It's Greek to Me-ow!

It's Greek to Me-ow! is a 1961 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder. It is the third of the thirteen cartoons from Rembrandt Films. This is one of the few Tom and Jerry shorts to credit who made the sound effects. The episode name is a pun on the phrase "It's Greek to me"

Plot
This cartoon opens with a narrator introducing the ancient Greek Acropolis, describing its wealth and beautiful architecture ("All the world has seen the beautiful Greek Acropolis from the front"). However, the narrator reveals that on the other end of the Acropolis, people were far lower-class and lived in poor conditions and housing ("But the world never knew what went on behind its back"). Tom is depicted as one of these inhabitants, an alley cat who lives in the shadows of Athens searching for food. He looks into a trash can sees a reflection of himself yet no food, then spots Jerry coming out from his hole to throw trash into his own, mouse-sized can. Peeking inside, Tom sees Jerry's well-furnished home and reaches in to grab him; when he over-stretches his arm around the marble pillars, it snaps back and smacks him in the face.

Next, Tom tries to enter the Acropolis and chase Jerry, only to be thrown out because there is a sign which says that cats are not allowed to go in. After failing to hit Jerry with a catapult, he successfully sneaks in but has to keep hiding from the guards, accidentally knocking the arms off the Venus de Milo sculpture in the process (thus giving it its current appearance). Jerry gets the better of him several more times, tricks him into jumping on a chariot, and unhooks the horses leaving Tom to careen down the front steps. Jerry returns to his home, runs to the trash can and takes out the trash again, and the closing shot features Tom running out of and screaming from the Acropolis with the narrator saying that the Greeks had a word for it: "HELP!"