The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
series = Tom and Jerry


caption =
director = Gene Deitch
story_artist = Chris Jenkyns
animator = Vaclav Bedrich
voice_actor = Allen Swift
musician = Steven Konichek
producer = William L. Snyder
studio =
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = 1962
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7'
preceded_by = "Dicky Moe"
followed_by = "Tall in the Trap"
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0056595

"The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" is a Tom and Jerry cartoon produced and released in 1962. It was directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder.

Plot

The cartoon is a seven-minute "commercial" for the Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, with which "anyone can now enter the lucrative field of animated cartoons." The items in the kit include the following:

* Tom (described as "one mean, stupid cat")
* Jerry ("one sweet, lovable mouse")
* a hammer, knife, and stick of dynamite (collectively referred to as "assorted deadly weapons")
* coffee and cigarettes (described as being "for the cartoonists")
* a slice of watermelon

At first, the kit is set up by having Jerry eat the watermelon. He spits the seeds out, hitting (and thus waking) Tom. From this point the two torment each other in typical "Tom and Jerry" fashion by using the remaining items in the kit (not counting the coffee and cigarettes).

During the course of the cartoon, some other items appear, such as a book entitled "Judo for Mice", a gym with boxing equipment, a judo school, assorted bricks a plank of wood, a cement block, and a large block of marble. Aside from these items, the entire commercial takes place over an almost non-existent background of plain color washes.

The cartoon ends with the box empty except for Tom (now lying unconscious). Jerry places the cover back on the box, as the narrator explains that "Our next film will be for the kiddies, and will demonstrate a new poison gas, thank you, and good night."

Notes

*Some syndicated stations aired a version of this episode without the narration. The reasons for this cut are not known.
*The MGM logo has no music