The Little Orphan

This article is about the Tom and Jerry cartoon. For the silent film, seeThe Little Orphan (1917 film).

The Little Orphan
The title card ofThe Little Orphan,featuring theOscar
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	Fred Quimby
Starring	William Hanna (as Tom and Jerry)
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Irven Spence Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Ray Patterson
Production company	MGM Cartoons
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	April 30, 1949(1949-04-30)
Running time	7:50
Language	none(text in English)

The Little Orphanis a 1949 American one-reelanimated cartoonand the 40thTom and Jerrycartoon, released in theaters on April 30, 1949 byMetro-Goldwyn Mayer.It was produced byFred Quimbyand directed byWilliam HannaandJoseph Barbera,with music byScott Bradley.The cartoon was animated byIrven Spence,Kenneth Muse,Ed BargeandRay Patterson.The short featuresNibbles,a young mouse who is insatiably hungry.

The Little Orphanwon the 1948Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons,the fifth Oscar (of seven) given toTom and Jerry.Though the cartoon was released in 1949, it won its Oscar the previous year, tying them with Disney'sSilly Symphonieswith the record of the most Oscars.

Plot

Jerryis sitting in a mouse-sizedchaise longuereadingGood Mousekeepingand eating cheese, which he is pulling off a mousetrap that has been set just in front of his mousehole. When his doorbell rings, he opens the door but does not see anyone;Nibbleszips through the door under his nose. Jerry shrugs in confusion, but then turns to see Nibbles pulling on the cheese in the mousetrap. He whisks him away just before it springs. Jerry then finds a note pinned to Nibbles' red scarf (which matches his cap, both trimmed with white fur). Nibbles is the orphan whom Jerry had agreed to host forThanksgiving.A postscript on the note warns: "He's always hungry".

Jerry's cupboards are empty, so he carefully leads Nibbles to a big bowl of milk in front of whereTomis sleeping peacefully. Jerry warns him to be very quiet, and holds him over the bowl. Nibbles takes a nice loud slurp, awaking Tom just as Jerry pulls Nibbles back into hiding. Tom does not see anyone, so he slurps his milk and goes back to sleep. Jerry holds Nibbles out to catch the last big drop that falls from Tom's whisker, but the bowl is now empty.

Then Nibbles seesMammy Two Shoesplace a large turkey on the already laden table. Jerry climbs up to the table, and drops a long piece of spaghetti, which Nibbles slurps his way up. Nibbles begins to eat three bites of all kinds of food (and a candle), but Jerry again saves him from disaster when, bouncing off agelatinor Jello, he almost lands in piping hot soup. Jerry takes decorations from the table and dresses himself as a pilgrim with a hat andblunderbuss,and Nibbles follows his example. Nibbles then takes a whole orange in his mouth, swelling his head, but Jerry hits Nibbles on the back of the head, causing the orange to fly out of Nibbles, and into a sleeping Tom's mouth, then rebounding back and forth in his guts, thoroughly waking him up.

Tom, seeing the mice getting into the Thanksgiving dinner, puts on a feather duster, first as a general camouflage, but then as aNative American headdress.Tom approaches Nibbles, who points his toy blunderbuss at Tom. Tom lowers his chin, knowing this will not hurt him. What really comes knocking the feline out of his bliss is Jerry popping a champagne cork, which hurls into his face. Tom then grabs Jerry, but Nibbles, purposefully this time and carrying a fork, ricochets off the jello and stabs Tom in the hind end. Tom howls in pain and then uses the fork to catch Nibbles, and Jerry, perched on acandelabra,whacks Tom in the face with a large spoon, knocking him back.

Sneaking back to the table, Tom sets a bowl ofcattailson fire one at a time, throwing them like spears. The cattails burn or melt the various hiding places Jerry and Nibbles find. With the third one, Jerry lifts a hemispherical lid and the cattail reverses back toward Tom. Then Tom throws a knife into the turkey and Jerry runs into the blunt edge, at his throat, and falls unconscious.

Nibbles now launches an all-out attack: he bends back a knife handle to launch a pie, and using the string between the turkey legs, he slingshots a candle which lands on Tom's tail, and soon completely burns him up to a crisp (although Tom doesn't feel any pain) with his headdress turning into a set of pickaninny braids, giving him ablackfaceappearance. After cutting a cork off a champagne bottle, it begins to rocket at Tom and launches him into a cabinet, destroying it and all the dishes inside. Tom holds up awhite surrender flagfrom the pile of broken dishes to show that he has fallen under.

Finally, all three, with Tom bandaged, and order on the table restored, sit down to dinner. All bow their heads while Jerry says grace. But just as Tom and Jerry pick up their cutlery, Nibbles goes through the entire turkey like a buzz saw, leaving the famished cat and mouse with nothing to eat but the bones that have clattered to the plate. Nibbles, now finally full, pats his huge stomach in delight.

Production

As per every short ofTom and Jerryduring its first two decades,The Little Orphanwas directed byWilliam HannaandJoseph Barbera,with its score composed byScott Bradley.The short is produced byFred Quimbyand animated byIrven Spence,Kenneth Muse,Ed Barge,Ray Patterson,with layouts done by Richard Bickenbach.

The cartoon was remade inCinemaScopeusing thicker lines and more stylised backgrounds asFeedin' the Kiddie.

Reception

Ben Simon of Animated Views considered the short as "a great example of a cat and mouse cartoon working well on all levels".For writer and historian Michael Samerdyke,The Little Orphanis "[o]ne of the most fondly remembered"Tom and Jerrycartoons, noting that the short "added some priceless images" to the cartoon series. He surmised that the short "unlocked something in Hanna and Barbera's imaginations. In the Fifties, instead of having their characters pretend they were in a different historical era, they would place the rivalry of Tom & Jerry in other times and places."

Animation historianMichael Barriersaw the character ofNibblesinThe Little Orphanas an example of the growing sentimentality seen inTom and Jerryin the late 1940s, as manifested in the character's "formulaic adorability".

Home media

• "Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 1" (2000)
• "Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection"(2004)
• "Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection:15 Winners "(2008)
• "Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection"(2008)
• "Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection"(2010)

External links

• The Little OrphanatIMDb
• Feedin' the KiddieatIMDb