Line #27 WesternAnimation/MouseTrouble


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0611.JPG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:No sense in half-measures. And we do mean "[[ExplosiveStupidity no sense]]".]]
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4	''Mouse Trouble'' is a 1944 cartoon directed by [[Creator/HannaBarbera William Hanna and Joseph Barbera]], starring Franchise/TomAndJerry.
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6	Tom has sent away for a how-to book: "How to Catch a Mouse". Upon receiving it, he attempts to put the book's lessons into practice, but in typical Tom and Jerry style, each fails. For example, when the book tells Tom to set a snare trap for Jerry, he does so, only for Jerry to use the snare trap on Tom instead. Finally, Tom gives up and tries a blunt solution: loads of dynamite, with an unfortunate outcome.
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8	----
9	!!Tropes:
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11	* AgitatedItemStomping: After his penultimate plan backfires, Tom gets fed up with the "How to Catch a Mouse" book and tears it to pieces before jumping up and down on the remains.
12	* BearTrap: One of the many methods used by Tom to try and catch Jerry. Jerry simply takes it out of his mouse hole and puts it under Tom's backside just as he's about to sit down. Cue screaming, a PainPoweredLeap, and Tom ''still giving muffled screams'' with his head stuck in the ceiling.
13	* CaughtInASnare: Per the book's advice Tom sets out a snare trap baited with cheese. Jerry switches out the cheese bait for a bowl of cream, [[TooDumbToLive which Tom promptly runs to]].
14	* CloseCallHaircut: A shotgun blast shaves all the hair off the top of Tom's head.
15	* CorneredRattlesnake: Once Tom has Jerry backed into a corner, he reads that "A cornered mouse NEVER fights." One BattleDiscretionShot later, the book is proven very wrong.
16	* CurbStompBattle: [[PintSizedPowerhouse Jerry pwns Tom]] after the latter corners him.
17	* DodgyToupee: After getting a bald spot thanks to a shotgun, Tom wears a ridiculous red toupee for the rest of the cartoon.
18	* EyeScream: Tom gets punched in the eye by Jerry at one point.
19	* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't see what Tom looks like after Jerry perforated and slices up the box. Given how heavily bandaged Tom is when he is next seen, maybe it's just as well.
20	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Every tactic Tom tries in the book is turned around by Jerry.
21	** He tries to use a mouse trap, but it just... doesn't... work. A bewildered Tom tests the mouse trap with his own finger, and ''then'' it works.
22	** He tries a snare trap, but... see CaughtInASnare above.
23	** He tries to let Jerry's curiosity get the better of him by pretending to laugh at the book. Jerry tries to look at the book, and [[ThrowTheBookAtThem Tom slams him inside it]]. [[ATasteOfHisOwnMedicine Jerry then pretends to do exactly what Tom was doing]], and [[EyeScream punches him in the eye]].
24	** Immediately after this, Jerry runs into a corner, panting. Tom pulls out the book again, and read that "A cornered mouse never fights." He then attacks Jerry... but Jerry beats the crap out of him.
25	--->'''Tom:''' ''(peeking around the wall with a severely beat up face)'' Don't you believe it!
26	** He tries to shoot Jerry with a shotgun... but shoots himself in the head, blowing his fur off.
27	** He sticks a bear trap into Jerry's mouse hole ([[CartoonPhysics don't ask how it fits in the hole]]), but Jerry pushes it out through ''another'' mouse hole behind Tom. Tom then sits down... on the bear trap. Cue the PainPoweredLeap.
28	** He tries to nail Jerry with a hammer, but Jerry takes the hammer and knocks ''him'' out with it.
29	** Tom "gives a gift" to Jerry (read: he sits in a gift box and waits for Jerry to open it). Unfortunately for him, Jerry doesn't open the box through conventional means... he puts several pins through it as Tom groans in pain, and then saws it in half. Only then does Jerry bother to look inside and sees who's in there, [[TooGruesomeForCartoonPhysics to his horror]].
30	** Tom activates a mouse toy to distract Jerry, but Tom ends up eating it. However, it still works... so Tom starts repeatedly hiccupping, followed by the toy saying "Come up and see me some time!" After this, [[VillainousBreakdown Tom becomes absolutely enraged, and tears the book to shreds]].
31	** His [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill final attempt at killing Jerry]] is to put a ton of explosives all around Jerry's hole, but he has trouble lighting the fuse. When he finally does activate the fuse, all the explosives blow up instantly, killing him, and leaving nothing of the house except for Jerry and his mouse hole.
32	* HollywoodHealing: Averted. The scalp injury from the shotgun incident remains for the rest of the cartoon. Played straight with the injuries from being stabbed and sawed inside the box, which heal after a couple of scenes.
33	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Jerry stabs the gift box Tom hides in with large hat pins, with Tom doing pained grunts and noises each time. Then, Jerry [[SawAWomanInHalf saws the box in half]] for good measure.
34	* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: Jerry holds up a sign saying precisely this after poking the box containing Tom with a bunch of pins and then sawing the box in half.
35	* {{iSophagus}}: Tom accidentally swallows the wind-up mouse. He winds up [[HiccupHijinks hiccuping]] "Come up and see me sometime" for the rest of the cartoon, even after the explosion at the end reduces him to an angel floating to Heaven.
36	* MouseTrap: A series staple, you can bet that Tom attempts to get Jerry with a mouse trap. And as you might expect, it doesn't react to Jerry struggling with it for a good half minute, but immediately triggers when exposed to Tom's finger.
37	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The robotic mouse that says "Come up and see me some time!" is based on Creator/MaeWest.
38	* PaperDestructionOfAnger: After all of the book's suggestions fail, Tom angrily tears it to bits.
39	* PintSizedPowerhouse: PlayedForLaughs. With Jerry cornered, Tom consults his book and reads that "a cornered mouse NEVER fights". Tom thought he had the upper hand, only to get beat up by the mouse anyway, albeit offscreen.
40	* ShoutOut:
41	** One lost in the mist of antiquity for any viewer in later years -- but the scene where a battered Tom looks to the camera and says "Don't you believe it" is a direct audio sampling from a contemporary radio show, ''Don't You Believe It''.
42	** The curvaceous "Come up and see me sometime" wind-up mouse is obviously a shout-out to Creator/MaeWest.
43	* StandardSnippet: A majority of the score quotes the song "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" from the Creator/MarxBrothers film ''Film/ADayAtTheRaces1937''.
44	* SuddenlySpeaking: PlayedForLaughs. After getting thoroughly trashed by [[PintSizedPowerhouse Jerry]], Tom turns to the camera and eerily drones, "Don't you believe it!"
45	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Tom's final attempt to kill Jerry is to place dozens of explosives around his mouse hole, enough to blow up the whole house. Which it does... except for the hole, leaving Jerry unhurt while Tom goes to kitty heaven.
46	* ThrowTheBookAtThem: A couple times, though it's PlayedForLaughs when Jerry slams Tom's nose in his book, an AmusingInjury.
47	* TooGruesomeForCartoonPhysics: Tom hides in a gift box in order to ambush Jerry. However, the mouse grows suspicious of the mysterious present and decides to impale it with several giant pins (with Tom trying his absolute darnedest to keep quiet), before sawing it in half. Finally giving in to his curiosity, Jerry peeks inside the package, but quickly pulls his head out with a horrified expression, gulps in shock, and holds out a sign reading "Is there a doctor in the house?", as the scene fades to black. The next scene shows Tom with an open first-aid kit, and wearing several bandages, with one even wrapped around his torso.
48	* TheToothHurts: After accidentally chewing up the wind-up mouse, Tom ends up breaking most of his teeth.
49	* TreeBuchet: The snare Tom makes for Jerry is tied to a tree outside. When he gets caught in the snare, Tom is bounced back and forth like a paddleball.
50	* VillainousBreakdown: Particularly when Tom [[{{Pun}} wigs out]] after his penultimate attempt to catch Jerry fails, complete with AgitatedItemStomping.
51	* WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath: One of only a couple of Tom and Jerry cartoons where Tom actually dies. Tom's soul is on its way to heaven on a [[FluffyCloudHeaven fluffy cloud]] at the end of the cartoon, after he blows up the house.

Context WesternAnimation / MouseTrouble