History WesternAnimation / BlueCatBlues

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** The white cat [[LackOfEmpathy shows absolutely zero regard or remorse toward Tom sacrificing literally]] '' [[LackOfEmpathy everything]]'' [[LackOfEmpathy for her]], to the point where he ends up spending his entire life's savings and willingly selling himself into slavery. She doesn't even flinch when Tom is driven over by Butch's limousine. It doesn't even extend to when Tom is on the brink of ending his own life -- and likewise, suffers no remorse or consequences for driving him to it -- which is one of the reasons she ends up being such a loathsome HateSink.

* LackOfEmpathy: The white cat shows absolutely zero regard or remorse toward Tom sacrificing literally ''everything'' for her, to the point where he's spent his entire life's savings and willingly sold himself into slavery. She doesn't even flinch when Tom is ran over by Butch. It doesn't even extend to when Tom is on the brink of ending his own life and likewise suffers no consequences for it, which is one of the reasons she ends up being such a loathsome HateSink.

* MadLove: Tom does everything... and we mean '''everything'''... to win back the white cat. He spends everything he has and willingly sells himself off to slavery to win her over. The episode makes it clear that the white cat was never really interested in him, and he learns this the hard way when she marries a richer guy.

* WhamShot: When Jerry's girlfriend Toots drives by with another mouse [[TemptingFate after Jerry started talking about how his own girlfriend has seemingly remained faithful to him]]. Unlike Tom, though, Jerry knows better than to spend vastly to win her back. Tragically though, like Tom, Jerry knows he has no hopes of winning her heart, especially since Toots got married to the other mouse; and [[DrivenToSuicide decides to join Tom on the tracks]].

Because of this--along with the ''very'' heavy implications that the iconic duo ends up '''''committing suicide''''' at the end--this short (which did air a few times in the late 1980s into the 1990s, back when TBS and TNT aired animated shorts, older movies, and general audience programming) rarely, if ever, airs on television (American and otherwise). [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Good luck trying to find it]].

Also unusual for a T&J-short, is that while pretty much all other shorts for the series have a comical storyline and usually a happy ending (or at least a funny ending), this short is surprisingly sad and the only one to have a truly tragic ending.

* KickTheDog: When Jerry has just rescued Tom from drowning in the gutter and is in the process of resuscitating him, Tom wakes up... only for Butch's limousine to drive by the two at high speed and soak them with gutter water. [[WhamShot He and the veil-clad white cat]] can be seen in a luggage-laden car [[AllForNothing on the way to their honeymoon, with a "JUST MARRIED" sign on the back]]. This is what ultimately pushes Tom over the edge.
* LackOfEmpathy: The white cat shows absolutely zero regard or remorse toward Tom sacrificing literally ''everything'' for her, to the point where he's spent his entire life's savings and willingly sold himself into slavery. It doesn't even extend to when Tom is on the brink of ending his own life and likewise suffers no consequences for it, which is one of the reasons she ends up being such a loathsome HateSink.

* {{Leitmotif}}: A short, minor-key rendition of Felix Mendelssohn's ''Wedding March'' accompanies the two big {{Wham Shot}}s of the duo's respective girlfriends marrying other suitors and [[DespairEventHorizon driving them to despair]].

''Blue Cat Blues'' is an animated short released by Creator/{{MGM}} in 1956, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley, starring [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry the iconic duo of Tom and Jerry]].

* TemptingFate: As bad as Jerry feels for Tom, he at least takes comfort in the fact that ''his'' girlfriend would ''never'' leave him, right? [[InstantlyProvenWrong Unfortunately, that's not the case]], as she turns out to be just as much a gold digger as Tom's girlfriend, marrying another mouse instead of Jerry.

* DownerEnding: In the words of Website/{{Cracked}}: "Tom & Jerry Get Depressed, Kill Themselves."

* HateSink: The white cat is clearly written with the allegory of "Beware of {{Gold Digger}}s, because they will ruin your life", and even Jerry is aware she's bad news; thus, she is the HateSink of the short, not Butch, despite him one-upping Tom all the time. [[KarmaHoudini She got away with driving Tom to suicide.]]

* KickTheDog: When Jerry has just rescued Tom from drowning in the gutter and is in the process of resuscitating him, Tom wakes up... only for Butch's limousine to drive by the two at high speed and soak them with gutter water. [[WhamShot He and the veil-clad white cat]] can be seen in the car, [[AllForNothing with a "JUST MARRIED" sign on the back]].
* LoveMakesYouDumb: That said, part of the reason why the white cat is a KarmaHoudini is that love in this episode has made Tom incredibly dumb. [[MadLove Then crazy.]] And finally, [[DrivenToSuicide suicidal]].

* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: This is PlayedForDrama. Tom's the poor suitor to Butch's rich suitor for the affections of the white cat -- whose name has never been revealed, but is confirmed to ''not'' be Toodles Galore -- and because of his vast wealth, Butch is able to get the white cat much larger and more extravagant versions of the gifts that Tom sacrificed literally everything to obtain for her:

## When Tom presented her with a diamond ring (but one with a diamond so small that you needed a magnifying glass just to see it), the white cat revealed that Butch had already given her a diamond ring of his own, [[EnormousEngagementRing but one with a diamond so big and shiny that]] [[GlowingGem you couldn't even look at it without eye protection of some kind]] (in this case, Tom and the white cat wore welding masks to look at the ring).

* ThousandYardStare: This is Tom's default expression (complete with bloodshot and baggy eyes ) as he's sat silently on the railroad tracks, clearly well over the DespairEventHorizon and waiting for [[DrivenToSuicide the train to come]]. Jerry gains a similar expression upon finding out his own girlfriend, Toots, has married someone else behind his back, and ultimately joins his long-time FriendlyEnemy on the bridge.
* TooGruesomeForCartoonPhysics: Opens with Tom sitting on a railroad bridge, eyes bloodshot, and fur matted, for reasons unknown. Jerry then offers a WholeEpisodeFlashback explaining that Tom fell in love with a beautiful white cat that [[GoldDigger demanded expensive presents]], leading him to repeatedly borrow more and more money until he literally sold himself into slavery to appease her, only for the white cat to dump him for someone else. He's now at the end of his rope, and Jerry laughs that he'd never allow that to happen to him; and then immediately sees his ''own'' mouse girlfriend driving around with another guy. Jerry's appearance becomes just as haggard as Tom's, and he goes and sits next to the cat, with both [[ThousandYardStare staring wordlessly off into the horizon.]] And why are they sitting on the bridge? They've been ''DrivenToSuicide.'' The final moments of the short have a train's whistle gradually getting louder and louder... and then we cut to black. Talk about your DownerEnding.

* DrivenToSuicide: After their girlfriends leave them for wealthier men, it's very strongly implied that Tom and Jerry end up dying through suicide-by-train at the end of the short.

* ComicallyLopsidedRivalry: Replacing "Comically" with "[[PlayedForDrama Dramatically]]" -- Tom completely loses everything trying to obtain things that Butch can top a million-fold in the blink of an eye and decides to kill himself once it's clear it was AllForNothing.

* FriendVersusLover: In the beginning, the cat and mouse were friends (sharing a glass of lemonade together and Tom allowing Jerry to have more after accidentally sucking him into his mouth), that is until Tom falls madly in love with the white cat and ignores Jerry throughout the cartoon. Even when Tom has given up hope trying to win over the white cat, he still pushes Jerry away despite his pleas and his saving him from his suicide attempt.

** The white cat that Tom falls in love with turns out to be this, blithely leaving Tom for the obscenely wealthy Butch.

* HateSink: The white cat is clearly written with the allegory of 'beware of {{Gold Digger}}s because they will ruin your life', and even Jerry is aware she's bad news, thus she is the HateSink of the short, not Butch, despite him one-upping Tom all the time. [[KarmaHoudini Also, she got away with ruining Tom's life.]]
* HowWeGotHere: The cartoon opens with an utterly miserable Tom sitting on train tracks waiting for a train to come and end his life for him. Jerry, feeling bad for his FriendlyEnemy, explains how Tom became the wreck he is now...

* PerpetualExpression: The female cat has a completely still face the entire short.
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Tom's the poor suitor to Butch's rich suitor for the affections of the white cat (whose name has never been revealed but is confirmed to ''not'' be Toodles Galore). And because of his vast wealth, Butch is able to get the white cat much larger and more extravagant versions of the gifts that Tom got her:
## While Tom gave her a single purple flower, Butch gave her a large (as in ''as big as her'') pink-and-red floral wreath with "Love From Butch" written on it in yellow.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Jerry very clearly feels bad for the sorry state his old FriendlyEnemy is left in.

* TooGruesomeForCartoonPhysics: Opens with Tom sitting on a railroad bridge, eyes bloodshot, and fur matted, for reasons unknown. Jerry then offers a WholeEpisodeFlashback explaining that Tom fell in love with a beautiful white cat that [[GoldDigger demanded expensive presents]], leading him to repeatedly borrow more and more money until he literally sold himself into slavery to appease her, only for the white cat to dump him for someone else. He's now at the end of his rope, and Jerry laughs that he'd never allow that to happen to him--and then immediately sees his ''own'' mouse girlfriend driving around with another guy. Jerry's appearance becomes just as haggard as Tom's, and he goes and sits next to the cat, with both [[ThousandYardStare staring wordlessly off into the horizon.]] And why are they sitting on the bridge? They've been ''DrivenToSuicide.'' The final moments of the short have a train's whistle gradually getting louder and louder...and then we cut to black. Talk about your DownerEnding.
* WhamShot: When Jerry's girlfriend Toots drives by with another mouse [[TemptingFate after Jerry started talking about how his own girlfriend has seemingly remained faithful to him]]. Unlike Tom, though, Jerry knows better than to spend vastly to win her back -- but sadly, like Tom, Jerry knows he has no hopes of winning her heart, especially since Toots got married to the other mouse, and decides to commit suicide.

* ComicallyLopsidedRivalry: Replacing "Comically" with "Dramatically" -- Tom completely loses everything trying to obtain things that Butch can top a million-fold in the blink of an eye and decides to kill himself once it's clear it was AllForNothing.

* DrowningMySorrows [[DrunkOnMilk in Milk]]: This is what Tom does after the white cat ultimately chooses Butch over him.

* GoldDigger: The white cat that Tom falls in love with turns out to be this, blithely leaving Tom for the obscenely wealthy Butch. Most fans view Jerry’s girlfriend Toots (who looks like the mouse version of the white cat) as this as well, but it’s implied that if Toots was this, she was more subtle about it since the revelation came as a shock to Jerry or at least because Jerry didn't know he had competition until he saw that Toots got married.
* HateSink: The white cat is clearly written with the allegory of 'beware of [[GoldDigger Gold Diggers]] because they will ruin your life', and even Jerry is aware she's bad news, thus she is the HateSink of the short, not Butch, despite him one-upping Tom all the time. (Toots's situation was not shown or had too little screen time or narrative weight to count). [[KarmaHoudini Also, she got away with ruining Tom's life.]]

* MadLove: Tom does everything ... and we mean '''everything''' ... to win back the white cat. He spends everything he has and willingly sells himself off to slavery to win her over. The episode makes it clear that the white cat was never really interested in him, and he learns this the hard way when she marries a richer guy.
* MoodWhiplash: The already melancholy story takes a really dark twist when Jerry discovers his gal has been cheating on him too. In a meta-sense, watching this short alongside pretty much any other short in the Tom & Jerry canon can provoke this in spades.
* OddballInTheSeries: Jerry narrates the short through a PrivateEyeMonologue (though neither he nor Tom are shown physically speaking). There's also little slapstick to be found, and the plot's ''opening premise'' is that Tom and Jerry have always been friends; Tom doesn't chase Jerry ''once!''

* TemptingFate: As bad as Jerry feels for Tom, he at least takes comfort in the fact that ''his'' girlfriend would ''never'' leave him, right? '''''[[InstantlyProvenWrong WRONG!]]''''' She turns out to be just as much a gold digger as Tom's girlfriend, marrying another mouse instead of Jerry.

* FriendVersusLover: In the beginning, the cat and mouse were friends (sharing a glass of lemonade together and Tom allowing Jerry to have more after accidentally sucking him into his mouth as an apology), that is until Tom falls madly in love with the white cat and ignores Jerry throughout the cartoon. Even when Tom has given up hope trying to win over the white cat, he still pushes Jerry away despite his pleas and his saving him from his suicide attempt.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: That said, part of the reason why the white cat is a KarmaHoudini is that love makes Tom incredibly dumb. [[MadLove And crazy.]] And eventually [[DrivenToSuicide suicidal]].

* TemptingFate: As bad as Jerry feels for Tom, he at least takes comfort in the fact that ''his'' girlfriend would ''never'' leave him, right?

* WhamShot: When Jerry's girlfriend Toots drives by with another mouse [[TemptingFate after Jerry started talking about how his own girlfriend has seemingly remained faithful to him]]. Unlike Tom, though, Jerry knows better than to spend vastly to win her back -- but sadly, like Tom, Jerry knows he has no hopes of winning her heart and decides to commit suicide.