Mucho Mouse

Mucho Mouse is a 1957 one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. It was released on September 6, 1957 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This cartoon was released at a time where relations between Francoist Spain and the United States began to improve.

Plot

 * Madrid, Spain 1956

The camera slowly pans to the right and reveals a Spanish house, and goes inside to the sound of a flamenco guitar. As the camera reveals that Lightning is playing the guitar while leaning against a couch, Jerry, known in this cartoon as El Magnífico, comes dancing out of his hole and then brings back a small wedge of cheese. Meanwhile, the Spanish owner of the house (Joan) comes in the room, sees Jerry, and taps her foot impatiently at Lightning. In Spanish, Lightning complements the señorita (Joan) about her good looks today, until he finally agrees to chase Jerry. He dives at the mouse eating his cheese on the carpet, and Jerry strategically raises the carpet and himself such that the cat goes underneath the carpet and runs into a table. Lightning is unfazed and returns the other way, but the mouse ties the cat's tail to another table and is drawn back into it, and then smashed by the top of the table. Lightning's legs, tail, and head pop out akin to a turtle.

Now, the cat dives at the mouse next to his El Magnífico hole, and he lifts himself out of the way again, leaving the cat to pitch and jump directly into his guitar where he left it, on the couch. Jerry, having defeated Lightning, dances back into his hole. The poor cat, head poking through his guitar, proclaims it is no use. Joan responds by saying that is because he is lazy - the laziest cat, in fact, that she has ever seen! Lightning is hurt, and responds that nobody could catch "El Magnífico". Therefore, she commands him to read a telegram which says "Arriving today from U.S.A., Guarantee to catch mouse (El Magnífico)....Tom, Olympic, U.S. and World Champion Mouse Catcher."

Tom arrives at the door with numerous medals and trophies beside him. The cat, being from the United States, uses a guide book to help him speak Spanish. He tells the señorita: "How are you, ma'am?" in Spanish, obviously struggling with the language, particularly on the "señorita". However, she waves this off as good manners, and then leaves, reaffirming Tom's guarantee to catch the mouse. They bid goodbye in Spanish (Tom still speaking poorly), and the señorita then snubs Lightning in comparison to Tom. Lightning, whose guitar is repaired, pulls back and lets go of the strings on his instrument, which smack into Tom, making him angry. Lightning points to the mouse hole and sings "El Magnificooooooooooo...". Just then, Tom sees Jerry carrying a banana as he walks back into his hole.

Tom uses a stethoscope to detect Jerry in the wall, marks the spot (X), drills a hole in the spot (X), and then pulls the mouse out with a fireplace blower. The cat stuffs Jerry into a small cannon, lights it, and holds the door open for the mouse as he is thrown out of the house. Triumphant with no trouble at all, Tom claps his hands. However, Jerry pops right back in via a small door panel at the bottom of the door. Tom kicks him out a second time, and Jerry comes back in through one of the higher panels, which falls on Tom's head. Jerry does a different dance this time, in which he steps repeatedly on the board. As he is coming close to the El Magnífico hole, Tom begins to flamenco along with him and around the room. However, the tables are turned when Jerry directs the dance to a nearby window, which Tom falls through and out of, then down into a fountain. Tom is now incensed.

The camera cuts to the front door and Tom shunting the door out of the way. He stops next to Lightning and begins to transform into a bull as bullfight music plays, thus ramping up Lightning ("El Toro!"), and begins to play a guitar tune along with the music as El Magnífico comes out in a matador garb.

Tom makes a beeline for the mouse and misses as Jerry eggs him on by saying "Haha!, Toro!, C'mon!" The cat runs at him again, and Jerry, blindfolded, jumps in the air and the red cape swirls like a tutu in the air. The camera cuts to Lightning cheering "¡Ole!" with progressively higher emotion, until he sees Tom crash into a table and a small piece of pottery cracks over his head. So Jerry opens Tom's eye and waves the red cape in it, causing it to spin and the cat to wake up. Tom lunges, but he misses a third time and slides into Jerry's mouse hole, taking the mouse along on top of him.

Jerry revives the "bull" by smacking him in his rear with the cape. Now, the cat is angry, but the fourth lunge leads to the cat simply disappearing into the cape as Jerry holds it out. After showing there is nothing on either side of it, Jerry hurls Tom out of the cape, and then plays guitar on Tom's whiskers. This gets the cat to continue the chase, and he turns in all directions to attempt to corner the mouse against the wall. However, Jerry escapes this and makes circles around the floor, causing Tom to wrap himself up in a pretzel shape. The camera now cuts to Jerry victoriously carrying his trophy as Lightning and a recorded clip of a Spanish crowd acclaim "¡Ole!".

Joan returns to find both Lightning and Tom playing guitar, and demands to know what is going on. Lightning responds, "Señorita, I told you: Nadie, absolutely no one, can catch El Magnífico!", and asks Tom if this was true in Spanish. Tom replies in the positive with fluent Spanish and both continue their guitar playing, as Joan sees Jerry pushing some fruits into his hole.

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 5
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2, Disc Two