Jerry and the Lion

Jerry and the Lion  is a 1950 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 50th Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on April 8, 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. The cartoon was animated by Irven Spence, Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, and Ray Patterson. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby. Scott Bradley arranged the music, Robert Gentle did the backgrounds, and Frank Graham provided the (uncredited) voice of the lion that befriends Jerry in the cartoon.

Summary
Tom is relaxing and listening to the music in the radio. Then he hears a crash from the kitchen and peeks through the wall. Jerry is stealing food from the fridge to his mousehole. Tom tries to stop Jerry, but when he does, Jerry squeezes a tomato in his face. Jerry then runs toward his mousehole, but is stopped by Tom by closing a door, as the cat forgets that there is a mousehole door for Jerry, who runs through it. Tom looks into the mouse hole and is hit in the face by another tomato.

Tom then returns to his chair and his radio. Then a news bulletin comes on announcing that a ferocious lion has just escaped from the circus and warning everyone to bar their windows and doors.

Tom obeys, then frantically closes all the windows, puts a couch in front of the door, grabs a gun and a safari hat from above the fireplace, and defends himself, causing Jerry to hide in a teapot. Tom looks around, but Jerry, who overheard the warning, comes out of hiding in the teapot, and then decides to run away for the sake of it, but screams in terror when he sees a pair of eyes, which are from the lion, hiding in the shadows, and is unable to run away when the runaway lion pounces and grabs him. He tells Jerry not to give him away, and explains to him, that if they take him back to that circus, he'll go crazy, as he cannot stand the "corny music" or the "crackle, crackle, crackle" of popcorn bags, and asks Jerry to help him get back to the jungle. Jerry agrees, and after the lion thanks him, he admits he is hungry.

Jerry and the lion then sneak over the kitchen. As Jerry sneaks a large ham for the lion, Tom spots him. Tom stops Jerry with his gun and takes the ham away from him. Tom then catches Jerry by his tail and holds the ham behind him. The lion, who is hiding behind a curtain, eats the ham in one bite. Tom then goes to take a bite from the ham, but sees there's nothing there, then hears crunching noises from behind the curtain, and upon realising what's behind it, points the gun at the curtain. Jerry then raises the gun, causing it to go off, detonating the ceiling. Jerry then starts acting if he has been shot and then hits the ground. Tom is horrified, believing he has accidentally shot Jerry and runs off. Jerry and the lion run away in the other direction. As Tom returns with a first aid kit, he finds that Jerry is nowhere to be found. Tom then looks for the lion, but finds Jerry in another room, and is unaware of the lion perched on top of the lamp. Tom points the gun in Jerry's face, causing Jerry to start throwing punches. Tom grabs Jerry and mockingly sticks out his chin as if to say, "Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot". Jerry looks up at the lion, who obligingly smacks Tom in the chin with his paw, sending him flying halfway across the room. Tom crashes into the chimney and has bricks land on his head. Jerry and the lion then run and hide into an umbrella holder. Tom grabs the umbrella, and opens it, causing the lion to fall on top of him. They run off and then both hide in a closet. Tom then closes the door on the closet and slides in while giving an evil laugh, and (for some bizarre reason) locks himself in and tosses away the key. Almost immediately afterwards, sounds of battle are heard and Tom screams in pain while frantically trying to open the door until it is ripped clean off its hinges and the cat is sent flying across the room to slam into the opposite wall.

Jerry then comes out and gives Tom a mean look, to make it look as though Jerry had fought him. Intimidated, Tom screams, opens the door, crashes through the wall, and runs away. Jerry and the lion then shake hands.

Jerry then helps the lion stowaway onto the S.S. Africa. The boat soon casts off for Africa with the lion bidding Jerry goodbye with a tear falling from his eye. The S.S. Africa sails further away on the ocean to expedition to Africa, leaving Jerry waving goodbye with a handkerchief, along with an instrumental theme of Auld Lang Syne, with him tear-shedding with sniffles for a brief moment to see the lion he befriended take his departure, but also with an elated receptivity that he helped, as the cartoon faded.

Voice cast

 * Paul Frees as The Man on the Radio (credited)
 * Frank Graham as The Lion (credited)

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 1
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc Two