Mouse into Space
Mouse into Space is a Tom and Jerry animated short film released on April 13, 1962 (copyrighted 1961).[1] It was the fifth of the thirteen cartoons in the series to be directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
| Mouse into Space | |
|---|---|
 The title card of Mouse into Space. | |
| Directed by | Gene Deitch Animation direction: Václav Bedřich |
| Produced by | William L. Snyder |
| Story by | Tod Dockstader |
| Starring | Allen Swift (uncredited) |
| Music by | Steven Konichek (uncredited) |
| Animation by | Jindra Barta Antonín Bures Mirek Kacena Milan Klikar Vera Kudrnová Vera Maresová Olga Sisková Zdenka Skrípková Zdenek Smetana (all uncredited) Checking: Ludmila Kopecná (uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | Background paint: Bohumil Siska (uncredited) Helped by: Miluse Hluchanicová (uncredited) |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | April 13, 1962 |
Running time | 6:48 |
| Country | United States Czechoslovakia |
| Language | English |
Plot
Jerry, tired of Tom's repeated attempts to harm him, gets mad and leaves the house to join a space program. Tom tries to convince Jerry to stay, but to no avail. While Jerry is tested for the space program, Tom becomes so distraught that he becomes an old alcoholic. However, he falls asleep in a large hose that then gets used to fill a rocket Jerry is in with rocket fuel. Miraculously, he survives, and climbs the outside of the rocket to find Jerry in the nose capsule. He proceeds to torment Jerry by spinning him in his sphere-shaped cockpit, but his success is short-lived when he accidentally steps on a button that ejects him into outer space. After brief encounters with a Soviet rocket with a bulldog inside and an asteroid field, Tom returns to Earth, soon followed by Jerry.
The two then return to the house where the cartoon began, with Jerry now wearing a rocket-shaped badge. Tom places a lighter to the rocket badge, and it takes flight. Jerry then uses the rocket-shaped badge as a jet pack to chase after Tom. Tom then packs his belongings and leaves while Jerry waves good-bye to him, as the camera closes into Jerry's face, showing the episode's opening template, closing the cartoon.
Reception
- In their book The Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars: From A to (almost) Z, authors John Calwey and Jim Korkis noted that while the Deitch shorts "were never as funny as the classics, they did have a quirky style all their own", believing that Deitch "was able to maintain the inner side of the characters by having them show occasional feelings". In Mouse into Space, as "one of the more bizarre examples", Tom becomes "so full of despair, that he takes to the bottle!".[2]