Jerry and the Goldfish

**Jerry and the Goldfish** is a 1951 *Tom and Jerry* short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

## Plot

Jerry approaches a sleeping goldfish, feeds him, and makes very fast friends. Meanwhile, Tom is listening to a French cookery show, which is explaining a fish soup recipe (probably bouillabaisse); the chef is voiced by Daws Butler. The most important thing, as described by Chef Françoise, is "one, small, fresh, FISH." Tom's mouth waters, and then he remembers where he can *get* one small fresh fish: the fishbowl. Tom slithers like a snake towards the fishbowl, takes the table with him and dumps the goldfish bowl onto the stove. He turns it on and chops up some of the directed vegetables: carrots and scallions. He tastes the water, then salts the fish and puts it back in the bowl.

Jerry is strolling into the kitchen and is aghast when he sees Tom trying to cook his friend. Jerry opens the oven door and Tom falls into the oven. Jerry swipes the goldfish bowl and scrams. Tom hangs back and takes it off Jerry's hands as he runs past. Jerry sees he no longer has the bowl and trips up Tom with a baseball bat, then catches the goldfish and some water in a water glass. Jerry runs to his hole and stands aside as Tom slams into the wall, then skips through Tom's ears into the hole, safe. Tom won't give up and prepares a trap for the fish. Jerry spots a full fishbowl on the table and moves the fish to within jumping range. He jumps for his bowl, but Tom is behind the curtain and catches the goldfish in a frying pan, the cat having abandoned the fish soup idea. Tom breads the fish in flour and tosses it into his mouth after a brief sizzle. Jerry hits Tom in the face with the pan and pulls one of Tom's whiskers to open his mouth, allowing the goldfish to escape. He jumps into a cup of water with Jerry and Jerry runs from Tom, who runs through a wardrobe and squeezes through Jerry's mousehole in order to reach the fish. Jerry stops and holds out an iron, which stops Tom's charge. Tom seizes a pistol, shoots the cup and steals the fish. Jerry doesn't notice until safe in his mousehole.

Tom is now trying to roast the fish alive over a fire. Jerry upends a clay bucket onto Tom's head and whacks it with a fireplace tool, causing the bucket to vibrate. Jerry steals the fish back, but Tom snaps the carpet and sends the fish careening into the toaster. Tom prepares a fish sandwich, but Jerry sticks his tail in the clothes roller. Tom screams in pain, but grabbing onto the toaster doesn't keep him from being flattened. Tom then holds a saucepan just above Jerry's hole, such that when Jerry runs into the hole, the fish is captured. Tom moves a cabinet in front of the hole (so that Jerry doesn't get out) and goes off to steam the fish.

Jerry takes an alternative route that happens to lead to where Tom is attempting to cook the fish. Tom puts the fish underneath his foot and chops up a potato while Jerry substitutes dynamite for a carrot and Tom's tail for the fish. Tom suspects nothing until his tail starts turning red and the covered saucepan starts steaming and shaking. Tom screams, run outside, slams the door on his tail and braces for the explosion. When it has passed, Tom pulls his tail out and sees the best he could hope for: only part of it is gone. That is, until he opens the door and sees himself speeding away from Earth and the solar system.

Right as Jerry and The Goldfish comes to a conclusion, Jerry puts on a diving suit then and joins the goldfish in the fishbowl as they watch Tom getting blown into the vacuum of outer space. The two of them shake hands happily.

## Availability

* DVD - *Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 1* (unrestored; Warner Bros.)
* DVD - *Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers* (restored; Warner Bros.)
* DVD - *Tom and Jerry Golden Collection: Volume 2* (restored; Warner Bros.)

## Notes

* Music was recycled for "Happy Go Ducky".

## Internal Links

* Jerry and the Goldfish on Tom and Jerry Wiki