Fit to Be Tied (1952 film)

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Fit to Be Tied
series = Tom and Jerry


caption = The title card of "Fit to Be Tied"
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Kenneth Muse
Irven Spence
Ray Patterson
Ed Barge
voice_actor = Daws Butler as Spike (uncredited)
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = July 26, 1952
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 6 minutes 49 seconds
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0044620
preceded_by = Little Runaway
followed_by = Push-Button Kitty

"Fit to Be Tied" is a 1952 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 69th "Tom and Jerry" short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby.

Plot

Jerry removes a pin from one of Spike's paws, and as a reward, Spike becomes Jerry's protector, providing him with a bell to ring whenever he is in trouble. Jerry walks away, pleased with himself. Tom spots him and hides until Jerry walks around the corner. Curious as to what the bell could be for, Tom picks it up and rings it. Spike drops right on top of him and throws him onto the concrete twice, then picks him up onto his back. Spike tells Tom "I learned this one...on television!" and proceeds to twist around and throw Tom down one last time, causing Tom to splinter and reform himself. Spike returns the bell to Jerry and skips away, but not without being seen by Tom. Tom traps Jerry under a flowerpot, but Jerry pokes his hand out of the hole and rings the bell. Spike's fist extends 100 feet out and knocks Tom into a gumball machine.

Tom has now become Jerry's "slave" around the house, under pain of being beat up again by Spike. Tom sets out five trays of cheese, and while the mouse sniffs one, Tom attempts to filch the bell. Jerry thwarts him and eats a big wedge of cheese, causing himself to expand. Tom reads the paper and is delighted to notice the following headline:

LEASH LAW PASSED:

"Public safety puts dogs on leash."

Below: "It shouldn't happen to a dog....say dogs."

Tom jaunts outside with the paper and 'tsk's at the dog while pulling at his leash. Tom straightens the leash, draws a line in the grass, and slaps the dog with the paper. Spike attempts to bite at Tom repeatedly, but the leash stops him just a bit away. Tom plays with the dog, pieing him, smashing him between cymbals, and punching him with a boxing glove. Finally, he uses Spike's teeth to fashion a baseball bat out of a log and knocks out the dog with it. Tom then uses it as a pool cue to shoot Spike back into his doghouse.

Tom returns, ecstatic, to Jerry and bops him on the head. Jerry rings the bell to no avail. Tom slaps him again and offers the mouse four other bells. When these fail to work, Jerry realizes that the system no longer works, and flees with his small bell. Tom corners him and beats him silly, such than Jerry has swallowed the bell, causing himself to ring as he walks. Jerry runs to Spike's doghouse and rings himself, pleading for help. Spike, with sad eyes, presents his leash. Tom takes a break from chasing Jerry to tantalize Spike again. This time, he causes Spike to bite on a lead pipe, knocking all his teeth out. Tom sweeps them back up and returns them. Spike angrily rubs out the line, draws a new one in a reachable area, and plops back down innocently. Tom chases Jerry both ways and stops to torment Spike again. Because the line was changed, Spike is able to leap onto Tom. Tom pulls away, loses his coat of fur, then steals it back and beats it to a croquet field. Jerry goes the same way, but is pelted by Tom's mallet. The bell is expelled from his stomach and Tom catches both the mouse and the bell.

Tom has now turned the tables on Jerry. He uses the bell as his signal to do his work. Jerry brings Tom's tray of food to him and falls under its weight. Jerry looks at the news for the day as Tom gobbles a turkey leg:

LEASH LAW LIFTED:

"Happy hounds hail freedom."

Ecstatic, Jerry hits Tom with the newspaper, causing Tom's turkey to be lodged in his throat. Before Tom can capture him, Jerry rings his bell. No response...yet. As Tom rings the bell and bops Jerry alternately, Spike, carrying a newspaper himself, sneaks behind Tom and slams him over the head. Tom, clueless, rings the bell and is slapped again. Tom then rings a third time and makes sure to duck. He barely has a chance to turn around and see Spike before he is slapped a third time and throws back. Spike returns the bell to Jerry before leaping on Tom with a vengeance.

In the end, Jerry and Spike are strolling down the street, with Tom in a leash and collar. Jerry rings the bell and Spike kicks Tom in a neverending sequence. The cartoon irises out after a few cycles.

Trivia

*A short scene of this cartoon is revisited in 1954's "Smarty Cat" when Tom and his pals watch movie reels of Tom's old adventures.
*This was the first "Tom and Jerry" cartoon to be shown on Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom in 1995.