"New Tom & Jerry" Show #11 (11/15/75)

EPISODE 11

BROADCAST NUMBER:

TJGA-11

ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:

November 15, 1975

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!.

80-29"TWO STARS ARE BORN"

At Panic Studios, a cat and mouse movie star team (who bears a slight resemblance to another cat and mouse movie star team we know!) refuse to do the dangerous stunts in their new feature, Catman Meets Ding Dong, The Creature From Outer Space, as no stunts are stipulated in their contract, but T.J., the studio head, demands "Realism! The movie public wants to see it like it really is: action!!" So their agent Morris Williams recruits Tom and Jerry off the street to double for them in the roles of Catman & Reubin. They tolerate being sprung into the air onto an orange cart, and picked up in a Catcar by an actual outer-space creature hired by the studio to portray Ding Dong (no kidding!) and tossed asunder. But when they throw a Catrope to the roof of a building, and swing down to Ding Dong's stomach, the giant creature picks them up, carries them to the top of a skyscraper, captures a small airplane, puts Tom and Jerry into the pilot's seat, and sends the plane off like a toy glider. When Tom and Jerry realize they are free, they finally decide they have had enough and sail off in the plane, using the exhaust to write "We quit!" in the sky.
TRIVIA & NOTES:

The cat-and-mouse actors are voiced by Tom & Jerry voice John Stephenson and Don Messick, respectively.
Voiceover legend Daws Butler voices the agent, Morris Williams. Butler previously provided numerous voiceovers for the classic MGM Tom & Jerry cartoons in the late 1950s, including Jerry's mental voice in 1956's Blue Cat Blues. "Two Stars Are Born" aired on the eve of Butler's 59th birthday.
Morris' greeting, "Gladasaya!," is in reference to Phil Silvers' iconic Sergeant Ernie Bilko on The Phil Silvers Show (CBS, 1955-59).
"Catman & Reubin" is a lampoon of Bob Kane's Batman & Robin. A later episode, "The Supercape Caper" (80-42), will take a jibe at Superman.
"Ding Dong" is a variation of King Kong.
The name of the Panic Studio head, T.J., is an obvious reference to Tom & Jerry.

An unused segue involves T&J being sent over a cliff in The Catcar.

Here is another episode which involves a crimefighting cat-and-mouse duo; the first was #80-15, "Cosmic Cat And Meteor Mouse".
The Jerry look-alike mouse actor quips, "Academy Award, here we come!" This of course is a reference to the 7 Academy Awards that the classic MGM Tom and Jerry animated theatricals had won: for The Milky Waif (1940), Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet, Please! (1945), The Cat Concerto (1946), The Little Orphan (1948), The Two Mousketeers (1951) and Johann Mouse (1952).

80-39"SON OF GOPHER BROKE"

Another little gopher causes more harvest havoc for gardeners Tom & Jerry, as they go to work as groundskeepers for a rich old tycoon with their newest invention: a tractor which mows grass, trims hedges, waters flowers, and eliminates any and all garden pests, from gnats to gophers! T&J eventually flush him out and dispose of him in a nearby trash can and it appears they have gotten rid of him, but they soon learn differently when the gopher interrupts their soda break; he even goes so far as to invade the mansion and eat flowers from wallpaper and lampshades and shrubbery from a fish tank. When Tom & Jerry's attempt to trap the gopher has them literally up in the air, they chase him all over the lawn with their tractor, wearing a very visible groove through the grass as they go. T&J corner the gopher in his hutch and they proceed to fill it with cement, but the gopher gains the upper hand and covers them in concrete, and they ring for James the butler to chisel them free. By the time the tycoon returns with Miss Flashpot, a garden magazine reporter/photographer, the entire lawn is a complete disaster area, with the mansion falling apart, in the fallout from chasing the gopher. But Flashpot nevertheless takes a surprising liking to it, calling it "the perfect combination of formal and casual!", and snaps a photo of it. T&J attempt to get credit, but the gopher beats them to the draw, and is taken by Flashpot to a flower show in New York. T&J end by being neatly deposited into the trash can by James.
TRIVIA & NOTES:

A sequel to the original "Gopher Broke."
A lavender gopher pesters Tom & Jerry here, whereas a brown gopher wreaked havoc upon them in the prequel.
The original gopher consumed vegetables from T&J's garden; this one chows down on flowers.
Don Messick voices both gophers in both "Gopher Broke" installments.

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