''Wot a Night'' is a 1931 animated film. It is the first film in Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry series, later re-issued as " Dick and Larry".

Plot

In their first film, Tom and Jerry are

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

drivers at the train station on a stormy day, waiting for a fare. A train comes up, and stops with an engine hauling a coach to let off two identical-looking men, who come out, similar to the pair from the Farmer Alfalfa cartoon Wooden Money. They both try to get them in the taxi. After the men are settled, Tom drives the men. It rains so much, a frog jumps in to the taxi and gets back again. They reach a castle, and as the men walk in, Tom and Jerry run to the men to be paid, but are locked inside. Then, a cloud turns into a human-like figure with arms. He then plays

crenellations A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

as piano keys, and while near towers act as pipes, similar to a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

, two trees play their own branches like

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

s. As they walk, Tom is mortified as Jerry is interested as a giant

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

-like creature appears in front of them. They come to a room where a skeleton is cleaning itself. After this point, they are sure that paranormal things are happening. Odd things that happen include: ghosts standing behind them, finding a skeleton playing a piano while another skeleton dances to the music, a glove dancing, and a

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

te of

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

s singing a song, which includes a few lines from versions of " Golden Slippers", such as a "long white robe" and a "starry crown", and to stop gambling. After these things have happened, the two men walk in and point at Jerry. Jerry lifts his shirt, and now realizes that he is a skeleton, too. Tom laughs, and now realizes that he is a skeleton when Jerry lifts his shirt, too. Tom is terrified, and as both men run for their lives, the cartoon ends.

References in the series

*The third part of the blackface skeletons' performance was retooled into "

Plane Dumb ''Plane Dumb'' is the 12th Van Beuren Tom and Jerry cartoon, released on June 4, 1932. The cartoon's soundtrack is done by Gene Rodemich. Plot Tom and Jerry are flying a small airplane and find themselves off the coast of Africa. In an ill-ad ...

", a later film in the series.

External links

* https://archive.org/details/TomAndJerryWotANight Watch or download from Archive.org * 1931 short films Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) 1930s American animated films American black-and-white films 1931 animated films RKO Pictures animated short films 1930s English-language films American animated short films RKO Pictures short films {{short-animation-film-stub