Solid Serenade

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Solid Serenade
series = Tom and Jerry

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caption = The title card of "Solid Serenade".
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Ed Barge
Michael Lah
Kenneth Muse
Ray Patterson
Pete Burness
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = flagicon|US August 31, 1946
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7' 21"
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0038964
preceded_by = "Trap Happy"
followed_by = "Cat Fishin'"

"Solid Serenade" is a 1946 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 26th "Tom and Jerry" short, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on August 31 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley, and animation by Ed Barge, Michael Lah and Kenneth Muse.

Plot

The cartoon starts with a zoom into a house and to a doghouse labeled "KILLER" with a dog in it. Tom pokes his head over the wall and spots a female cat in the window. Tom brings along his double bass, then wakes up and ties up Killer. Tom uses his bass as a pogo stick to hop over to the window, stopping to taunt Killer along the way. Tom starts up "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" and gets her attention. As Jerry is woken up by Tom's music, which bounces everything in his room, the mouse gets his revenge by hurling a pie with an iron stuffed inside, then another pie into Tom's face as the song ends. So begins the chase. Tom ends up following Jerry in diving off an ironing board and ends up diving into a sink full of crockery, breaking all the dishes. Tom follows Jerry through the open window, but Jerry closes the window on Tom's neck, and then runs out and unties the bulldog, which starts a new chase. Killer swaps his small teeth for heavy-duty ones, blows steam out his ears with a train whistle sound, shakes his head with a bell sound, and goes after the cat. Tom ducks as Killer's teeth come at him; instead they get lodged in a tree trunk. Tom then barely avoids getting his tail bitten and hides behind a wall. Killer pokes his head over the wall when he sees a brick, but gets bopped on the head with it. Jerry hides and attempts to revive the dog, and finds a 2x6 one foot away. He slams Killer and when Tom spots him, plants it on the cat. Tom tricks the dog into believing the board is a bone by playing "fetch". Killer obliges and fetches, then almost licks the 2x6 when he realizes he's a "jackass" and chases Tom back and forth while his girl is watching. Tom stops periodically to snog the cat, but the third time, Killer substitutes himself. Tom thinks he's talking to the girl and woos Killer in a Charles Boyer voice until he sees the female cat and then drops Killer onto the rock landing. Tom then hides from Killer's rampage until Jerry walks around the corner. Jerry hides in Killer's house and Tom sneaks in with an evil Dracula laugh. Killer pokes his head out, helps Jerry out of his house and does the same. Tom is throttled, beaten and bruised (plus Tom writing a quick will), ending up tied to his bass by the whiskers and being strummed by the dog and plucked by Jerry.

Trivia

*Excerpts of this cartoon are also seen in "Jerry's Diary", "Smitten Kitten" and "Smarty Cat". As a result, Due to this, "Solid Serenade" is considered one of the most remembered "Tom and Jerry" cartoons.
*The song that Tom sings to his sweetheart is Louis Jordan's 1944 hit "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." The version of "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" used here is an up-tempo version of Louis Jordan's hit, with cello accompaniment. It is believed by many fans that the song was sung by producer Fred Quimby.
*When wooing his ladyfriend/Spike, Tom utilizes his Charles Boyer-esque "I love you. Now you set my soul on fire..." speech, which was lifted directly from the soundtrack of "The Zoot Cat".
*The female cat is not named in this cartoon, but in at least one other "Tom and Jerry" cartoon her name is given as Toodles.