Old Rockin' Chair Tom

Old Rockin' Chair Tom is a 1948 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 36th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson and Irven Spence and was released to theaters on September 18, 1948. This cartoon has the longest Mammy Two Shoes on screen appearance. It even features the first appearance of Lightning in a theatrical release of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Plot
Mammy Two Shoes is standing on a chair, screaming in panic, being harassed by Jerry. She calls for Tom, who lazily wakes up and then acts instantly when he sees the mouse. Tom chases Jerry away from Mammy, but Jerry trips him. Jerry goes back to Mammy and rocks the stool up and down until Tom chases him again. Jerry then opens up a door and the ironing board, followed by the iron, fall on Tom's head. Tom catches Jerry trying to cut down the stool, and Jerry gives him the axe. Mammy urges Tom to hit Jerry, but misses and eventually he chops down the stool. Tom supports Mammy on his head, until he loses his balance. Jerry opens the door of the basement stairway. Tom goes through the doorway, with Mammy still on him, and crashes down into the basement causing several pieces of crockery to smash outside the door.

Fed up with Tom's failure, Mammy retires him, saying that if Tom is a mousecatcher, then she's Lana Turner. She then calls in "Lightning", a ginger orange cat who lives up to his name as he rushes onto the scene and speedily kicks Jerry out of the house and into the dumpster. Tom then panics as Lightning speeds past him and flips him over, then Lightning kisses Mammy's hand. Mammy praises Lightning's etiquette and efficiency. Jerry tries to sneak back into the house, but Lightning kicks him out again. Lightning passes by Tom and twists him around, and dresses him up with a fake beard and a walking stick as Mammy advises him to "take good care of poor old Uncle Tom..." (the term "Uncle" is removed in the redubbed version) as she goes upstairs, leaving Lightning in charge. The cat then begins to show his true nature by raiding the fridge, until he drops a bottle of milk. This wakes up Mammy. Lightning then frames Tom by dumping the fridge contents at Tom's feet, stuffing leftovers into his hands and cramming Tom inside a watermelon. When Mammy enters, Lightning nods Tom's head when she asks if he had been in the fridge. Lightning offers to throw Tom out of the house, and Tom is kicked into the dumpster, where he sees Jerry. As Lightning is set to kick him, Jerry just kicks himself out. Together, the duo plot to remove Lightning from the house for good.

Later, Tom and Jerry, armed with a magnet and iron, sneak into the house, and place the iron by a sleeping Lightning's mouth, and the magnet behind his rear. This causes Lightning to swallow the iron, waking him up. As Lightning chases after Jerry, Tom uses the magnet to attract the iron, and therefore pull Lightning back into his fist. Tom then tosses the magnet to Jerry, but Jerry is too light and is dragged along with Lightning until he runs into the iron and latches onto the magnet. Lightning grabs onto a piano leg and Tom, Jerry and Lightning begin a tug-of-war. The duo wins and Lightning is sent through the piano and into a wall, where a whole set of plates fall on the ginger cat.

Mammy hears the chaos and enters the room, but soon Jerry starts to terrorize her again by shaking the stool she is standing on. She calls for Lightning, but Lightning is unable to come to the rescue, as Tom is controlling his movements behind the kitchen wall. Eventually, after praying that someone will help her, Mammy calls for Tom, who grabs Jerry and pretends to beat her up, When Mammy says to Tom; she says: Good boy, Thomas! but Tom and Jerry are actually hitting a pan with wooden sticks and rattling it. Tom helpfully kicks Lightning out of the house, but, forgetting the iron, he ends up breaking his foot.

After all, Tom, with his broken foot wrapped in bandages, is given a nice pie from Mammy as a token of her gratitude, as well as an apology for her misunderstanding. Tom takes most of the pie, but leaves the remainder of it by his side for Jerry who, using the magnet, brings the dish of pie to his mousehole, and tucks happily into his well-earned food.

Voice cast

 * Lillian Randolph as Mammy Two Shoes (original version) (uncredited)
 * Thea Vidale as Mammy Two Shoes (dubbed version) (uncredited)

Censorship
The scene where Lightning dressed Tom as poor old uncle Tom was removed. In some versions, Mammy Two Shoes' line of "Take good care of poor old Uncle Tom" was changed to "Take good care of poor old Tom". Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume 1 contains the complete uncut version.

Availability

 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2, Disc One
 * Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, Disc Two