The Night Before Christmas

Plot synopsis:
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
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 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 cannon'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. 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, 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. 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 so that Jerry cannot get back into the house.
While Jerry trudges up and down in the heavy snow in a vain attempt to warm himself, Tom fluffs up his cushion and prepares to sleep. He is unable to settle himself; heavenly choirs sing carols, 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 Jerry, frozen. 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 wary of the cat. Tom hands Jerry a candy cane, 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, the spring slowly comes down, ringing the tune of "Jingle Bells" as Jerry smiles in admiration to the "musical mousetrap".

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
It is the night before Christmas and Tom and Jerry have their usual fight.
After a while Jerry goes outside and Tom makes sure that Jerry can't get back in.
After a while Tom feels guilty and with the spirit of Christmas he lets Jerry back in.
This is a cute short with Tom and Jerry with the heart on the right place.
The start is also pretty funny..
The cutest Tom and Jerry short.
This short is reasonably good, has good background art and detail work and is a staple on The Cartoon Network around the holidays.
It has to be the cutest Tom and Jerry that I've seen.
It almost becomes a little too cute in spots, but just hits the right grace notes at the end.
Tom and Jerry were still new as characters and were just beginning to develop as characters.
Traces of what they would become are shown here and there.
Not a great Tom and Jerry cartoon, but entertaining and a good Christmas cartoon.
Tom & Jerry Show The Christmas Spirit.
This early Tom and Jerry cartoon can be excused if it is overly cute-over-comedy in subject matter.
Hey, it's the Christmas season and this cartoon reflects that in an old-fashioned, nice way.Apparently, this is Jerry's first Christmas because he's amazed to see Christmas tree ornaments, candy canes and stuff animals and other presents under the tree.This does have the usual chase scene, but isn't that long and the film ends on a very touching sentimental note the last few minutes.As others have said, this is about as nice as Christmas cartoon as you're ever going to find.
At the beginning, I thought this might be nothing but it's such a feel-good Tom & Jerry that it's very, very worthy of being in anyone's collection..
A cute holiday cartoon..
The Night Before Christmas is one cutest holiday cartoon past and present.
I recently saw this on Cartoon Network late at night.
I remember 15 or more years the TV would not play cartoons at a certain time.
It is refreshing to see this cartoon late at night on Christmas Eve..
Heart-warming festive fun.
I am a big fan of Tom and Jerry and I love Christmas-themed cartoons/films, so this a match made in heaven I thought.
And I was right, I loved The Night Before Christmas, it has everything a Tom and Jerry cartoon should have.
Plus it is heartwarming, funny and charming.The animation is beautiful, the backgrounds are fluid, the colours look really nice and the characters are drawn well, even Tom who looks quite cute.
The music is also sweet, the sight gags are funny, the story packs an emotional punch for me especially at the end, which is one of my favourite Tom and Jerry endings and both Tom and Jerry are wonderful to watch and very likable.Overall, for any Tom and Jerry fan, this is a must watch.
10/10 Bethany Cox. A charming, sentimental cartoon classic for Christmas..
This cartoon, from early on in the evolution of Tom and Jerry, isn't quite as polished as later efforts, but it's definitely one of my favourite episodes, thanks to the fact that the BBC showed it practically every Christmas Eve as I was growing up.It's the night before Christmas, and Jerry sneaks out of his hole to play with the presents under the tree.
Tom, awakened by the cheeky rodent's fun and games, tries to stop him and chaos ensues.Perfect Xmas entertainment for the whole family, this one is full of seasonal spirit and goodwill and ends up with the cat and mouse reconciling their differences for Christmas..
The Night Before Christmas.
The Night Before Christmas (1941) *** 1/2 (out of 4) One of the best of the early Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts.
It's Christmas night and Jerry is under the tree play with the various gifts left by Santa.
Soon he starts jumping on Tom thinking he's a gift and soon the two are back to their fighting ways.
The third short in the series has all the classic chases that you'd expect from the series but it also has a bit more heart since this was released around the holidays.
The animation is really what stands out here and especially how colorful it was.
The scene under the tree are especially beautiful looking and we also get some nice laughs once the fighting starts.
The ending is quite nice as the two make up and play nice for once..
I don't like Tom and Jerry but I liked this one!.
Cartoon about a cat and a mouse fighting each other on Christmas Eve. I personally never liked Tom & Jerry.
I found their cartoons way too violent and mean-spirited to enjoy.
Also I'm a cat lover and seeing the poor cat constantly being tortured was not fun.
I realize these are just cartoon characters but still...However I DID like this.
It was in bright beautiful colors (in the TCM print at least) and the violence was toned down.
Also the two of them do call a truce at the end.
Short, colorful and a little sweet.
What surprised me is that this was supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
This is a lot better than the truly awful animation they did on "The Flintstones"..
Outstanding Short movie..
The Night Before Christmas- (1941)I don't any one, it dose not love this Cat and Mouse, Here we have Tom and Jerry on Xmas Day.I used love this cartoon, when I was kid, some if I still see on TV , I still watch, Great cartoon for both Kids and Adults .This Is a 9 min short movie.This short as some very funny moment, both Kids and Adults will find funny.
There was really good Animations in this movie was very early Cartoon, The story was really well put together and ending was very really good as it was really Sweet and Nice, Nice little plot and very cute and very sweet and happy ending, This perfect for the whole family to see.
10 out of 10Read more: http://www.24-7media.org/christmas_chatter_fun/92326- 50_days_challenge_christmas_movies-2.html#ixzz2ErvopUYL.
Nothing special.
Outside of a cozy Xmas atmosphere and the look and feel of a lovely country Xmas, this Tom and Jerry cartoon doesn't have much going for it outside of the usual hijinks.Jerry wanders around late on Xmas Eve, nosing at all the presents.
House guardian Tom, doing his duty, chases him.
It ends up with Jerry being booted out into the freezing cold.
Feeling guilty, Tom eventually goes out to rescue him and the two of them enjoy the warmth of the fire together.Like I said, it's nothing special and not very inventive at all.
A good cartoon to view at Xmastime however..
but at 8 minutes 19 seconds it's slightly longer than the usual short, the showcases the love/hate pair at their very best.The wonderful artwork full of festive colours, long before computer animation came into being, is a joy to behold.
The carols playing in the background enhance the atmosphere as well.
The inventive slapstick that made the original cartoons classics of their era, is here...
And, with the addition of toys as props for the inspired mayhem, better than ever.But what with this being a festive special, there HAS to be a 'warm your cockles' moment...
and it arrives with the ending, where the duo put aside their differences to have at least ONE day of peace.Tom retrieving his frenemy from the blistering cold after a huge guilt trip and Jerry revealing the location of a carefully disguised trap in Tom's milk bowl are truly moving moments...
And though we love the violent high-jinx the pair get up to, it's good to put it all aside for one day...
Let Bygones Be Bygones (For One Day At Least).
Let Bygones Be Bygones (For One Day At Least).
Well, not STRICTLY speaking a film...
Well, not STRICTLY speaking a film...
but at 8 minutes 19 seconds it's
slightly longer than the usual short, the showcases the love/hate pair
at their very best.The wonderful artwork full of festive colours, long before computer
animation came into being, is a joy to behold.
The carols playing in
the background enhance the atmosphere as well.
The inventive slapstick
that made the original cartoons classics of their era, is here...
with the addition of toys as props for the inspired mayhem, better than
ever.But what with this being a festive special, there HAS to be a 'warm
your cockles' moment...
and it arrives with the ending, where the duo
put aside their differences to have at least ONE day of peace.Tom retrieving his frenemy from the blistering cold after a huge guilt
trip and Jerry revealing the location of a carefully disguised trap in
Tom's milk bowl are truly moving moments...
And though we love the
violent high-jinx the pair get up to, it's good to put it all aside for
one day...
Right?
Right?
Magical.
Magical.
It could have used more bonking..
Since this was only the third Tom & Jerry cartoon, you can be sure of one thing--exquisite animation.
In the early 1940s, MGM suddenly began making the most artistic animated shorts around--even nicer looking than Disney or Looney Tunes.
In particular, the backgrounds are delightful works of art.
While the Tom & Jerry cartoons remained well animated into the early 1950s, the quality then rapidly went downhill.
Now I am not saying the early ones were always the funniest (sometimes they were, sometimes they weren't) but they were so beautiful that even today they stand out as high points in the history of animation.In "The Night Before Christmas", Tom and Jerry naturally are fighting with Christmas ornaments and decorations strewn about the house.
They also interact using the children's' toys--such as the train set and boxing gloves.
What follows is mostly predictable--with lots of bonking and kicking.
However, a holiday-infused schmaltzy ending follows.
While it's not too bad, I personally wanted more bonking!
Still, with such lovely animation, it's no wonder this one was Oscar-nominated..
heartwarming.
It's Christmas Eve, and Tom & Jerry get involved in the usual cat & mouse conflict, but in the spirit of Christmas, they both bury the hatchet (for the time being at least) and show compassion and warmth to one another.
The show began with Jerry coming out of his mouse hole to find a piece of cheese wrapped with a bow on a mousetrap, which he's too wise to retrieve, so he leaves it be.**possible spoiler**At the end of the episode, Jerry retires back to his hole and decides to use a candy cane to remove the cheese from the trap, still outside his door.
Once disturbed, it's revealed that the trap wouldn't have hurt Jerry at all, as the part that's supposed to snap ever-so-slowly came down.
This made Jerry smile, as he realized Tom had made yet another nice gesture.
The Night Before Christmas is a cute early Tom and Jerry cartoon.
This The Night Before Christmas is an early Tom and Jerry short from the newly created Hanna-Barbera unit at MGM.
Jerry wakes up and looks at the presents under the Christmas tree.
He lands on Tom and gets chased by him constantly as Jerry rides on the toy train before bumping into the toy tunnel.
This keeps going on until the mouse escapes through the door slot which the cat blocks.
Then Tom sees Jerry freezing to death outside so he comes back there and brings him inside to thaw him out.
For a gift, the cat gives the mouse a candy cane.
Skeptical at first, Jerry sees Tom drink some milk from a saucer and puts his cane in it.
Snap, it hits a mousetrap!
Tom, thankful, smiles at his newfound pal.
Jerry then goes to his hole and finds another mouse trap with cheese on it.
Once again, he uses his cane to snap it up.
When it does, it goes slowly with Jerry now smiling at his new friend.
The end.
Unlike later series entries, this Tom and Jerry aren't so aggressive in their chases (perhaps because Tex Avery hadn't arrived at MGM yet).
So this one is a little cute with some nicely timed gags.
While Hanna-Barbera would have more lasting success on television, nothing equaled their output at MGM.
So I recommend this to anyone who is interested in all things Hanna-Barbera.
And to the just departed Joe, rest in peace..
The enchanting Christmas offering of the legendary animated duo..
I'm impressed by how it's only Tom and Jerry's third ever short and most of what made them such a terrific cartoon double act was already there.
I love the odd way the early version of Tom looks and sounds more like a real cat.
What utterly lovely and amazingly drawn and richly textured opening scenes of that classically decorated home on Christmas Eve with the cosy roaring fireplace and presents around the tree and the snowy blizzard outside the windows, it's such a heartwarming sight, it's a perfect little visual of why a part of me will always love that old-fashioned image of Christmas and that seasonal spirit of joy, it's so warm and precious...
So in this instance a mouse is indeed stirring and he emerges from his mouse hole and plays around with some of the presents and the tree, as well as Tom after he mistakes him for a plush toy and jumps on him, which awakens the cranky feline and the classic mad mouse chase ensues, with Jerry using several toys to his advantage as he dashes about, there's no real heavy slapstick violence except for when Tom gets a huge shock!
The cat eventually manages to drive Jerry outside and shuts him out of the house in the freezing snowstorm.
As he returns to the den and settles down in front of the fire...he inexplicably shows that he has a heart after all as he pictures Jerry outside in the icy cold and feels guilty.
He rushes outside and finds Jerry frozen solid like a mouse Popsicle(micecycle?), and he quickly brings the mouse back in and defrosts him on the fire.
The pair make a truce as Tom gives Jerry a candy-cane stick and Jerry gives his thanks and in return uses it to disarm a trap that he has earlier set up for Tom in his saucer of milk.
Jerry then uses the candy to pry some cheese from another trap outside his little home and instead of snapping shut in a regular way, it closes slowly and plays a music box theme.
Perhaps Tom rigged it to play that tune, who knows..
But in any case it's very sweet and makes for a great ending to a very nice short.
It's a touch more on the sentimental side than the usual Tom and Jerry fun, and a rare one where they both 'win', and I love the sweet message that even mortal enemies can put aside their differences and be good to each other at Christmas.
To me the real meaning of the holiday isn't anything that special, it's simple goodwill and the kindness to give and show that you care and family togetherness.
And to me this was both a great Tom and Jerry short as well as a Christmas one, it's one of the better vintage festive animations that I've seen lately.
Well worth seeing, wonderful timeless work.
To all a goodnight!
X. The Holiday spirit catches everybody.
"The Night Before Christmas" is a cartoon from almost 75 years ago and at 8.5 minutes, it is slightly longer than the average 7 minutes these films usually run.
It is one of the best Tom & Jerry short films in my opinion and I can see why it was Oscar nominated, even if it lost to Disney's Pluto movie from the same year.
Both are about compassion.
This one here starts as usual.
It takes quite a bit until Tom enters the picture, but when he does, it's the same cat & mouse scenario as always with these films.
But then something significantly different happens.
Tom has a guilty conscience because Jerry is outside the warm home in the freezing cold and it's just too cute how he gets outside, saves him and warms him on the fire.
Warms him.
Not cooks him.
The mistletoe scene was pure comedy gold as well.
I really enjoyed watching this little movie and it's interesting how Tom's owner is not in here.
Neither is the dog (Spike?) and Tom certainly looks different than how he does in future short films.
All in all, a great watch, not only during the holidays because of all the wonderful Christmas references and songs in here.
Very much recommended..
Very much recommended..
Very much recommended..
So Cute!.
So Cute!.
The Night Before Christmas may not be the funniest, but it's really adorable.
Some Gags really work, and the ending brought a tear to my eye.The Story?It's Night Christmas Eve on Mammy's House, Jerry starts to have a little walk around the house, playing with the Gifts under the Christmas Tree.
Unknown to him, Tom was taking a nap, then he accidentally wake up Tom. And then the chase starts.
Eventually Tom manages to throw him out of the house.
But after a heavy snowstorm begins, Tom rescues Jerry and tries to wake him up, then they both enjoy the fireplace together.Talk about a cute short, every moment on it it's perfectly animated, the bright colors help a lot.
The ending is so beautiful that it evens bring a tear to my eye.Everyone that calls himself as a Tom and Jerry fan Should watch it!