The Two Mouseketeers

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Lore & Background

In 17th century Paris, Mouseketeers Jerry and Nibbles decide to help themselves to a lavish royal banquet. Tom, in the service of Captaine Rochefort, has been ordered to guard the spread from the King's Mouseketeers with his life, under threat of execution by guillotine if he fails. Jerry and Nibbles enter the castle and infiltrate the banquet hall. While helping themselves to the food, they unwittingly catch Tom's attention by accidentally showering him with champagne. After hiding from Tom by disguising themselves as parts of the table decorations, Jerry decides to retreat, but Nibbles begins making a ham sandwich while singing "Alouette" to himself. Tom sneaks up on Nibbles and captures him by putting his rapier through Nibbles's tabard. Jerry stabs Tom in the rear end to rescue Nibbles and throws a custard in Tom's face for good measure. A swordfight ensues, ending with Tom catching Jerry. Nibbles tips a halberd toward Tom, which shaves the tabard and all the fur off the cat's backside. Nibbles runs away, but is sent flying by Tom into a full wine glass. Jerry saves him by hurling a tomato at Tom, followed by multiple vegetables and meat chunks. After impaling them all on his rapier, Tom heats and eats them like a shish kebab. Nibbles, now drunk, climbs out of the glass and pokes Tom in the rear end, but as he runs away, Tom catches him. Jerry hits Tom on the head with a mace before having another swordfight with him. While this goes on, Nibbles brings along a cannon and stuffs it with everything on the banquet table. Just as Tom catches Jerry, Nibbles lights the cannon, which violently blasts Tom with its load. In the aftermath, Jerry and Nibbles are seen walking triumphantly down the street with some of the stolen banquet food until they see a guillotine in the distance. Accompanied by a drum roll, the blade rises up and comes down, heavily implying that Tom has been executed for failing to uphold Rochefort's orders. Both mice gulp, and Nibbles sighs: "Pauvre, pauvre pussycat" ("Poor, poor pussycat"). Then he shrugs, saying: "C'est la guerre!" ("This is war!"), and the two Mouseketeers continue their victory march.

In Their Own Story

The short opens in 17th century Paris, where Mouseketeers Jerry and Nibbles decide to raid a royal banquet. Tom, serving under Captaine Rochefort, is ordered to guard the spread with his life, under threat of execution by guillotine if he fails. The mice infiltrate the banquet hall and accidentally shower Tom with champagne while helping themselves. They hide by disguising as table decorations, but Nibbles begins making a ham sandwich while singing "Alouette," alerting Tom. Tom captures Nibbles by putting his rapier through Nibbles's tabard, but Jerry rescues him by stabbing Tom in the rear end and throwing custard in his face. A swordfight follows, ending with Tom catching Jerry. Nibbles tips a halberd toward Tom, shaving the tabard and fur off the cat's backside. Nibbles is sent flying into a full wine glass, but Jerry saves him by hurling a tomato, then multiple vegetables and meat chunks at Tom. Tom impales them on his rapier, heats and eats them like a shish kebab. Drunk Nibbles pokes Tom in the rear end but is caught. Jerry hits Tom with a mace and another swordfight begins. Nibbles brings a cannon stuffed with everything from the banquet table and lights it, blasting Tom violently. In the aftermath, Jerry and Nibbles walk triumphantly down the street with stolen food until they see a guillotine in the distance. The blade rises and falls, implying Tom's execution. Both mice gulp, and Nibbles sighs: "Pauvre, pauvre pussycat" then shrugs: "C'est la guerre!" and they continue their victory march.

Reader's Guide

The Two Mouseketeers won the series' sixth Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Such was the cartoon's success that Hanna and Barbera created a total of four adventures in the Mouseketeers series: the second, 1954's Touché, Pussy Cat! received an Oscar nomination; the third, Tom and Chérie, followed in 1955; and Royal Cat Nap in 1958. The premise was also featured in comic books from Dell Comics. The cartoon was produced by Fred Quimby, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with animation by Ed Barge, Kenneth Muse, and Irven Spence. Musical supervision was by Scott Bradley, using a version of the theme music by Nelson Eddy and the Sportsmen Quartet named "Soldier of Fortune" from the film The Girl of the Golden West. The character of Nibbles speaks French in this short and was voiced by six-year-old Francoise Brun-Cottan. All voice actors are uncredited: William Hanna as Tom (vocal effects) / Tom's yell (archival recording) / Jerry (vocal effects); Francoise Brun-Cottan as Nibbles; Arthur Q. Bryan as Captaine Rochefort; and The King's Men singing Soldiers of Fortune. The short has been released on LaserDisc (The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume I, Side 9, 1993), multiple DVDs (Tom and Jerry: The Classic Collection Volume 3, Side 2, 2004; Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 1, Disc 2, 2004; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, Disc 1, 2008; Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Volume 3, 2009; Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection, Disc 1, 2010; Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology, Disc 3, 2025), and Blu-ray (Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology, Disc 3, 2025).

Did You Know?

• The short won the series' sixth Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
• Nibbles speaks French in this short and was voiced by six-year-old Francoise Brun-Cottan.
• The term 'Mousketeer' was later used for child cast members of The Mickey Mouse Club, three years after this cartoon's release.
• The theme music is a version of 'Soldier of Fortune' by Nelson Eddy and the Sportsmen Quartet from the film The Girl of the Golden West.
• The short was the first of four Mouseketeers adventures; the second, Touché, Pussy Cat! (1954), received an Oscar nomination.