History WesternAnimation / HeavenlyPuss

After getting squashed by a piano while chasing Jerry, Tom finds himself ascending to Heaven. Unfortunately, due to his record of tormenting Jerry his entire life, the Gatekeepr can't let him pass. With only an hour before the Heavenly Express leaves, Tom must get Jerry's signature on a Certificate of Forgiveness in order to get access, otherwise he'll be condemned to eternal torment at the paws of a devilish dog.

* AllJustADream: As mentioned above, Tom is not really dead, he was just asleep and dreamt the whole thing.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: A subtle example — throughout the short, Jerry refuses to sign the Certificate of Forgiveness, at one point even tearing it to pieces seemingly out of spite. The minute he sees [[DraggedOffToHell the fate that awaits Tom if he doesn't forgive him]], however, he signs it without hesitation (though by then it's too late).

* ThePearlyGates: The Heavenly Express has the motif of the pearly gates, but rather than being the actual gate to Heaven, it's simply a train station for the train to Heaven.

* YouAreTooLate: Tom manages to get Jerry to sign the Certificate of Forgiveness, but by then the hour was up, the Heavenly Express was pulling out, and when Tom tried to race up the escalator, it disappeared and a pit to FireAndBrimstoneHell opened up in its place.

* JacobMarleyApparel: When we see cat heaven, there are several cats queuing for enter, starting with one who lost a fight to a dog and still had all his bandages (and even the dog teeth on his tail), one with a CranialEruption from being hit in the head, and one completely flat due to ben run over by a train.

''Heavenly Puss'' is a 1949 ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon directed by Creator/HannaBarbera.

[[Justforfun/TheOneWith The one that]] traumatized many children.

* TheFinalTemptation: When Tom tries to attack Jerry after the latter tears up the certificate of forgiveness, the Devil appears behind them and tempts Tom to finish the job.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The gatekeeper. Even though Tom's name is not in the book of life due to his years of sadistically persecuting Jerry, instead of immediately sending him to eternal damnation like you'd expect, he agrees to let Tom on board the Heavenly Express if he can get Jerry to sign a "certificate of forgiveness" before the train leaves for Cat-Heaven in one hour. Given how Heaven is usually depicted as not offering a chance for redemption once you're dead, Tom ''really'' lucked out with this gatekeeper ... too bad he still can't get the signature in time.

[[Justforfun/TheOnewith The one that]] traumatized many children.

The one that traumatized many children.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The gatekeeper. Even though Tom's name is not in the book of life due to his years of sadistically persecuting Jerry, instead of immediately sending him to eternal damnation like you'd expect, he agrees to let Tom on board the Heavenly Express if he can get Jerry to sign a "certificate of forgiveness" before the train leaves for Cat-Heaven in one hour. Given how Heaven is usually doesn't offer a chance for redemption once you're dead, Tom ''really'' lucked out with this gatekeeper ... too bad he still can't get the signature in time.

** At the end, a relieved Tom embraces Jerry and kisses him. Jerry looks at the camera and gives the audience a shrug for the IrisOut.

* AllJustADream: Tom is not really dead, he was just asleep and dreamt the whole thing.

* DrowningUnwantedPets: There's a shot where a soggy bag begins bouncing and Fluff, Muff, and Puff ([[EarlyBidCameo who would later appear in]] ''[[EarlyBidCameo Triplet Trouble]]'') emerge from the bag. That's one [[ParentalBonus today's kids wouldn't figure out]]. [[note]]In former times, especially on farms, they would; it was often a child's job to drown unwanted kittens.[[/note]]