Heavenly Puss

Heavenly Puss is a 1949 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 42nd Tom and Jerry short, created in 1948, and released on 9 July 1949. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby. The cartoon's music was composed by Scott Bradley and the animation was credited to Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge.

Plot
The cartoon begins with Tom sleeping near the fireplace. While he is, Jerry sneaks past him, trying not to wake up. But after Jerry sneaks past him, Tom opens and eye and sees him going by. Jerry then goes up onto the dinner table and hides behind a candle stick, not knowing that Tom knows that he's there with a large knife in his hand. Then Jerry tries to reach for the food on the table, but Tom quickly tows down the knife, nearly cutting off Jerry's hand. Then Tom tries to kill Jerry, but ends up slicing the candle in half. A typical chase begins between Tom and Jerry, and the mouse runs up the staircase on a carpet. Tom loosens the carpet and pulls it down to try and get Jerry, but he also pulls down a large upright piano. Jerry manages to dodge it but with no time to react, Tom is squashed to death by the piano. Tom's spirit rises and, looking back at his body, ascends the long golden Heavenly escalator to the golden gates of the "Heavenly Express", a train that sends dead cats to Heaven. At the gatekeeper's desk, cats are waiting to enter. The first one, Butch, had lost a fight with a bulldog (he even took the dog's teeth with him attached to his tail), Frankie, struck with a flat iron while singing on a backyard fence (he lifts his top hat to reveal a big lump), Aloysius, a cat who ended up a flatcat ("Oh, so you didn't see the steamroller coming, eh?") and a sack stuffed with three kittens (Fluff, Muff and Puff from "Triplet Trouble"), who were thrown into a river and drowned (the gatekeeper sighs solemnly "What some people won't do...") The gatekeeper allows them all through. Tom tries to sneak past the gatekeeper to board the train, but is caught and has to stand in line while he looks up his record. Unfortunately, the gatekeeper refuses to let him enter because he has persecuted "an innocent little mouse" (Jerry) all his life. But since the Heavenly Express doesn't leave for an hour, he is given a certificate of forgiveness for Jerry to sign. He will be allowed through if Jerry signs it within that time, but if he doesn't, Tom will be banished to hell, where the devil (personified as Spike) awaits.

Tom comes back to life and pleads with Jerry to sign. First he brings cake, but Jerry eats the cake quick as a flash and sprays ink on Tom's face. Then Tom tries to forge Jerry's signature, but the gatekeeper sees this and stops him ("Thomas. Ah, ah, ah, ah"). Tom brings cheese but during his protests, Jerry thinks it's a scam and so he furiously tears up the certificate, causing an angry Tom to attempt to smash Jerry. The devil pops in and reminds Tom of the consequence of doing so, tempting him to finish the job ("Attaboy, Tom! Hit him and let's go! Come on!"). Tom reattaches all the ripped pieces of the certificate and tries to explain to Jerry what had just happened, however, he misses the deadline and hears the train begin to depart. Jerry then signs (initially unable to when the pen is clogged), and Tom frantically tries to climb the escalator but it fades away and he falls down through a hole that directly leads to Hell into a cauldron with a "SPLASH!", where he will be tortured by the devil. But then it is revealed that Tom is actually lying in front of the fireplace dreaming, still trying to run from the devil in his dream. He finally wakes up when a piece of hot coal from the fire burns his tail, much to his relief when he realizes it was a dream. He coaxes Jerry out of his hole and then hugs and kisses him with joy, with Jerry shrugging in utter confusion as the cartoon ends.

Voice cast

 * Billy Bletcher as The Cat Gatekeeper/Spike (uncredited)

Availability

 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 2
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Disc One