Touché, Pussy Cat!

Touché, Pussy Cat! is a 1954 one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with production by Fred Quimby and music by Scott Bradley. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1954, the series' final Oscar nomination, while Johann Mouse won the last award for the series a year before.

Touché, Pussy Cat! is a follow-up to the 1952 cartoon The Two Mouseketeers, which won the 1951 Academy Award. The title is also Tuffy's catchphrase in the "Mouseketeer" shorts. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released in theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on December 18, 1954.

It was the first of the Tom and Jerry shorts to be produced in the widescreen CinemaScope format, but was the second CinemaScope-produced short to be released (after Pet Peeve, released the previous month; Touché, Pussy Cat! has an earlier MPAA certificate number). The cartoon also exists in a non-Cinemascope format. Touché, Pussy Cat! spawned two further entries in the "Mouseketeer" series of Tom and Jerry cartoons, namely Tom and Chérie in 1955, and Royal Cat Nap in 1958.

Plot
François Mouse's son (Tuffy) arrives in Paris to be trained as a King’s Mouseketeer. Jerry, the Captain of the Mouseketeers and an old friend of François, attempts to train the garrulous Tuffy, but Tuffy is far too aggressive: he slashes wildly with his rapier, stabs Jerry in the rear, and seeks confrontation with rival Musketeer Tom.

After Jerry must save Tuffy from Tom (by splitting Tom in two with an axe), he prepares to send Tuffy back to François in disgrace. However, as Tuffy is walking back home, Tom ambushes Jerry. Tuffy hears the attack and stops it by cutting off the tip of Tom’s tail, with Tuffy exclaiming "Touché, Pussy Cat!" When Tom pins Tuffy to the wall in retaliation, Jerry saves him by causing Tom’s tunic to roll up like a windowshade.

On the run from Tom, Tuffy is separated from Jerry and begins painting an unflattering portrait of Tom, while singing "Frère Jacques". Tom confronts Tuffy in mid-painting, but Tuffy paints a pince-nez on Tom’s face and escapes. Tom gives pursuit, but Tuffy uses a series of champagne bottles to knock Tom back with their corks, eventually knocking Tom in to an iron gate and crushing him. When Tom attacks again, Tuffy chops open an enormous barrel and washes Tom down the sewers in a massive wave of wine. A drunken Tuffy, observing Tom’s fate, remarks, "Pauvre, pauvre,...(hic!)...Pussycat..." ("Poor, poor pussycat...").

In appreciation for dispatching Tom and saving his life, Jerry makes Tuffy a Mouseketeer. However, as Tuffy proudly shows off his sword fighting skills in a mirror, he once again stabs Jerry in the rear with his sword. An incensed Jerry turns Tuffy over his lap and gives him a vigorous spanking. As he's being spanked, Tuffy looks at the audience and remarks, "C'est la guerre." ("That's war.")

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 3
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc Two