''Tot Watchers'' is a 1958 American one-

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

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 produced and 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 with music by Scott Bradley. The short was released 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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

on August 1, 1958. It is the 114th and last ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical cartoon produced or directed by both Hanna and Barbera, and the last cartoon short of the series until Gene Deitch's '' Switchin' Kitten'' in 1961. Barbera would return to direct one final ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical short, '' The Karate Guard'', in 2005. This is confirmed as the last appearance of Joan. This also marks the final appearances of Jeannie and the baby, as Jeannie would not be replicated in the newer entrees due to modern sensibilities regarding child neglect as a very serious matter. Additionally, the soundtrack was officially released on '' Tom and Jerry & Tex Avery Too!'' album in the final track on the second disc.

Plot

Babysitter Jeannie (voiced by

Julie Bennett Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress and later talent agent and realtor. Early years Bennett was born in Manhattan, New York, on January 24, 1932. Acting career A native of Hollywood, Bennett worked as a ...

) is instructed to look after the baby while his mother (also voiced by Julie Bennett) goes out. However, Jeannie begins talking on the telephone with someone, ignoring the baby and its carriage. In the midst of Tom and Jerry's usual fighting, they see the baby crawling out of its pram. Any attempt to return the baby to where it came from simply results in the baby escaping from the pram again. During one escape, the baby crawls into Spike's

dog house A doghouse, also known as a kennel, is an outbuilding to provide shelter for a dog from various weather conditions. Background Humans and domesticated dogs have been companions for more than 15,000 years, beginning with the wolf and hunter–ga ...

. Tom accidentally grabs Spike instead of the baby, and is promptly pummeled. This time, Tom angrily brings the baby back to Jeannie herself, who hits Tom over the head with a broom, thinking that Tom has taken the baby away from her. Realizing that the baby is no longer worth the trouble, Tom does nothing the next time that it crawls from its pram. However, he and Jerry are forced to react after the baby crawls down to the street and into a 100-story mixed-use skyscraper

construction site Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and co ...

. The baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the two look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves the baby from crawling off a wooden plank lying on the 50th floor by grabbing his diaper. The diaper comes loose, and the baby falls, but he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the baby's diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while the baby crawls off, nonchalantly. Tom and Jerry catch up with the baby, only to lose it again. Fearing that it has crawled into a cement mixer on the 30th floor, the two dive straight in, only to find that the baby never entered the mixer but is instead playing with a hammer. Later on, Jeannie is in a panic and tells a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

that she lost the baby she was babysitting. Tom and Jerry would arrive tired with the baby. Jeannie grabs the baby while the two try to escape, but the police officer (voiced by Bill Thompson) arrests Tom and Jerry, assuming that they were "baby nappers". In the police car, Tom and Jerry explain what really happened, but the police officer doesn't believe them. Just then, to their surprise, the baby crawls past the police car and away into the distance (apparently having been neglected by Jeannie once again), making the police officer realize in shock that Tom and Jerry were telling the truth.

Production

''Tot Watchers'' was produced by MGM Cartoons. After the departure of producer

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 ...

from the ''

'' series in 1955, directors

and Joseph Barbera took the added responsibility of producing the series themselves. According to animation historian Michael Barrier, it was during the post-Quimby period that the effects of the series' lower budget on its animation quality became more obvious, stating that "there was no hiding corner cutting behind a curtain of stylization". Scott Bradley's score for ''Tot Watchers'' was recorded on June 6, 1957.

Reception

Writer and historian Michael Samerdyke stated that ''Tot Watchers'', though it will "never be considered one of the best of the series, ... is an entertaining cartoon and points the way to how the series would develop in the Sixties."

Home media

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 ...

, Vol. 2" (2005) *"Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 5" (2010)

References

External links

* * {{The Hanna and Barbera Tom and Jerry Shorts American comedy short films 1950s American animated films 1958 comedy films 1958 animated films 1958 short films 1950s animated short films CinemaScope films Films about babies Films scored by Scott Bradley Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Short films directed by Joseph Barbera Short films directed by William Hanna Tom and Jerry short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films 1950s English-language films American animated short films Animated films about cats Animated films about mice