The Missing Mouse

A white mouse has escaped from a laboratory having swallowed a very volatile explosive; when Jerry accidentally gets covered in shoe whitener, Tom mistakes his long-time adversary for the missing hazardous rodent—a fact that Jerry takes advantage of whenever possible!

For the most part, this is a fairly routine T&J cartoon that delivers predictable laughs, but there's one particular scene that qualifies this as absolutely unmissable for fans of the chaotic cat and mouse: Tom tries to stop a flat iron from landing on his face by blowing it back into the air with his mouth, the poor cat turning purple with the effort before the inevitable happens. Perfectly executed and absolutely hilarious, this easily ranks amongst my favourite T&J moments, making The Missing Mouse worth a rating of at least 7/10.

Man, I loved this episode since I was 5 years old. Now that I'm 17 and I'm watching it again for the first time, I must say I wanted the episode to be a little different. I mean, the whole plot is the funniest thing ever, but I think that would have been better if the missing mouse was Jerry. That would have been totally funnier and unexpected. I wish the episode started with Jerry in this laboratory eating all kind of explosives to prank Tom, and then he paints himself with so he can't recognize him. Then the radio warns everyone of the mouse, and Jerry starts having fun, knowing that Tom can't beat the hell out of him. After Jerry hurts Tom to its best, the scene moves to the fish bowl, where the radio says the missing mouse, aka Jerry, will not explode, so Tom grabs him, takes him to the window and then Jerry starts worrying, but it's too late because Tom's huge foot kicks him out and makes the entire city blow up in fireworks. That would have been totally funnier, and then when they come out with no energy, they say together 'don't you believe it!!' and the episode closes. That could have been one of the few times Tom wins over Jerry, but gets beaten up as well in the greatest explosions of this show.

Jerry is raiding the refrigerator. Tom spots him and gives him a bashing, big-time. Jerry runs for his hole but smashes into the wall knocking himself out cold. Tom goes into the other room to relax on an easy chair and read his girlie-magazine called "Wow!"

A can of white paint falls on Jerry and wakes him up. He's all white now. Tom is listening to the radio when the program is interrupted with a bulletin, "A white mouse has escaped from the experimental laboratory and has consumed enough of a new secret explosive to blow up an entire city! If you see this white mouse, telephone officials and remember, the slightest jar will explode the white mouse and destroy the entire city. Be careful...please...be very careful!"

Jerry overhears this excited announcement, looks at himself, and has devilish plans to tease and torment Tom. This is VERY funny material. However, things backfire later and Jerry accidentally falls in some water in the kitchen sink, turns back to brown and doesn't know it until after Tom gets a little revenge and then Jerry sees himself in a mirror.

Tom literally boots Jerry out of the house, but the real white mouse appears, of course, and sneaks inside and - yes - Tom thinks it's Jerry....until......

This was an outstanding episode full of good laughs.

In reply to the quote "I don't know whether Hanna/Barbera acknowledged this problem in this kids' film, but this is pretty shocking to me. Nobody really don't die in these films unless were talking about Itchy and Scratchy, and even if they do, we're shown how their souls leave their body and ascend/descend to heaven/hell in some amusing way, but at least they're back in the next film." Well, not exactly. In "The Two Mouseketeers", Tom actually gets BEHEADED in the finale! There was one other one that no one actually died but had some rather sinister implications. I can't recall the episode title but it was on the beach I think, and it was one with Jerry & (I think) that little yellow duck. At the end, Tom has them cornered under a beach umbrella & the final shot shows Tom covering Jerry & the "camera" (and hence, the audience's view) with the umbrella with some appropriately ominous-sounding music playing. It is left to our imagination as to what happens to Jerry & the duck by Tom.

I have been vocal before about how much I love Tom and Jerry, and this episode is no exception. The Missing Mouse is enormously entertaining, and for any Tom and Jerry fan it is what I feel a must-watch! The gags come by thick and fast, and there are lots of them. Either way, you are guaranteed a lot of laughs. The animation is beautiful, the music is excellent and seeing Tom's sly smile again is priceless. The ending is kind of sad though, but the explosion was fantastic audibly. The way Jerry outsmarts Tom here is a delight to see always and he does it here in a very entertaining way.

Overall, I think this is outstanding and definitely worth watching. 10/10 Bethany Cox