80-22
"BEANSTALK BUDDIES"
In their abandoned, run-down, boarded-up, ramshackle domicile, all
poverty-stricken Tom & Jerry can find to eat is one measly green bean,
which they decide to divide between them. But as Tom attempts to cut it in
half, it slips from the plate and falls into a crack under the floor. T&J
give up and get some shut-eye. As they sleep, the bean, which proves to be
magic, sprouts into a beanstalk, which carries T&J and the bed in which
they sleep up into the sky. The duo wake up and find a castle; figuring there
has to be some kind of sustenance, they make a mad dash for and break into the
castle. There they discover a giant, who presides over his food, his dog
Houndmutt, his riches, a goose that lays golden eggs, and a golden harp. With
a "Fee-Fie-Fo...er, Fum!", the giant sics Houndmutt on the miniscule Tom &
Jerry, and the three give chase all over the castle. After a while, the big
dog eventually defects to Tom & Jerry's side, and, with the aid of the
golden harp, they all fly out of the castle away from the giant. Once back at
T&J's place, the harp conjures up a big 7-course meal for T&J!
TRIVIA & NOTES:
As the camera pans from T&J sleeping in the bed past
the table to the crack in the floor, notice a huge ax embedded in the table,
cracking the plate in half. Undoubtedly the original script for "Beanstalk
Buddies" called for Tom to use an ax to split the bean in half, but was
scrapped at the last minute in fear of ABC Broadcast Standards and
Practices, who would fear it would be too simple for juveniles to imitate!
As the beanstalk sprouts and carries T&J up into the sky, a cue from
the movie The Man
Called Flintstone (Columbia, 1966) can be heard. It was previously used briefly in #80-34, "The Egg And Tom And Jerry".
Tom & Jerry display their ability to walk up objects instead of climbing
them. This is repeated in #80-38, "Hold That Pose," and #80-43, "Planet Of
The Dogs."
The giant (voiced by Henry Corden) speaks in a voice which sounds like
Charles Nelson Reilly, star of Filmation's short-lived
Uncle Croc's Block, which debuted on the same ABC Saturday Morning schedule as The New Tom
& Jerry/Grape Ape Show in 1975. Len Weinrib provided similar vocalizations in Episode #80-10, "Robin Ho Ho," as Little John. (Weinrib also did double duty voicing characters on a segment
of Uncle Croc's Block, Fraidy Cat.)
Tom & Jerry speak in this cartoon; both utter the word "WOW!"
The physical features of the giant in "Beanstalk Buddies" are patterned
loosely after those of the giant which appeared in
the February 26, 1967 NBC-TV live-action/animation musical special Jack
And The Beanstalk, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera and starred the late Gene Kelly. (Incidentally, Kelly
and Jerry Mouse previously shared the screen in 1945's Anchors Aweigh in a dance sequence together; Tom Cat had a brief cameo appearance.) These features would, to some extent,
be also used for the giant in the November 24, 1992 episode of Tom & Jerry Kids (FOX, 1990-93), "Jerry And The Beanstalk" (prod. #164-9125), written by Barry Blitzer.
The giant's irascible inability to remember the simple words "Fee-Fie-Fo...er, Fum!" was probably inspired by that of Willie The Giant, the antagonist in
Mickey And The Beanstalk,
first seen as part of Walt Disney's 1947 RKO film Fun And Fancy Free!.
