Posse Cat

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Posse Cat
series = Tom and Jerry


caption = The title card of "Posse Cat"
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Irven Spence
Ed Barge
Kenneth Muse
Ray Patterson
background_artist = Robert Gentle
voice_actor = Stan Freberg as The cook (uncredited)
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = January 30, 1954
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 6 minutes 28 seconds
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0047361
preceded_by = "Puppy Tale"
followed_by = "Hic-cup Pup"

"Posse Cat" is the 81st one reel animated "Tom and Jerry" short, created in 1952. As with all "Tom and Jerry" cartoons at the time, it was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The short was animated by Irven Spence, Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse and Ray Patterson, the usual quartet of animators who dealt with the vast majority of "Tom and Jerry" shorts in the Hanna and Barbera era. The backgrounds was credited to Robert Gentle. It was released on January 30, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

"Posse Cat" is seen as the sequel or successor to 1950's Texas Tom, which is often considered one of the more popular "Tom and Jerry" shorts, though it was not nominated for an Academy Award that year.

Plot

The cartoon begins with Tom sleeping lazily as Jerry steals a sausage. The cook then calls Tom using a triangle, preparing dinner for him but warning him that he can only eat if he catches Jerry. The cook sends Tom away by shooting at him.

Firstly, Tom paints his finger the colour of a sausage so that Jerry mistakes it for a sausage. Jerry then lassos the 'sausage' and Tom with it through the mouse hole. A chase follows, and just before Tom catches Jerry, Jerry pushes over a rake which rings the triangle. Tom drops Jerry and goes to collect his dinner. The cook takes it away and warns, "I said no dinner till you catch that mouse!" again shooting Tom away. The chase begins again, with Tom trying to lasso Jerry towards him, but he misses and catches the turkey instead. The cook once again shoots Tom away.

Later on, Tom has prepared a trap, but Jerry sees it. He then comes up with a trick of his own: preparing a sandwich with the sleeping cook's hand in it and ringing the triangle. Tom grabs the 'sandwich' and takes a bite: the cook yells in pain and shoots Tom away yet again, shooting several discrete holes in Tom which can be seen as water that he drinks comes back out through the holes. Jerry appears with a baton, but seeing Tom, runs away and prepares another 'sandwich', this time with a bull's tail. Tom takes a bite and is flung back to the shack. Tom sees Jerry with a piece of paper, which turns out to be a contract saying that in return for Jerry's co-operation, Tom would share his meals. The two shake hands, ready to co-operate.

As the cook is peeling potatoes, gunfire can be heard and then seen as Tom 'shoots' at Jerry so that the cook thinks that Tom is trying to get Jerry. Tom fires a few shots into the air as the cook gives Tom his dinner, giving endless praise.

As Tom sits down to eat, Jerry whistles and reminds Tom about the contract. Tom fires several holes into it before going back to his dinner. Jerry approches and throws the dinner into Tom's face. In rage, Tom grabs a red-hot poker and chases Jerry. Tom is running flat-out as Jerry opens the shack door. Tom is unable to stop and runs right into the back of the cook, causing him to jump out of his boots and run after Tom, constantly shooting and with a burnt poker mark on his trousers. Jerry watches, eating a turkey leg as the cook chases Tom into the background.

Trivia

*The bull in the cartoon is the same one in 1950's Texas Tom.