''The Night Before Christmas'' is a 1941 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the third ''

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 ...

'' short 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 anim ...

and Joseph Barbera, produced by

Fred Quimby Frederick Clinton Quimby (July 31, 1886 – September 16, 1965) was an American animation producer and journalist best known for producing the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, for which he won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Films ...

and animated by Jack Zander, George Gordon,

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 ...

and

Bill Littlejohn William Charles Littlejohn (January 27, 1914 – September 17, 2010) was an American animator and union organizer. Littlejohn worked on animated shorts and features in the 1930s through to the 1990s. His notable works include the ''Tom and Jerry ...

. It was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, but lost to the Mickey Mouse short film ''

Lend a Paw ''Lend a Paw'' is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. ''Lend a Paw'' was directed by Clyde Geronimi and features original music ...

'', making it the only ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon to lose to a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film. This third cartoon uses what has become the basic "cat stalks mouse" premise, but also hints at a softening in

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 ...

's character: when Jerry is out in the freezing cold, Tom worries about him, indicating that the rivalry between them may not be entirely a fight to the death.

Plot

It's Christmas Eve and nothing is stirring. But Jerry emerges from his hole avoiding a Christmas-themed mousetrap placed by his hole. Jerry nears the Christmas presents, jumping merrily around the tree, licking candy canes and jumping onto a

plush toy A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be ...

lion that squeaks. Jerry continues jumping on the soft toy, but bounces too hard and lands on Tom, who he inadvertently wakes up. Tom snarls and just before he can eat Jerry, the quick-thinking mouse grabs a nearby "Do Not Open 'Til Xmas" sticker and slaps it on Tom's mouth. Jerry is chased among the myriad of toys (briefly stopping to fire a trick field gun's cork stopper at Tom) and hides inside a Christmas fairy light, causing him to glow. Not fooled, Tom grabs Jerry and is promptly

electrocuted Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

. Jerry hides among some toy soldiers, but Tom spots him and the mouse runs off, saluting the cat like a real soldier would. Tom chases Jerry but is stopped by the barrier of a miniature level crossing. A toy train passes by, with many carriages. Jerry sits on top of the

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in railway switch, switching and Shunting (rail), shunting, keeping a l ...

, waving cheekily at Tom and pulling faces. As the train enters a model of a tunnel and Jerry hits his head, knocking him onto the track. He runs through the tunnel, pursued by Tom, who knocks the tunnel over. Jerry hides inside a boxing glove and boxes the puzzled cat in the face before running off behind the Christmas tree. Tom, now arming himself with a boxing glove of his own, follows him and spots him jumping into a

jack-in-the-box A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, a music box mechanism in the toy plays a melody. After the crank has been turned a sufficient number of times (such as at the end ...

. Opening up the box, Tom is punched by the boxing glove stuck on Jack's head and is knocked out. Jerry jumps out and holds it up in victory like a boxing referee. Tom chases Jerry once again, but Jerry holds out a piece of mistletoe in front of him and persuades an embarrassed Tom to kiss him. Tom blushes and while his back is turned, Jerry kicks him in the rear. The mouse darts through the letterbox slot into the outdoors. As Tom opens the lid of the letterbox to see where Jerry has gone, Jerry hurls a snowball at his face. Tom angrily barricades the slot to prevent Jerry from getting back into the house. While Jerry trudges up and down in the heavy snow in a vain attempt to keep warm, Tom fluffs up his cushion and prepares to sleep. He is unable to settle himself; heavenly choirs sing carols breaking their silence, pricking Tom's conscience with the message of Christmas peace and goodwill. He first props open the slot to allow Jerry back in and when the mouse does not reappear, ventures anxiously outside to find a hypothermic Jerry, frozen into a solid popsicle. Fearing for Jerry's life, he brings the frozen mouse indoors and warms him up by the fire, saving his life. Slowly, Jerry regains consciousness but is still wary of the cat. Tom hands Jerry a

candy cane A candy cane is a cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide, as well as Saint Nicholas Day. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, but they also come in a variety of other flavors and colors. ...

, his Christmas present. A delighted Jerry licks his cane, but then quickly reacts to prevent Tom drinking from his bowl of milk. He dips his cane into the bowl and a loud snap is heard. Jerry uses the cane to fish a mousetrap that he had earlier planted in the bowl. Tom appreciates Jerry's warning and the mouse runs back to his hole. He uses his candy cane to hook the cheese off the mousetrap. Instead of snapping like a usual mousetrap does, however, the spring slowly comes down, ringing the tune of "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed t ...

" as Jerry smiles in admiration to the " musical mousetrap".

Voice cast

* Harry E. Lang and

...

* William Hanna ...

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 ...

* Frank Graham ... Narrator

Crew

*Supervised by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera *Story: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna *Animation: George Gordon, Bill Littlejohn, Irven Spence, Jack Zander, Cecil Surry *Backgrounds: Joseph Smith *Music: Scott Bradley *Co-Produced by: Fred Quimby, William Hanna

Availability

;DVD: *''Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases'', Vol. 3 *''

Tom and Jerry Golden Collection ''Tom and Jerry Golden Collection'' is a series of two-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets, produced by Warner Home Video. It was expected to be collecting the 161 theatrical ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon shorts released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from the 1940s thr ...

'' Volume One, Disc 1 *''

Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection The ''Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection'' is a series of two-disc DVD sets released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video. Originally planned as an uncensored, chronological set, the issued ''Spotlight Collection'' sets include s ...

'' Volume Two, Disc 1 *''

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 ...

'', Disc 2 * Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Award-Nominated Animation – Cinema Favorites *''

'' Double Feature, Disc 1 *'' Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers'', Disc 1 ;Blu-ray: *''

'' Volume One, Disc 1 *'' Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale'' Special Edition, Disc 1 ;VHS: *''Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Classics'' 3 *''Tom & Jerry's The Night Before Christmas'' ;LaserDisc: *''The Art of Tom & Jerry'' Vol. 1, Side 1 ;Streaming: *''HBO Max''

Trivia

This short was aired as part of the

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

Christmas special titled "MeTV's Super Colossal Cartoon Christmas" that was hosted by characters from '' Toon In with Me'' and ''

Svengoolie ''Svengoolie'' is an American hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1973, before ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Night Before Christmas, The 1940s English-language films 1941 animated films 1941 short films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films 1941 comedy-drama films 1940s fantasy films 1940s Christmas films American comedy-drama films Tom and Jerry short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films American Christmas films Short films directed by William Hanna Short films directed by Joseph Barbera Films scored by Scott Bradley American fantasy films Animated Christmas films American animated short films 1941 comedy films 1941 drama films Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films Animated films about cats Animated films about mice