The Midnight Snack
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
The cartoon takes place in a kitchen at midnight. Jerry pokes his head out of the refrigerator door and steals some cheese, unaware that Tom is watching him. Tom weighs the mouse down enough such that he can no longer see in front of him. After Jerry falls off from a rolling pin, Tom emerges from his hiding place with a smug face.
Jerry "salutes" the cat and returns the slice of cheese to the refrigerator. He then proceeds to steal just a tiny bit of cheese, but Tom stomps on his tail with one of his hind paws and replaces the cheese as if to say, "Leave it alone". However, the cat soon realizes that he has the free run of the refrigerator, so he traps Jerry's tail with an iron and begins eating. Jerry frees himself, but is soon caught by Tom, and returns himself to the iron.
Tom then presents Jerry with the wedge of cheese, which he cannot reach due to the iron. Tom then smells the cheese, but soon sees that it is the wedge of cheese to his nose's displeasure and tosses it away. Unfortunately, the cheese smashes some crockery and wakes up Mammy Two Shoes, who goes downstairs. Tom quickly shoves Jerry into the refrigerator and hides. Mammy rushes in and opens the fridge, screaming in terror when she spots Jerry. Leaping onto a stool and comically hiking up numerous, patterned layers of underclothes, Mammy calls Tom who emerges and pursues Jerry. In the midst of the chase, Mammy leaves the room.
Tom surprises Jerry behind a trash bin, but Jerry tricks Tom into looking over the bin and jumps on the pedal, sending it to crash into Tom's face. Jerry then jumps into the toaster and Tom starts it. Jerry pops up, his rear end smoking, and cools it in a sink full of water, only to be chased again by Tom. Tom ends up losing his grip and gets his tail caught up in an ironing board, with his body facing the refrigerator. Jerry climbs down the blind, picks up a fork with his tail and stabs Tom with the fork, causing Tom to slide down the board and eventually crash into the fridge just as Jerry had planned.
Mammy re-enters the room on the belief that Tom has caught Jerry and disposed of Jerry. Then she opens the refrigerator door to get Tom a bowl of cream, only to find Tom in the refrigerator, covered in food. Jerry overhears Mammy shouting at Tom and kicking the screeching cat out of the house while devouring his wedge of cheese.

Review: When Tom was Playful.
If I'm not mistaken this is the third Tom and Jerry short and there is something about animated shorts that the very early appearances of the characters are usually not like their familiar presence.
In a way early shorts are like the first draft of a script!
While Jerry here is still the same Jerry we all know and love Tom however, is not the devilish cat we know.
Instead here he is a playful cat just joking around with Jerry.
In a way Jerry is the bad guy of this short because he didn't have a sense of humor!3(***)out of 4(****)stars.
That Technicolor food looks good enough to eat!.
Getting everything right in the second entry in a series isn't too shabby an achievement!!
This film's three times as good as "Puss Gets The Boot." The balance of the three characterizations is just right, and the story cements both Tom's personality as a lovable scoundrel & Jerry's as being a put-upon character who only eventually gets the upper hand.
And forget about the early, "ugly" design of Tom--remember, it's characterization, story and comedy timing that count here.
Of course, when Tex Avery entered MGM, the series would be adopting many of his methods of freneticism and outrageousness......but when all's said & done, a cartoon like THIS is really ALL I NEED..
A classic piece of Tom & Jerry  funny and well animated.
Jerry is trying to steal cheese from a very well stocked pantry  all at once or bit-by-bit he intends to have it.
Tom spots him doing it and toys with him before stopping him getting any more cheese.
Tom sets himself up in the fridge and starts eating food; when his owner comes down to investigate a noise, Tom frames Jerry for the crime  starting a chase and prompting Jerry to even things up.I'm not a massive fan of Tom & Jerry, I much prefer the more cynical and sharp edge that the Looney Toons had in their best moments.
T&J often feels rather simple by comparison to Daffy in crazy mode and essentially they are.The same routines, twisted slightly each time in order to make it different and, for that reason I suppose they deserve credit for keeping it going as long as they did.
This short film is a good example of them at their best as it features good, colourful animation and plenty of lively action.
It has no edge to appeal to adults but it was still lively enough to stop me getting board while the kids were laughing out loud along to it.Overall I enjoyed this film and I'm not a fan of their cartoons.
The routines are good and the animation is really bright and colourful, with both Tom and Jerry looking wide-eyed and well rounded (not the sharp edged, skinny Tom of later years).
A good example of the best of Tom and Jerry..
Early form of the Tom and Jerry characters..
The characters went through several different design changes from the early 1940s through to the 1960s, most often as a result of different directors.
The most dramatic changes were made between the original design in the first cartoons and the characters' form that most would instantly think of as Tom and Jerry.
This short is one of the earliest ones and things were still in flux.This also has an appearance by Mammy Two Shoes and has Tom and Jerry going at it furiously, each trying to come out ahead, though Jerry is probably also trying to get some peace and some breathing room as well.
Good fun and amusement all around.
Well worth looking for.
Recommended..
Right Names But Not A Lot Of Laughs Yet. Hey, at least we have the right names: Tom and Jerry.
The first episode of this famous cartoon had the cat and mouse called "Jasper" and "Jinx." Now, at least we're headed in the right direction with the T&J we're used to seeing and hearing.
Still, you know this an early cartoon just by the furry look on Tom.The story is simply about raiding the refrigerator which we see Jerry doing, trying to haul off a big piece of cheese.
Tom makes it difficult for him in an amusing sketch that is playful more than the sadistic things were saw in T&J 'toons in later years.
Later, Tom decides to taste the goodies in the fridge, himself, and there is a semi-humorous scene with jello.Still later, Tom frames Jerry as Mammy the maid comes down to investigate the noise.
By the way, the presence of the maid, "Mammy," in some of these early cartoons brings the usual introduction of the DVD from Whoopi Goldberg, whom Warner Brothers apparently feels they have to hire to tell us uninformed folks all the politically-correct B.S. This woman comes across as condescending and phony, gives the same speech she gave in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection except she substitutes a few names.
Note to Warner Brothers: hey, we know what's right and wrong; you don't have to tell us.Overall, this wasn't much and not really recommended for those who have a seen a bunch of Tom and Jerry cartoons from the later '40s and 1950s.
Tom still doesn't look like "Tom" and the humor has none of the familiar edge to it.
I guess they were still getting the kinks out before settling down with the kind of characters and stories that made them famous..
The funniest animated short ever.
Not only the best Tom and Jerry film, but the best animated short I've ever seen.
The timing, the animation, the character expressions, the sound effects...
Not one false note.
This one leaves me in stitches every time..
Nice episode.
The movie is cool.
I want to tell you why.
I don't see get too much hate, it got possible reviews.
And i really like how tom stay up late.
Great movie, as well.
Y'a know?
Jerry did things wrong.
She broke too much plates causing her to get in trouble!
The movie is released in ?/?/41.
I watched it at 12:00.
To be honest, it is way better than Battlefield Earth.
The novel was good enough, and so does the episode!
It was awesome, Excellent and cool!
What a year!
Victory for the episode and the novel!
:) The episode contains no nudity and it was awesome!
It was Rated Y!
It was Rated Y!
Awesome!
Cool.
Maybe next time.
The Midnight Snack is one of the first Tom and Jerry cartoons, if I am not mistaken it was the second.
It is not quite as good as the cartoons of the 50s, most of which are classics, it does understandably have the feeling that they were still finding their feet, but it is infinitely better than the Gene Deitch abominations.
What did I like about The Midnight Snack?
A lot actually.
As I've said, things are not quite settled but that is to be expected at the start.
However, the animation really is wonderful.
Tom's design would get better later on with his ears for example being more prominent and cat-like, but here he does look sweet I have to give you that.
The backgrounds however have fluidity and detail and the colours are bright and beautiful-looking.
The music has always been a key part to Tom and Jerry's success, full of energy and always enhancing the humour.
The music for The Midnight Snack, even for so early on, does that exactly.
The story is simple but never dull, and the gags are as you'd expect very funny.
Jerry is the same as usual, cute and very clever for such a small rodent.
Tom is much more playful than the more dastardly, cunning approach he'd have later, but he is very likable and interacts very well with Jerry.
All in all, not one of the best but still very good.
All in all, not one of the best but still very good.
9/10 Bethany Cox. The Midnight Snack.
The Midnight Snack (1941) *** (out of 4) THE MIDNIGHT SNACK would be the second Tom and Jerry cartoon but the first to use those names.
The story has Jerry sneaking into the icebox for some cheese but when Tom catches him he decides to add some "weight" to make Jerry struggle.
From here it's an all out war as Tom once again tortures the poor mouse until the maid comes to see what's going on.
THE MIDNIGHT SNACK isn't the best film in the series but if you're a fan then there are enough clever moments to make it worth viewing.
The highlight is some early creativity, which includes some bread being used as steps as Jerry is forced to work for his meal.
There's a lot of fun action throughout as glasses are broken and various other bits of damage done..
Sophomore outing for the famous cat and mouse..
The second outing for everyone's favourite cartoon cat and mouse (and the first in which they are actually named Tom and Jerry), the Midnight Snack is a vast improvement over their first appearance (in 1940's Puss Gets The Boot).
Tom is still a little rough around the edges, lacking the defined look he would get in the Quimby episodes, but the style and feel of the animation is much more refined.The story is still fairly simpleJerry raids the fridge whilst Tom does his best to stop himbut the level of invention is much higher, with some lovely use of various food as props.
The visual humour and quality of animation ain't quite up to the standards that would be reached in the years to follow, but it's definitely heading in the right direction..
Funny, slightly.
Not much is happening in this short.
Jerry fancies himself a midnight snack, so he decides to raid the fridge.
Tom in watching and foils his plans.
Content with neutralizing the mouse, Tom helps himself to whatever he feels in the fridge.
But he soon makes a mess and the offensive, highly stereotypical black slave/owner goes mad at him.
Tom pins the blame on Jerry and a chase follows.
There's not much in the way of creativity in this short.
The kitchen environment just doesn't seem to offer too many traps, props or tricks.
And while Jerry looks normal, Tom looks more feline and raggedy than he does in the later cartoons.
Yes, it's worth watching but it's not as good as the Tom and Jerry we're familiar with..
Introducing Tom and Jerry.
There was one previous short featuring these two iconic animated characters but this was the first where they are actually called by these names.
This is a fairly tame introduction to the characters; far less violent than later shorts...
although it does have its moments.It opens with Jerry stealing a wedge of cheese from the refrigerator and as he struggles under its weight Tom puts more and more items on top of it and eventually puts obstacles in front of him; inevitable Jerry drops the lot.
Jerry then tries to get a smaller piece but Tom forces him to put it back.
He then pins Jerry down with an iron while helping himself to a snack.
When the lady of the house approaches Tom puts Jerry in the fridge so he can take the blame for the mess and stolen food and Tom can be the hero when he catches Jerry again.
The woman does indeed scream when she sees Jerry but in the ensuing chase it is Jerry that gets the better of Tom; this leads to a painful finally involving a toasting fork and a grater!
While this may be a fairly tame example of Tom and Jerry it is still funny and provided a good introduction to the characters.
I liked how their conflict started fairly gently before escalating to the painful finale.
It is interesting that we never see the face of the lady of the house; we just see her lower body and here her shouting; always referring to Tom by his full name; Thomas.
I believe that in a later version this black woman has been removed and been replaced by a white woman; apparently some people thought the character was racist but personally I couldn't see that and think removing her is worse unless more negative aspects of the character were revealed in other instalments.
The animation looks great as do the backgrounds; it is clear that this wasn't made on the cheap.
If you are a fan of Tom and Jerry this is obviously a must see and even if you aren't it is a lot of fun for adults and children alike..
Starring Tom and Jerry!.
For a second episode, this is certainly a improvement over the first one (Puss Gets the Boot), but it doesn't have laugh-out loud moments in this one, but there are moments that raise a smile in my face, such as Mammy-Two-Shoes pulling several layers on her dress or Tom blaming Jerry.The Story?At Midnight, Jerry starts to steal the Fridge food, but only to be followed by Tom, who stops Jerry.
But, Tom decides to steal the fridge too, but he accidentally broke some dishes after throwing a cheese.
Mammy-Two-Shoes comes down to see what happened, so Tom blames Jerry as the responsible, and start to chase him, in the end Jerry manages to push Tom against the fridge, breaking everything inside it, so Mammy throws him out of the house.That Technicolor food looks really convincing to me, and makes me want to eat it!
Like all early Tom and Jery cartoons, it have a beautiful animation and backgrounds.I Recommend it!
Give it a watch if you have free time..
The second Tom & Jerry short gives them their accepted names for the first time, but is otherwise more or less a re-run of its predecessor although, even here, we see the beginnings of the caricatured violence for which Tom & Jerry became known.Scott Barber's music punctuates the action with well-realised cues, but still contains quotations from mouse-based nursery rhymes.Once again the black housekeeper puts in a vocal appearance and, once again, the current reaction that she is a racist stereotype misses the point that she is probably an accurate reflection of the time when the cartoon was made.
Entertaining but not exceptional..
Kitchen chaos.
"The Midnight Snack" is an American short film from 1941, so this one has its 75th anniversary this year.
The names Hanna and Barbera will probably immediately tell you that this is a Tom&Jerry cartoon and it is actually their second only in terms of chronology.
You see that the looks of the characters changed a lot over the years and decades and here they are still at their most original.
But nonetheless, this one is among the most known about the duo.
I personally cannot say though that I consider it among the best.
The action here is very slapstick-oriented and I cannot say I found a lot of it entertaining or even funny.
The world's most famous cat&mouse pairing wreaks havoc in Tom's kitchen this time and while early on it all seems to go for Tom, this changes quickly as these movie goes on.
At almost 9 minutes, it is slightly longer than they usually are.
As a whole nowhere near my favorite T&J works.
I have to give this one a thumbs-down.