Sufferin' Cats!

Sufferin' Cats!, a 1943 American one-reel animated cartoon, is the 9th Tom and Jerry episode released. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on January 16, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-released on June 4, 1949 as a reissued version. This is the final cartoon to have Clarence Nash to do meows and screeches for any MGM cat character, including Tom Cat. After this, Tom or any other MGM cat character would just yelp in pain whenever they get hurt. Tom's yelps were done by creator William Hanna. In the short's original release, the original opening theme was "Runnin' Wild", as heard in Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood. It was replaced by the later Tom & Jerry theme on re-issue. On the re-issue, the animators are credited, but on the original, only William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are credited.

Plot
The cartoon opens with Jerry running with a fishing line tied to his tail, which proceeds to retreat; Jerry is pulled under the radiator, through a mousehole, and towards Tom at the end of the line. When Jerry reaches Tom, the cat makes a face and scares Jerry, causing him to run away. Tom starts to reel in Jerry again, but the mouse holds onto a bag of jerked beef, forcing Tom to struggle to regain control of the line. As the line returns to Tom, a piece of the bag is on the end, stating "JERK".

Jerry escapes through an open window and smashes into another alley cat, (Meathead), who is going through garbage cans trying to find lunch. Jerry quickly runs the other way, but then runs into Tom who is coming towards him. Choosing between evils, Jerry gives Meathead a kiss and hug, plays with his whiskers, and sticks his tongue out at Tom; in retaliation, Tom grabs Jerry and hisses at the alley cat, who grabs Jerry back and hisses much louder than Tom. Knowing he is outclassed, Tom retreats. Meathead makes a Jerry sandwich, but when he adds pepper, Jerry sneezes and is propelled away from the bread - and into the other cat. The mouse now hugs Tom and snubs Meathead, who grabs Jerry and breaks the bread over Tom's head. Tom then grabs Meathead's whiskers and pulls one of them out; after Meathead locks Jerry in a can, he returns the injury.

The two felines fight until Meathead, while holding Tom by the ears and fist back to punch him, spots the mouse walking out of the can. Meathead scolds Jerry and points to the can as if to say "You belong to me, get back in the can." Jerry complies grudgingly, but meanwhile Tom has replaced himself with a flower pot and stolen Jerry. Meathead chases after his rival, but runs into the front gate.

In the backyard, Tom sits on Jerry to hide the mouse and shows Meathead the empty sardine can as he comes by. Jerry reveals himself by sticking Tom with a gardening fork and runs away; Meathead attempts to catch him, but Tom has tied Meathead's tail to the garden hose, who is then pulled back into the spigot and rained on. Tom then chases Jerry and catches him near an open window; a pie is sitting on the deck, and the cat holds it out for Meathead to promptly hit. Tom runs away with Jerry, but soon trips into a garbage can and loses the mouse to the alley cat; as Tom emerges from the can, he wallops Meathead with a frying pan and flips Jerry in the pan a few times. The mouse escapes and wriggles through a hole in a fence, and when Tom peeks through, he is whacked with a length of pipe. When the cat sees his opponent arrive, he waves him ahead, and Meathead receives the same punishment.

Jerry runs away and disguises himself as an old mouse, using mop bristles in the shape of a beard. Both cats corner him, and Jerry points away from himself as if to say He went that way. The two cats shrug, run away, soon realize their error and go back to search the mop. They then look in front of the drainpipe the mouse has hidden in, who ties both cats' tails together and then provokes a chase. The alley cat moves first and drags Tom across the ground, and both cats end up tangled around a tree. Jerry continues running and sets out thumbtacks for the cats to step on; at their speed, they cannot avoid the tacks, but manage to survive the podiatric assault and catch Jerry. After a brief fight, a tree stump with an ax on it catches their eyes and they agree to cut Jerry in half. The alley cat holds Jerry while Tom readies the ax, and as Tom raises the ax over his head, his devilish conscience appears and convinces him that he doesn't have to share Jerry. He then makes an X on the alley cat's head, which Tom swings for, but stops short, panting at his inability to commit murder. The devil appears again, disgusted, using his famed reasoning to convince the cat that Tom had priorities on Jerry, successfully breaking through to Tom.

Tom prepares to chop Meathead in half, but the blade slides off and instead of being beheaded, Meathead is whacked on the head and a lump forms on the top. The incensed alley cat chases Tom and beats him with the stick, Tom hissing and spitting. Meanwhile, Jerry escapes and ducks under the front gate. The cats chase the mouse instead, but crash through the gate with their heads and paws on the front side and their defenseless rear ends hanging out the back. Jerry arrives with a huge smile carrying a wooden plank, and goes behind the cats' back. He has decided that as punishment for tormenting him, that both cats deserve a good paddling, and uses their compromising position to do just that. Then he brushes off Tom's waiting bottom to let him know what is about to happen. Then he takes aim with the plank; the cats look up to see a sign on the gate saying MAKE ALL DELIVERIES IN REAR, and Jerry uses the plank to give both of them a good spanking on their bottoms that make them yelp in pain.

Voice cast

 * William Hanna as Tom and Meathead's yelps (uncredited)
 * Harry E. Lang as Tom's devil (uncredited)
 * Clarence Nash as Tom and Meathead's meows and screeches (Note: Final performance at MGM. After this, Nash would continue voicing Donald Duck until his death in 1985.) (uncredited)

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 2
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume One, Disc One
 * Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, Disc One