''Johann Mouse'' is a 1953 American one-reel animated cartoon and the 75th ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' cartoon, released in theaters on March 21, 1953 by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The short is directed by

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

, composed by Scott Bradley, and animated by

Kenneth Muse Kenneth Muse (July 26, 1910 – July 26, 1987) was an American animator best known for his work on the ''Tom and Jerry'' series at MGM. Biography Muse worked briefly at Walt Disney Productions, where he was Preston Blair's assistant on '' Fa ...

, Ray Patterson,

Ed Barge Edward John Barge (August 29, 1910 – September 29, 1991) was an American animator. Barge was born to Alfred Edward and Margaret G. Barge in San Jose, California. In 1916, the family moved to Bakersfield, where his father was employed by t ...

, and

Irven Spence Irven LeRoy Spence (April 24, 1909 – September 21, 1995) was an American animator. He is best known for his work on MGM's ''Tom and Jerry'' animated shorts. Spence has been credited variously as Irven Spence, Irvin Spence, and Irv Spence. Care ...

. It won the 1952 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, the seventh and last Oscar given to a ''Tom and Jerry'' short.

Plot

In 19th century

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Tom Cat Thomas Jasper "Tom" Cat Sr. is a fictional character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being Jerry Mouse) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and J ...

and Johann Mouse played by

Jerry Mouse Gerald Jinx "Jerry" Mouse is a fictional character and one of the two titular characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films and other animated media, usually acting as the protagonist opposite his ...

live in the house of composer

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

. Whenever Strauss plays the piano, Johann comes out of his hole to dance to the music, and Tom would repeatedly try to catch him with no success. One day, Strauss goes away on a journey, much to Tom's dismay. Tom realizes that the key to catching Johann would be through music, so he begins teaching himself how to play the piano using Strauss' written tutorial, "How to Play the Waltz in Six Easy Lessons." As Tom plays the piano, he is able to lure out and capture Johann, but his playing is immediately praised by the house servants, and so he lets go of Johann and happily continues his performance. Tom's piano playing and Johann's dancing spread by word-of-mouth across Vienna, eventually reaching the

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Ho ...

. Tom and Johann are then commanded to perform at the

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

before the emperor. Tom and Johann perform with vigor and delight at the palace, but Tom eventually succumbs to his instincts and tries to chase after Johann, only to fail once again and making the audience clap once again.

Production

As with every short of ''

'' during its first two decades, ''Johann Mouse'' is directed by

and

, with its score composed by Scott Bradley. The piano arrangements for the short was created and played by

Jakob Gimpel Jakob Gimpel (April 16, 1906March 12, 1989) was a Polish concert pianist and educator. Jakob Gimpel was born in Lwów (then in Polish Galicia, part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, and now Lviv, Ukraine). Gimpel's younger brother, Bronislav Gimpe ...

, a Polish-born concert pianist. Within the ''Tom and Jerry'' series, ''Johann Mouse'' is unique for having a record album directly adapted from the short itself, released in May 1953 and with

Bret Morrison Bret Morrison (5 May 1912 – 25 September 1978)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 197. was an American actor best known as the ...

substituting

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ''Dudle ...

as narrator.

Reception

Ben Simon of Animated Views praised ''Johann Mouse'' for its "extraordinarily exquisite watercolor production values", and noted that

was "having fun as the narrator". Writer and historian Michael Samerdyke considered the short to be "simply adorable", and observed that continues "''Tom and Jerry''s romance with classic music." Samerdyke also wrote that the short has "a lovely, bittersweet feel. The storybook narration and the darling action is all sweet, but beneath it all lies the awareness that the world of Strauss waltzes and their elegance is over."

later considered ''Johann Mouse'', alongside ''

The Cat Concerto ''The Cat Concerto'' is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 29th ''Tom and Jerry'' short, released to theatres on April 26, 1947. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical super ...

'', to be his favorite ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon.

Home media

*"''Tom & Jerry'' Cartoon Festival Featuring Academy Award Winner ''Johann Mouse''" (1985) *"''Tom & Jerry''s 50th Birthday Classics III" (1990) *"''Tom and Jerry''s Greatest Chases, Vol. 1" (2000) *" ''Tom and Jerry'' Spotlight Collection" (2004) *"

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection Warner Bros.' library of Oscar-nominated cartoons were showcased in a DVD set released by Warner Home Video on February 12, 2008 that included their own Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, as well as Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and other classic MGM car ...

: 15 Winners" (2008) *"

: 15 Winners - 26 Nominees" (2008) *" ''Tom & Jerry'': Deluxe Anniversary Collection" (2010)

References

External links

* *
Johann Mouse
' at the

TCM Movie Database Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

* {{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1941–1960 1953 films 1953 short films 1950s American animated films 1950s animated short films 1953 comedy films 1950s fantasy films 1950s musical films 1953 animated films American musical comedy films Animated films about music and musicians Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Cultural depictions of Johann Strauss I Cultural depictions of Johann Strauss II Films scored by Scott Bradley Films set in the 19th century Films set in Vienna American musical fantasy films Short films directed by Joseph Barbera Short films directed by William Hanna Tom and Jerry short films Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films 1950s English-language films