80-12
"WATCH OUT, WATCH DOG"
LOST EPISODE
Spike, a super-trained super-duper watchdog, is delivered by truck in a
crate and hired to mind a department store for the night. Thinking janitors
Tom & Jerry are prowlers, Spike begins a mad dash around the entire store
to catch them, through escalators, in photography booths, into waterbeds,
under hide-a-bed sofas, and in toy rooms. After a long stretch of chases, Spike
is worn out, winding up in a baby carriage; when his bosses arrive to open up
the store, Tom and Jerry help Spike by moving his arms and mimicking his voice
to make his bosses think he is still on the job. They succeed and Spike thanks
them for saving his job...but continues to chase them anyway! (Well, that's gratitude for ya...)
TRIVIA & NOTES:
- The key word which is used to activate Spike, "Gazzot!," is
derived from the September 15, 1973 episode of Yogi's Gang (ABC, 1973-75), "The Greedy Genie." The word "gazzot" previously appeared in Episode #80-15, "Cosmic Cat And Meteor Mouse," in
which CC&MM give Spike The Galaxy Gazzot.
- Tom and Jerry talk again!! Jerry says "Mama," and Tom
says "Papa." Tom also talks for Spike, saying "guard" five times.
- Also, Tom and Jerry make the sleeping Spike seem awake at
the end in order to save his job. The music played in the background here is the
same as the music in "Stay Awake, Or Else...," in the scene in which Jerry
starts to prepare Tom for looking like he is still awake.
- The scene of Tom, Jerry and Spike in the photo booth foreshadows T&J's harrowing experiences
in Episode #80-38, "Hold That Pose."
- Spike's ability to spin like a cyclone is based on that of The Tasmanian Devil of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies fame.
- "Watch Out, Watch Dog" recycles marching music first used in The Flintstones, Yogi Bear and
other early productions (Tom winds up and releases dozens of toy soldiers).
80-25"THE SUPER CYCLISTS"
Tom and Jerry compete in a torturous, treacherous, terrifying cross-country
motorcycle race; Travelin' Tom on his souped-up, 1200cc, double-overhead-cam
"Road Ruiner," and Jumpin' Jerry riding his supercharged, 25cc, top-fueled "Mini-Monster." As
usual, Tom is determined to win no matter what, and so he utilizes every
underhanded trick in the book to best Jerry. He drops a haystack on Jerry's
bike, and blocks the road with a billboard, but the sly cat is always undone by his own tricks. Convinced he is far ahead
of Gerald, Thomas sets an alarm clock and drops into his hammock to take a nap. Jer arrives and
decides to use this to his advantage; he pastes a sticker bearing his image onto Tom's rearview
mirror before taking off. Tom wakes up and reenters the race, fooled by the sticker of Jerry on
his mirror and unaware Jerry is miles ahead of him; when he uncovers Jerry's ruse, he crumples up the
sticker and digs out for all he's worth! When Tom sustains a flat, he stretches his inner tube across
Jerry's path, but is dragged, snapped back and entangled as a result. The pair finally make it to the finish line, where Tom
builds a brick wall in a last-ditch effort to stop Jerry and his Mini-Monster once and for all, but Jer drives right over it! A desperate Tom leaps off the
wall onto his Road Ruiner...and its front axle snaps under his weight! There is a photo finish, and Tom ties Jerry
at the finish line on foot carrying the cycle in both hands!
TRIVIA & NOTES:
- This is the last sports-themed New Tom & Jerry cartoon in which Tom & Jerry compete against each other.
- The loud horn on Jumpin' Jerry's Mini Monster emits the same sound heard from Wheelie's horn on Wheelie And
The Chopper Bunch (NBC, 1974-75).
- The scene from this cartoon of T&J in their motor gear
revving up on their choppers and speeding off can be seen in the opening
credits, with only one difference: the colors of Tom's helmet and gloves and Jerry's helmet! In the cartoon, Travellin' Tom's helmet is yellow and blue-green and his gloves blue-green, whereas in
the syndicated opening credits, he's wearing and orange-and-yellow helmet and orange gloves. Jumpin' Jerry's helmet is light-blue and light green in the
cartoon and his helmet is yellow and light-green the opening titles; in both and his gloves are yellow.
- There is a scene in which Travellin' Tom moves a billboard in Jumpin' Jerry's path, to give
Jerry the illusion of a real road in hopes that he will crash into the
billboard. Jerry rides his motorcycle into the billboard, the painted road
becoming a real road. This gag was pioneered by Friz Freleng, in Rabbit Transit (1947) with Bugs Bunny as the
victim. At least, it was the first cartoon to use the gag. It's possible it
could have originated from live action comedies in the 1920s and 1930s from
where Warner Bros. drew inspiration.
- This episode, with Tom stopping to eat and nap while letting Jerry get
ahead, is probably an allusion to The Tortoise And The Hare. The Hanna-Barbera-produced
1958 MGM Droopy short Mutts About Racing, from which "The Super Cyclists"
derives, makes use of similar gags.
- This is the only "sports" episode where Jerry attempts to avenge Tom with
a dirty trick of his own.
- Tom and Jerry talk again in this episode. Jerry says "Uh, oh!" Tom says
"Whoops!"
- Tom emits the same exasperative cry he did in Episode #80-13, "The Tennis Menace."
- The "Eat At Bill's" billboard Jerry hides behind is in reference to
co-Executive Producer William Hanna.
80-28"THE POLICE KITTEN"
Police officers Tom and Jerry are assigned to train officer Katy O'Kitty by
letting her ride in their squad car with them. The cat and mouse, convinced
that a lady officer will get in their way, are resentful of her interference.
To make matters worse, Katy manages to do their work better than they do,
rescuing a kitten from a tree, fixing a ruptured water main by shutting it off at the source, and saving Tom from a runaway skateboard. Finally, when
she captures The Alley Cat Gang single-handedly, Tom and Jerry's police chief
praises their work and Katy's report that they are "the greatest officers on
the force". The chief decides to celebrate with soda pop, and when he develops
problems with the machine, Katy comes to the rescue with that ever-handy tool:
a hair pin. The chief, Tom, Jerry and Katy O'Kitty end by sipping orange soda pop.
TRIVIA & NOTES:
- The number of Officers Tom & Jerry's squad car: 6 7/8.
- Kathy Gori voices Katy O'Kitty. Gori is best known for such Hanna-Barbera voice roles as Gidget Lawrence on the November 18, 1972
ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, Gidget Makes The Wrong Connection, Lori on Inch High,
Private Eye (NBC, 1973-74), Katie on Valley Of The Dinosaurs (CBS, 1974-76),
and the Fran Drescher-esque Rosemary the telephone operator on Hong Kong Phooey (ABC, 1974-76).
She also voiced Sarge on DePatie-Freleng's Bailey's Comets (CBS, 1973-75).
- This is the only New Tom & Jerry cartoon to "iris out" at the end, a time-honored technique of
the MGM T&J theatrical shorts of yore.
- Katy O'Kitty bears a resemblance to Tom's white female feline (whom he loses out) in the 1956 T&J short,
Blue Cat Blues, which was one of the rare
T&J theatricals which, like the 1975 T&J series, depicted the friendly enemies Tom & Jerry as pals.
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