Pecos Pest is a 1955 Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon. It is noted for being the last T&J short in the Academy format until the Gene Deitch era.
The cartoon begins with Jerry receiving a telegram from his Uncle Pecos, who's dropping in on his way to a big appearance on television. Upon arriving, Pecos plays for Jerry his rendition of "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" (with his speech impediment popping up at every turn). Unfortunately, during his session, his guitar string breaks, and with no spares around, he sets his sights on a viable replacement: one of Tom's whiskers, which he painfully yanks out of the poor cat's face. Even worse, as Pecos continues to rehearse, his guitar string continuously breaks, leading to Tom losing more whiskers each time. Finally, when Pecos leaves for his television appearance, Tom is left with only one whisker remaining...but not for long.
Tropes appearing in this cartoon:
- Determinator: Nothing will stop Uncle Pecos from getting his guitar string. He'll even take a full-sized axe to a door!
- The Door Slams You: Tom tries to hide from Pecos by taking shelter behind a wall. Unfortunately, he's right beside the basement door when Pecos comes back up.
- Expy: As mentioned below, Pecos is essentially a slightly-exaggerated mouse version of Shug Fisher's stage persona, complete with his "tooth rattle" stutter.
- Furniture Blockade: After Pecos falls through a heating grate and breaks his guitar string again, Tom quickly piles furniture over the grate so Pecos can't come back up. Unfortunately, Pecos just comes up through the basement door.
- No Antagonist: This is one of the very few cartoons where Tom and Jerry don't antagonize each other: Jerry is only trying to keep his uncle out of trouble while Tom is trying to guard his whiskers from Pecos. The pair are even seen watching television together in the final scene (Tom doing it begrudgingly since Pecos plucked all but one of his whiskers).
- No Sympathy: Jerry seems indifferent to Tom's plight of losing whiskers, being more focused on keeping his uncle out of danger. Even when Tom had only one whisker left, Jerry was focused on watching his uncle on television.
- Porky Pig Pronunciation: Pecos' stutter trips him up when singing "Froggy Went A-Courtin'". "There's that hard part again." Shug Fisher, the
Celebrity Voice Actor who performed Uncle Pecos (member of the Sons of the Patriots and the actor for Shorty Kellems on The Beverly Hillbillies) actually had the distinctive "tooth-rattle" stutter that would slip up every once in a while. "Froggy Went a Courtin'" just exaggerates it. - Running Gag: Pecos breaking his guitar strings and replacing it with one of Tom's whiskers.
- Television Portal: The closing gag. Tom and Jerry watch Uncle Pecos perform on TV when Pecos' guitar string breaks. Tom laughs at him because Pecos can't get at his whiskers now... and that's when Pecos reaches through the screen and plucks out Tom's last remaining whisker.
