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 Katy O'Kitty, a female feline rookie, by reluctantly letting her ride with them, but their resentment over this assignment gets even worse by the fact that she's better at their job than they are like rescuing a kitten from a tree and saving Tom from a runaway skateboard but Tom jumps off the skateboard and he get an the sign causing the sign spin around. The Alley Cat Gang hears the police siren so they hide and slam the door shut before Katy, Tom and Jerry goes to the door but Tom tries to open the door but it is locked, so Katy O'Kitty tells The Alley Cat Gang to open the door and so they can talk to them so Tom and Jerry is about to knock down the door with a huge log. Tom and Jerry stop and see Katy karate chops the door. Finally, when she captures The Alley Cat Gang single-handedly with her powerful karate chops, the alley cat gang then surrender. This causes Tom and Jerry to be green with envy.
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, so he take out the coin from his pocket and goes to the vending machine and insert the coin and when he develops problems with the machine by shaking, kicking and banging the machine, Katy comes to the rescue with that ever-handy tool: a hair pin and out come the orange soda and she give the orange soda to chief. 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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