The Night Before Christmas

1941 AnimationComedy 9 minutes Directed by Joseph Barbera

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About The Night Before Christmas

On Christmas Eve, Jerry gets past a mousetrap and plays under the tree until he wakes Tom, whom he had taken for a toy. He sticks a “Do Not Open ’Til Xmas” label over Tom's mouth and the chase runs through fairy lights, a toy train, and a jack-in-the-box. Jerry slips outside. Tom barricades the door, then, hearing a carol, goes out and finds Jerry frozen in the snow. He thaws him by the fire and offers a candy cane. Jerry plays “Jingle Bells” on a mousetrap to warn Tom off it.

Cast & crew

More about The Night Before Christmas

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directed the third Tom and Jerry short. Fred Quimby produced. Scott Bradley wrote the music. Jack Zander, George Gordon, Irven Spence, Bill Littlejohn, and Cecil Surry animated. Harvey Eisenberg and Robert Gentle did layouts, Joseph Smith the backgrounds. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released it on December 6, 1941. It is in Technicolor.

Themes

  • a chase under the tree
  • a label used as a gag
  • a cat who brings the mouse in from the snow
  • Tom and Jerry
  • Christmas Eve
  • mousetrap
  • candy cane
  • Jingle Bells
  • Technicolor

Background

MGM released the cartoon on December 6, 1941, the day before the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor.

Making

Hanna and Barbera were three cartoons into the series and already using the Christmas living room as one long chase set: lights, soldiers, a train, and the door to the snow.

Music

Scott Bradley scored the short. A choir, The King's Men and The Debutantes, sings the carols, and Jerry picks out “Jingle Bells” on the mousetrap.

Preservation

The Technicolor short survives in the Tom and Jerry series.

Notes

  • It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons and lost to the Mickey Mouse short Lend a Paw. It is the only Tom and Jerry cartoon to lose that award to a Disney film.
  • Frank Graham narrates. William Hanna and Harry E. Lang supply the cat and mouse noises.
  • The King's Men and The Debutantes sing the carols. The King's Men were Bud Linn, Jon Dodson, Rad Robinson, and Ken Darby.
  • The short opened the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  • A Wikipedia timing of the picture is 8 minutes 38 seconds.

Scenes

  • Jerry pastes “Do Not Open ’Til Xmas” across Tom's mouth.
  • Tom finds Jerry stiff in the snow and carries him to the fire.
  • Jerry plays “Jingle Bells” on the trap so Tom will not spring it.