Here we go again............................

Our next Tom and Jerry cartoon is called Touché Pussy Cat.  And once again, it's French Revolution-era France, and once again a sword-swishing Jerry Mouse pairs up with a little French grey mouse.  Voiced once again by the talented Françoise Brun-Cottan.  Sadly, she only did five of these cartoons, then called it quits from the biz forever.  That's showbiz for ya!  It's got a bigger Discards pile than most.
Now, the DVD doesn't mention anything about it, but this seems to be one of those few widescreen Tom and Jerry cartoons.  It seems that only MGM back then spared no expense in making widescreen cartoons in addition to widescreen films.  But in doing so, they cut back on the animation expense as well.  You might not be able to tell from this one, however.  Maybe they recycled a few of the backgrounds from the other "mousekeeteer"... I mean, musketeer mouse one.  Don't wanna get sued!
Now, sure, this is arguably a carbon copy of The Two Mouseketeers, right down to the grey mouse's last line "C'est la guerre" (that's war!), but there's a few subtle plot differences.  First of all, whereas The Two Mouseketeers focuses on the protection and acquisition of foodstuffs, Touché focuses on, well, the ladies.  The lady mice out there.  Yes, we're moving a little farther up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, let's say from red to yellow... wait, that dude's got a hammer named after him as well?  Niiiiice.  Of course, you can't top Hubble when it comes to having stuff named after someone.  Hubble's Law, Hubble Flow, Hubble Constant, the Hubble Telescope, not to mention Scientology... oh, right.  Wrong guy.
But then, once the courting's done... oh, also, in The Two Mouseketeers, the duo of brown and grey mouse was already together, and it was up to the announcer to announce them.  Here's it's Nibbles all over again, but without the food.  The grey mouse arrives at Jerry's doorstep with an introductory note.  It's like that Cub Scouts one, and there's no mention of how he's always hungry.  But the little grey mouse will end up getting a little drunk in this one!  Spoiler alert, sorry.
And so, once the formalities with the token lady mice is over and done with, it's time for the guy stuff: fighting and what not.  Tom Cat shows up and the grey mouse tries to start a fight.  Jerry intervenes in about as violent yet bloodless a way as possible, and it's time to send the little grey rat packing.  After all, after trashing all of Jerry's furniture and stabbing him in the ass, somehow he's just not ready to be a true Mouseketeer.
...or is he?  The grey mouse is on his way home with a freshly scribed note, when Jerry's in trouble!  The cat put himself back together (no stitches) and the swordplay begins anew.  To cut to the chase, the little grey mouse proves his worth, defeating the cat in a completely classy way with humour and all the wine in Paris, apparently.  Well, that's what they get for leaving that stuff out in the alley.  The two mice are now best friends forever, but Jerry might have to give the grey mouse a few more fencing lessons.

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-so sayeth The Movie Maven Hooligan