Dog Trouble

**Dog Trouble** is a 1942 *Tom and Jerry* cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

## Plot

Jerry is running on a tablecloth that Tom is pulling out from underneath him. Once Tom completely pulls the cloth away, he runs to the other end of the table and opens his mouth. Jerry stops, but swings on one of the cat's whiskers before running back into his mousehole. Tom knocks and waits. Jerry escapes through an open electric socket. He picks up a mousetrap and tries to put it on the cat's tail, but the tail is constantly moving. Finally, Jerry grabs the cat's tail and places it on the mousetrap. Jerry runs to the front door of the house, where he notices a sleeping Spike, and runs in-between the door and the wall. Tom notices the dog and tries to stop, but runs into him and the two's lips accidentally touch.

Spike chases Tom up a lamp. Jerry finds this amusing, but the dog notices and starts chasing the mouse. Jerry climbs up a cuckoo clock and pops out the doors with the wooden bird. Spike tries to bite Jerry, but the bird retracts every time. Tom is delighted that the dog is distracted and slides down the lamp, but retreats back up when the dog returns. Jerry laughs and slides back down the clock, but quickly climbs back up when Spike bites the strings on the clock. Jerry clings onto the cuckoo as it pops out, but this time Spike bites it off, so Jerry clings onto the edge of the clock. Tom observes Jerry and nervously gulps. He slowly slinks down the lamp and starts to sneak away. He flinches at a creaking noise. Suddenly, Spike starts chasing him. Jerry observes the situation and flinches as the sounds of things breaking are heard.

Tom hangs onto a desk. Jerry whistles for Tom to climb up the clock as Spike tries to catch the cat. Tom climbs up and struggles to hang onto the clock while Jerry hangs onto his whiskers. One by one, Jerry loses hold of Tom's whiskers. The cat levitates in the air before safely clinging onto the clock. Tom offers to shake hands with Jerry. The mouse puts his hand out, but slips and falls off the clock. Spike almost eats Jerry, but Tom catches the mouse with his tail and scoops him out. The two shake hands. Jerry looks at a bundle of red yarn and gets an idea. He whispers his plan to Tom, who agrees. Jerry jumps off the clock. Tom teases Spike by wiggling his tail in the air, then pulling it away when the dog jumps up to bite it.

Jerry slides down a curtain and into the basket of yarn. He ties a strand of yarn to his waist and runs through the house, trying to weave the yarn into many fragile things. Finally, Jerry weaves the yarn around a pole and ties a knot in it. Jerry kicks Spike in the rear. Angry, the dog chases him, but runs into the yarn and breaks a lot of things. Mammy Two-Shoes runs in and notices Spike has broken the things. Upset, she drags the dog away. Tom and Jerry wave goodbye to the dog. Suddenly, Tom gets a mousetrap caught on his tail. Angry, he chases Jerry.

## Notes

* Reissued on June 21, 1952 with a promotion for defense bonds and stamps in the end credits cut.
* The first appearance of Spike. However, he won't be named.

## Censorship

* A print of this cartoon exists where Mammy Two-Shoes is recolored as a white woman and her stereotypically black voice is redubbed with June Foray doing an Irish-accented voice.

## References

1. ↑ Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons: Revised and Updated Edition, pg. 442