On this day, March 13, 1947, the 1946 Academy Award for "Best Short Subject - Cartoons" went to "The Cat Concerto."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The cartoon was first shown in 1946, and the awards ceremony occurred in the following spring, in 1947.

The Cat Concerto


Original theatrical poster

Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Story by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Produced by: Fred Quimby
Music by: Scott Bradley
Animation by: Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Don Patterson
Layouts by: Robert Gentle
Backgrounds by: Robert Gentle
Color process: Technicolor
Production company: MGM Cartoons
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date: April 26, 1947
Running time: 7:32

The Cat Concerto is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and the 29th Tom and Jerry short, released to theatres on April 26, 1947. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley, and animation by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence and uncredited animation by Don Patterson.

Plot

At a formal concert, Tom, dressed in a white tie, plays Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" on the piano. Jerry, who lives inside the piano, disrupts Tom's performance by mock-conducting him. Tom tries to flick Jerry away but continues playing. Jerry emerges from under a piano key, and Tom tries to hit him with the key and smash him unsuccessfully. Jerry manipulates the piano's keys from inside, irritating Tom, who hits him with a tuning tool. In retaliation, Jerry slams the keyboard lid on Tom's fingers and tries to cut his finger with scissors. After several failed attempts, Jerry sets a mousetrap, catching Tom's finger.

Tom climbs onto the piano to chase Jerry, playing with his feet. Jerry dances on the felts, briefly changing the tune. Tom bounces Jerry with a chord, eventually catching him and throwing him into the piano stool. Jerry manipulates the seat controls, sending Tom crashing onto the keys. Tom, fed up, stuffs Jerry into the piano felts and goes wild on the piano. The felts bash Jerry around, but he emerges angry and retaliates by playing the rhapsody's finale with felts as drumsticks, causing Tom to collapse in exhaustion. The audience applauds, and Jerry takes credit for the performance as a spotlight shines on him.

Reception

Following its release, The Cat Concerto was met with critical acclaim, and is considered one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons. With an early showing in 1946 it qualified for and won the 1946 Oscar for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. In 1994, it was voted #42 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

The short won the duo their fourth consecutive Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, tied with Walt Disney Productions' musical series, the Silly Symphonies. The short also appears in Empire magazine's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list as the number 434.

Film critic The Chiel of Australian newspaper The Age declared The Cat Concerto to be the best film of 1947, above Odd Man Out and Brief Encounter, stating that "in conception and animation I think that short reaches the highest level of screen fantasy and humor."

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Warner Brothers has a five-minute excerpt of the seven-and-a-half-minute cartoon at YouTube. There might be longer clips, but they are not authorized.

This is a gem.

Tom & Jerry | Concert Madness | Classic Cartoon | WB Kids

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Just because you are a pianist performing in front of a huge crowd, doesn't mean you can't be cheeky to the mouse who lives in the piano!

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Here's a split-screen version. It's full-length, but it probably runs afoul of the Warner Brothers copyright. It might get yanked.

Tom and Jerry "The Cat Concerto" - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 - Franz Liszt - piano - CANACANA

CANACANA family
1.53M subscribers

3,955,048 views Premiered Aug 4, 2019
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Over 400,000 subscribers! Thank you very much.
The other day I had a chance to go to a hall of 16,000 people, 25 times more than the people here ..? (*.*)Huh? And I felt happy.
I playedTom and Jerry "The Cat Concerto" that I wanted to do all the time! I think many people know it.
I watched this many times when I was young. I thought piano is such an interesting instrument!? I want to play too! !
Thanks to my brother for making this video. My son support me ♡
I hope you will see it to many people.
And we will deliver music to all of you from now on, thank you very much!
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Wed Mar 13, 2024: On this day, March 13, 1947, the 1946 Academy Award for "Best Short Subject - Cartoons" went to "The Cat Concerto."