Tom and Chérie

Tom and Chérie is a 1955 one Reel animated Tom and Jerry Short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. It was the third (of four) cartoons in the Mouseketeer series of cartoons, the first of which, The Two Mouseketeers (1952) won an Academy Award, and the second, Touché, Pussy Cat! (1954) received an Academy Award nomination.

The animation was done by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, and Lewis Marshall, this being Marshall's first Tom and Jerry cartoon for which he received an animation credit (replacing Ray Patterson who had left). The backgrounds were designed by Robert Gentle and the layouts by Richard Bickenbach.The cartoon was produced in CinemaScope, a form of Widescreen, and released to theatres on September 9, 1955 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

Plot
Jerry has looked at a portrait of a gorgeous French mouse called Lilli, then writes Lilli a love letter and calls his assistant, Tuffy, and tells him to deliver it. Tuffy goes out, and after briefly mocking Jerry, looks at the letter and goes a deep shade of red after looking at it. But, when Tuffy is about to go out and deliver the letter, Tom appears saying 'En garde!' (On guard!) and swipes his sword at him, scaring him back in. He pokes his sword through the door. Tuffy tries to tell Jerry about the cat, but Jerry shows the little mouse his book, persuading him that a mouseketeer is brave. Tuffy then looks in the mirror and asks himself if he is a man or a mouse. But after going out and encountering Tom again, he decides he is a mouse. Later, Tom is hiding in wait for Tuffy. Tuffy tries to disguise himself with a knight's helmet. He says hello to Tom, but he is not fooled. He immediately jumps in front of Tuffy and fights him. Jerry hears the commotion from outside. Tom then lifts off the helmet and it falls right on top of his head, knocking him into a nearby window. Tuffy is still swiping his sword until Jerry pokes him on the back.

Tuffy tries to call for the cat but to no avail. He tries to persuade Jerry that Tom was here, but Jerry brings him back to his mousehole and punishes Tuffy by getting him to write 'Un mouseketeer est brave' approximately 100 times on a blackboard. Then Tuffy goes to the door and holds his hat out. It gets chopped into pieces by Tom. Tuffy then nervously peeks out, but Jerry pokes him on the back with his sword, sending Tuffy rocketing past Tom to Lilli's house. He knocks on the windowsill. Lilli comes to the window and sees the love letter. She giggles at the sight, then disappears and returns with another letter with perfume on it. Tuffy then goes to deliver it to Jerry. But to see if Tom is around, he puts his hat on his sword and waves it. Tom waves his hat and then appears and fights Tuffy again.

Then Tuffy hides in a vent and pokes Tom in the bottom saying 'Touche, pussycat!' The fight continues. Tuffy runs inside Jerry's mousehole and gives the letter to Jerry. He kisses it, writes another love letter, gives it to Tuffy and then the little mouse delivers it, encountering Tom every time. And by every fight Tuffy haves with Tom, he gets more tattered and torn by the minute. Eventually, Jerry receives a letter from Lilli, telling him that their love is finished. Heartbroken, Jerry throws away her portrait and tears up the letter. But all is not lost, as Jerry simply replaces her portrait with that of another beautiful, rich, French mouse (Marie) and begins his correspondence with this one.

A battered and exasperated Tuffy is forced to deliver this letter. Tom jumps out once again, yells "En garde!" and is ready for another duel. However, the little mouse just walks past him. Tom then challenges him three more times but Tuffy keeps ignoring him. After the final attempt, Tuffy looks up at him, says with contempt, "En garde, En garde, En garde! Foo!". He now goes on with his assignment to deliver the letter, leaving Tom behind still holding his sword and puzzled.

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 4
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2, Disc Two