The Framed Cat

The Framed Cat is a 1950 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 53rd Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ray Patterson.

Plot
Tom knocks down some crockery while secretly tucking into some chicken. Mammy Two Shoes hears this so the cat plants the evidence on Jerry, effectively framing the mouse. Mammy then calls Tom and orders him to get rid of this 'chicken-stealing mouse'. Tom, acting like a 'hero' to the maid, chases Jerry out in the yard, looks around, throws the mouse away, eats the chicken and takes a nap. Jerry, thinking of a way to get back at Tom, sees Spike cuddling with his bone and also taking a nap. Jerry quietly takes the bone away from Spike and places it Tom's chest. Spike gets awakened after noticing his bone has disappeared and screams in the voice of a man to see Tom with his bone. The dog warns the cat to stay away from his bone angrily.

Tom is thrown back into the tree as Spike storms off. The cat sticks out his tongue and gets whacked again, biting it. He then spots Jerry laughing at him. Tom, knowing it was Jerry all along that framed him, chases the mouse once again. Jerry stops in front of Spike and spins his bone into the air. Tom can't think of anything to do but catch it (which is the wrong thing to do). Tom tricks Spike into standing up and puts the bone on top of the dog's nose. Spike is incensed at being made to look like a "jackass", but can only go back to sleep, as the cat is nowhere to be seen. Spike drops his bone into a hole that he just dug, but Jerry steals it while the dog isn't looking. Satisfied that Tom won't get to the bone, Spike goes back to sleep. Jerry sneaks behind Tom, who is keeping watch behind an automated trash can, ties the bone to the cat's tail, and slams the lid into his face. Jerry makes sure to take the chase past Spike, who is astounded that someone got to his bone. While Tom keeps up the chase, Spike bites on the bone attached to Tom's tail, but gets tangled up in a tree with the cat. Tom ends up in possession of the bone, and when Spike growls, Tom puts it in the dog's mouth, but then winds it up and blows Spike away as if he were a model airplane. Spike decides to go to sleep by his house.

Meanwhile, Jerry screws a piece of magnetic iron into Spike's bone, then places a magnet in a sleeping Tom's mouth, causing the bone to end up being attracted to the cat, no matter how many times Tom tries to rid himself of it or how hard Spike tries to retain his grip on it. Tom throws the bone out into the street where Spike chases it, only to miss it twice, in midair then off the fence, which he bites through. He finally does get a hold of it, only to lose it running into the fork of a tree, managing to grab it once more with his tongue before losing it once more. Tom winds up running off down the street with the bone following him (this time, developing a mind of its own and running on its own accord), pursued by Spike, with the magnetic bone remaining close to Tom. Jerry, in a tin can, cheers for his victory and the tin can is dragged along in the pursuit. In the final scene, Tom runs off as Spike dashes after him and Jerry is dragged from the tin can by the magnet (himself thus thinking his plan backfired at him) during the chase down the road.

Voice cast

 * Lillian Randolph as Mammy Two Shoes (original) (uncredited)
 * June Foray as The Skinny White Maid (re-animated version) (uncredited)
 * Thea Vidale as Mammy Two Shoes (dubbed version) (uncredited)
 * Daws Butler as Spike the bulldog and Tom (uncredited)

Censorship
The scene were Spike is a jackass was once cut because viewers found it inappropriate.

Availability

 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 5
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc One