Largo al factotum della citta, largo!
The Cat Above and the Mouse Below is a 1964 cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, starring everyone's favorite cat and mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.Tom is a renowned baritone opera singer, labeled as "Signor Thomasino Catti-Cazzaza Baritone", who is set to perform "Largo al factotum" from The Barber of Seville. However, Jerry happens to reside below the stage where his feline rival performs and, being unable to sleep under these conditions, tries several ways to silence him.
Tropes:
- Absurdly-Long Limousine: Tom is escorted to the opera house in one.
- Beat: After Tom is knocked through the stage by a sandbag, the audience goes speechless for a few seconds before Jerry enters the stage to finish the song.
- Ceiling Banger: Jerry's first course of action at having his sleep disturbed is naturally this, with broom and all. At the end of the short, Tom ends up under the stage and does it too.
- Copycat Mockery: After firing a plunger into Tom's face with a bow as the cat is singing the "Figaro!" part, Jerry mockingly sings "Figaro!" before the cat traps him in the plunger and shoots it into a wall with the bow.
- The End: Seen on the closed curtains at the end of the cartoon.
- Gratuitous Italian: Since "Largo al factotum" is an Italian-language song, then yeah.
- Hand Signals: Tom silences the audience by raising his hand so he can start his performance.
- Ironic Echo: Jerry starts off trying to stop Tom from singing so he can go back to sleep; one of his attempts being knocking under the stage with a toothbrush. Then, Tom, after being knocked down by a sandbag, knocks under the stage with a broom to send a singing Jerry flying.
- An Odd Place to Sleep: Jerry sleeps below the stage, which proves to be a problem for him as Tom's singing keeps him awake.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: No prizes for guessing the song heard in the cartoon.
- Right Out of My Clothes:
- One of Jerry's efforts to silence Tom is to slam a floorboard the cat is standing on with a hammer, propelling him up into the air and leaving his tuxedo behind. He later lands back down in his tuxedo, albeit upside down.
- After Jerry ties up Tom's mouth with a rubber band, the latter retaliates by using the band as a slingshot to shoot a staple into the vent. The staple then catches Jerry and pins him against a wall, leaving his nightshirt behind.
- Something about a Rose: Before he goes into the stage, Tom takes the rose attached to his suit and tosses it at his cheering fans.
- Talking with Signs: While Tom starts singing at "Pronto a far tutto, la notte e il giorno", Jerry holds up a sign reading "PSST!" through the prompter's box to get Tom's attention. When Tom peeks into the vent, Jerry then ties his mouth shut with a rubber band.
