Trap Happy

Trap Happy is a 1946 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 25th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was animated by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, Michael Lah, Ray Patterson and Pete Burness. The music was composed by Scott Bradley. It was released to theaters on June 29, 1946 and is one of Tom and Jerry's more violent cartoons. The name of this cartoon is a pun on the term Slap happy.

Plot
Jerry Mouse is being chased down the steps by Tom Cat. Jerry hides under a chair and Tom runs under it, but gets smacked on the bottom with a board from Jerry. Jerry's mouse hole is then mined with dynamite, but unknowingly for Tom, Jerry has lit another firework under him, and both explode. Tom angrily continues the pursuit until Jerry offers him a fireplace shovel to hit him with. Tom misses several times and Jerry holds the tool down until Tom pulls on it so hard he hits himself when Jerry flees. Tom jumps into Jerry's hole, but his lips are ruffled and Tom has to pull himself out. Tom is tired of the chase and searches in the Yellow Pages for a pest control exterminator. He finds one for Ajax Mouse Exterminators, with the motto One Call - That's All. Tom calls the company up impersonating Mammy Two Shoes to come over.

Butch arrives within seconds, washes his hands and goes to work. He paints a steel nut two shades of yellow so it looks like cheese, and tops it off with a blast of "Essence of Cheese". Satisfied, Butch rolls it into Jerry's hole. Jerry, suspicious, smells the nut. Since it smells like cheese, Jerry gobbles it. Butch then attracts Jerry with a magnet, trapping the mouse. Butch pulls out an axe and then holds Jerry down while he attempts to cleave the mouse in two, but Tom, scared of seeing the deed, turns away, allowing Jerry to substitute Tom's tail. Tom screams in pain and the 2 vs. 1 chase begins.

Jerry runs into his hole and Butch pins him to a wall inside the hole with a corkscrew. With nowhere to go, Jerry touches two electric wires to the corkscrew, causing it to backfire onto Butch.

The next scene shows the two cats attempt to kill the mouse with poison gas. Jerry walks out with a gas mask on; the two cats are puzzled, but are unable to figure out his identity. Jerry salutes and the cats salute as if to say "Good day!" Tom returns to pumping gas, but Butch has deduced the little creature must be Jerry. He slaps Tom and points to Jerry removing his mask, taunting the cats and running off. Both cats chase him one behind the other, but fall victim to Jerry placing an iron in their path such that Tom falls into Butch's mouth.

Jerry hides in another mousehole and the two cats resort to prying up the entire wall. Jerry has a hammer and slams Tom's foot, causing him to lose grip (and howling in pain) and Butch's fingers to be crushed (also screaming in pain). Jerry plays "Yankee Doodle" on the eight digits and Butch releases them. All six of the main fingers turn red, and his fingernails pop out, letting out steam, making a train whistle sound. Butch instructs Tom to keep quiet and hands him a sledgehammer while he sneaks in through a grate and chases Jerry through the walls of the house, doing significant damage. Jerry pops out of the hole and Tom swings as instructed, only to find Butch's head replaced it soon after. Butch pops out of the hole in the floor and a bump rises on his head such that his hat hangs on it.

Butch lights a bomb and the cats hide. Jerry sees it and throws it back. The cats and the mouse play Hot Potato with the bomb until Butch's hat falls off his head and it is mixed up. Jerry, instead of getting the bomb as intended, gets the hat, and Butch has the bomb on top of his head. Puzzled as to why Jerry is not planting the bomb on Butch again, the cats look up, and then the bomb explodes.

Jerry runs into one hole and comes out the other to find Butch on that side, then comes back out the other and finds Tom on that side. The two cats both grope and feel Jerry at the same time and grab for him just as the mouse jumps, leaving the two cats with hands held (though they are unaware of it). Both cats think they have Jerry and yank the other cat into the wall several times. Butch then pokes at Tom with a broom and Tom proceeds to pull Butch through the entire wall, demolishing it, all with the false impression that their hands are latched on to Jerry.

Tom slaps the pile of brick and rock with a board until he sees an opening. He digs through the pile and finds Butch's hat, with a corner missing. As Tom tries to find Jerry in the hat, Butch revives and replaces the hat as he draws himself up, incensed and he has had enough with Jerry. Tom makes an "oops!" face, but Butch marks out the "MOUSE" in "MOUSE EXTERMINATOR" on his bag and replaces it with "CAT". Tom spells the replaced word and slowly realizes the title is changed into a cat exterminator. As Tom ponders this, Butch pulls a gleaming,double-barrelled shotgun out of his bag and threatens Tom who runs away to the window and dives out it. Jerry rushes to the shattered window to watch as Butch runs after him and shoots him into the sunset, as the cartoon fades out.

Censorship

 * On some syndicated TV prints the scene where Butch accidentally misses Jerry and chops off Tom's tail with an axe was cut.

Voice cast

 * William Hanna as Tom's and Butch's yelping (uncredited)

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 4
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2, Disc One
 * Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, Disc Two