High Steaks

High Steaks
Title card
Directed by	Gene Deitch Animation direction: Václav Bedřich
Produced by	William L. Snyder
Starring	Allen Swift
Music by	Steven Konichek
Animation by	Jindra Barta Antonín Bures Mirek Kacena Milan Klikar Vera Kudrnová Vaclav Bedrich Vera Maresová Olga Sisková Zdenka Skrípková Zdenek Smetana (all uncredited) Checking: Ludmila Kopecná (uncredited)
Backgrounds by	Background paint: Bohumil Siska (uncredited) Assisted by: Miluse Hluchanicová (uncredited)
Color process	Metrocolor
Production company	Rembrandt Films
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	March 23, 1962 (1962-03-23)
Running time	6:35
Countries	United States Czechoslovakia
Language	English

High Steaks is a Tom and Jerry animated short film, released on March 23, 1962. It was the fourth of the thirteen cartoons in the series to be directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder in Czechoslovakia.^[1] The short's title is a pun on the phrase "High stakes".

Plot[]

Tom's grumpy owner is grilling steaks outside in his backyard. Jerry also hungers for some steaks and runs out of the basement to get to them, but Tom manages to stop him by trapping him with a fork. Tom then flings Jerry back into the basement, which makes him angry, and Jerry brings out his own fork to stab Tom with. The two engage in a fencing match with their forks; Tom misses every time, and accidentally stabs his owner in the butt with it, causing him to leap and yell in pain. After Tom nervously salutes him, the owner angrily sears Tom's head with a hot griddle, turning his head into a waffle. Then, he goes back to grilling his steak in fury.

Later, Jerry next hides in a shuttlecock, trying to sneak onto the table, but Tom catches him and hits him with a racket. The shuttlecock bounces against the net and ricochets into his owner's mouth. Thinking that Tom threw the shuttlecock at him, the angry owner grabs the racket and breaks it apart over Tom's head.

Afterwards, Jerry shakes up a bottle of Kooky Kola (which is a pun on the soda, Coca-Cola) and sprays it on one of the owner's steaks, ruining it completely and angering him further. Thinking that Tom is responsible for the damage, the irate owner shakes up another bottle of Kooky Kola and force-feeds it to him as Tom gulps it, which turns his body into a shape of bottle. Jerry laughs at Tom's predicament, and the Tom once again chases Jerry.

While Tom is searching for Jerry, Tom gets enamored with the aroma of the steam and goes up to the grill. Jerry, who was hiding behind the grill, places Tom's tail into the grill, causing Tom to scream in pain and run around wildly with the grill in tow. In the process, he smashes the table where his owner was about to eat steak, ruining his lunch and causing him to go insane. Tom ends up in the swimming pool with the heavy grill to cool off, but is unable to get out of the water due to the grill's weight and nearly drowns. The owner, finally having had enough of Tom's antics, pulls Tom from the water and thrashes him mercilessly for ruining his lunch. All the while Jerry hides under the picnic table covering his eyes with his hat.

After the beatings are done, the owner ties Tom to a lawn chair to keep him out of trouble before storming off to cook some more steaks. Jerry then wheels the chair with Tom's hands tied to a wooden post out of the yard and attaches it to a car's bumper, and the car drives away with the chair, carrying the throbbing and unconscious Tom with it.

After that, Tom’s owner returns to grilling his steaks in peace, while Jerry climbs up onto the table to eat one of his cooked steaks.

Cast[]

• Allen Swift as Tom's Owner

References[]

External links[]

• High Steaks at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• High Steaks at IMDb