

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Professor Tom
series = Tom and Jerry


caption =
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Ray Patterson
Irven Spence Kenneth Muse Ed Barge
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = flagicon|US October 30, 1948
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7' 47"
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0040712
preceded_by = "Old Rockin' Chair Tom"
followed_by = "Mouse Cleaning"

"Professor Tom" is a 1948 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 37th "Tom and Jerry" short, 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.

Plot

Tom is a professor (replete with pointer and mortarboard) trying to a small brown kitten named Topsy. On the blackboard is the lesson, "Mice live in holes, cats chase mice." This lesson is boring to little Topsy, who manages to fall asleep in class. 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 Topsy 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 Topsy. This causes Tom to scream and the chase continues.

The chase goes into the living room and Topsy runs into a chair. The chase goes into the bathroom, but Topsy ends up slipping on the rug and crashing through the glass shower door. 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. Jerry then hands the stick to Topsy; when Tom realizes that he is being poked by his student, he sends him on his way to catch Jerry. Tom then starts to chase Jerry in a circle after handing Topsy a vase. After a few laps around, Tom stands right behind Topsy and points to the vase, then points to Jerry. Topsy then hands the vase to Jerry who hits Tom in the head and runs into his mousehole.

Jerry then emerges from the mousehole with a clothespin on his nose. 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 to get a good running start, ultimately running towards the door at full force. Jerry sees this through the mail slot and quickly clears the way for Tom. Topsy then opens the door and promptly gets flattened by a barrelling Tom. Jerry then runs to the back of the house and stretches an innertube across two posts on the backyard deck. Still runnning at full speed, Tom plows into the innertube and get slingshotted back through the house and through the mailbox with his backside hanging out.

Jerry arrives with a 2x4 board and is just about to whack Tom when Topsy stops him. After petting Tom's backside gently, Topsy gives Tom a solid whack. The little kitten then takes Tom's hat, places it on Jerry's head, and the two buddies walk away, arm in arm.

Notes

*A small portion of "We're Off to See the Wizard" from "The Wizard of Oz" is played as Topsy and Jerry depart arm and arm.
*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.
*In an edited scene, Jerry puts the cigar into Tom's mouth and his head turns green. This part of scene is cut out.
*Tom's student Topsy also appeared in "Baby Puss", "Life with Tom", "Saturday Evening Puss", "Triplet Trouble" and "Heavenly Puss".