Down Beat Bear

Down Beat Bear
Tom and Jerry series
File:Down Beat Bear credits.JPG The title card of Down Beat Bear.
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices by	Paul Frees Daws Butler
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Kenneth Muse Ed Barge Irven Spence Lewis Marshall
Layouts by	Richard Bickenbach
Backgrounds by	Robert Gentle
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	October 21, 1956 (1956-10-21)
Color process	Technicolor CinemaScope
Running time	6:23
Language	English
Preceded by	Muscle Beach Tom
Followed by	Blue Cat Blues

Down Beat Bear is a 1956 one reel animated Tom and Jerry cartoon, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence and Lewis Marshall, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. It was released on October 21, 1956 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Plot

Jerry prances into his home and turns on a Cabinet radio to turn on his light, but Tom enters and gets disturbed while reading a book. Jerry, irritated, turns the radio back on, causing Tom's head to throb from the loudness. Tom switches it off, but Jerry turns it back on. Before Tom can quell the radio again, a news broadcast announces that a trained bear has escaped from the carnival, and there is a big reward for reporting him to the police, but while he is harmless, he will dance if he hears music. Jerry and Tom then continue to toggle the radio on and off until Tom pulls the plug out.

The bear, dancing down the street a swinging version of the russian folk tune "Two Guitars", climbs over the wall to enter Tom and Jerry's house when he spots fruit on a table. Tom goes to call the cops, but when Jerry plugs the radio back in, the bear jumps into the house, grabs Tom, and dances with him, much to Jerry's amusement. Tom struggles, but manages to turn the radio off, causing the bear to resume eating the fruit. Tom again tries to use the phone, but sees Jerry about to turn the radio back on. Tom grabs Jerry, but Jerry still manages to turn the radio on, causing the bear to dance with Tom again. Tom tackles the bear into a closet, cuts the plug, and chases Jerry.

Jerry hides in an automatic record player before turning it on, after which the bear breaks through the closet and runs into Tom with a door. Tom and the bear tango dance on opposite sides of the door until Tom knocks on the door, causing the bear to put down the door, unawarely pushing Tom into a grandfather clock.

Tom spots Jerry dancing and smashes a record over Jerry's head. Jerry then jumps on a piano and starts playing The Blue Danube. Tom flees, but runs into the bear. Tom manages to hit Jerry with a scraper, but Jerry lands on top of an ukulele and plays a guitar. Tom opens the floor grate to trap the bear and breaks Jerry's ukulele. Jerry turns on a small portable radio and a second bulletin plays announcing that the reward for the bear has doubled.

Tom tries to use the phone again, but music then plays from the small radio and the bear jumps out. Tom dives through the floor grate to evade him and traps the bear in a folding couch. Tom then catches Jerry outside the house and throws the radio into the air as it hangs on the branch of a tree, but is shocked to find the music will continue for another six hours, at which the bear asks him for a dance. The cat agrees, and they dance in the moonlight. After a short time, the screen pulls out of the place. "THE END" then fades in at the top near the moon.

Availability

DVD

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

External links

• Down Beat Bear at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Down Beat Bear at IMDb