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The Little Orphan

  • 1949
  • Approved
  • 8m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
The Little Orphan (1949)
AdventureAnimationComedyFamilyShort

The Bide-a-Wee Mouse Home has sent the orphan mouse, Nibbles, to spend Thanksgiving with Jerry. But Jerry's cupboard is bare, and Nibbles is always hungry. They start by raiding Tom's milk d... Read allThe Bide-a-Wee Mouse Home has sent the orphan mouse, Nibbles, to spend Thanksgiving with Jerry. But Jerry's cupboard is bare, and Nibbles is always hungry. They start by raiding Tom's milk dish, but Tom wakes up and drains it. Fortunately, Mammy has just put out a huge Thanksgivi... Read allThe Bide-a-Wee Mouse Home has sent the orphan mouse, Nibbles, to spend Thanksgiving with Jerry. But Jerry's cupboard is bare, and Nibbles is always hungry. They start by raiding Tom's milk dish, but Tom wakes up and drains it. Fortunately, Mammy has just put out a huge Thanksgiving feast, just ready for the raiding. And that's just what Jerry and Nibbles do, grabbing ... Read all

  • Directors
    • Joseph Barbera
    • William Hanna
  • Writers
    • William Hanna
    • Joseph Barbera
  • Star
    • William Hanna
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    2.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Joseph Barbera
      • William Hanna
    • Writers
      • William Hanna
      • Joseph Barbera
    • Star
      • William Hanna
    • 17User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 1 win total

    Photos18

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    Top cast1

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    William Hanna
    William Hanna
    • Tom
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    • Directors
      • Joseph Barbera
      • William Hanna
    • Writers
      • William Hanna
      • Joseph Barbera
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    7.72.1K
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    Featured reviews

    7ccthemovieman-1

    'Nibbles' Does A Lot More Than That

    Jerry is relaxing in his little house reading "Good Mousekeeping" magazine when someone knocks on his door (to the outside of the house). It's a little gray mouse with a note attached to it. It reads: "This is Nibbles, the little orphan you agreed to have as your guest for dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you, Bide- A-Wee Mose Home. P.S. He's always hungry."

    Jerry's cupboards are bare so he and Nibbles wander outside the hole to cat (Tom) country, looking for food and drink.....and the trouble begins. All I can say is that this little creature has an appetite that's unbelievable!

    Nothing super, but an entertaining short.
    9Antzy88

    A classic cartoon with Tom, Jerry and Nibbles

    This classic, Oscar-winning cartoon has the little grey orphan mouse Nibbles visit Jerry. Nibbles has a little note asking Jerry to feed him, as he's always hungry. A veritable banquet has just been prepared by Mammy Two Shoes, the black maid, and Nibbles starts to go into overdrive at the sight of so much food! It's not long, however, before Tom, dressed up as an Indian (as in Cowboy enemy, rather than person from India), gets in on the act.

    This cartoon is so cool, has plenty of laughs, especially when Nibbles' appetite gets out of hand.

    The version of 'The Little Orphan' that I am reviewing here is the uncensored original that I have been fortunate enough to see and appreciate before the political-correctness brigade supposedly forced the distributor to cut a scene where a candle scorches Tom and turns him black. The cut is very clumsy and the result is that this section of the cartoon no longer makes much sense. (Some versions have Mammy Two Shoes' fleeting appearance removed for similar racial reasons).

    Great cartoon, but definitely preferable in the uncut version.
    8movieman_kev

    White-washing history AGAIN

    Nibbles, the little orphan mouse from "The Milky Waif" returns to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jerry, and he's very VERY hungry. It's up to Tom to navigate past the sleeping Tom and get Nibbles something to quench his unsatisfiable appetite. This animated short is one of the classics, but again censorship rears it's ugly head again under the guise of trying to be PC, as one of the gags of Tom getting burnt by a candle is cut out. Whenever they censor old cartoons like that it really gets my goat. This award winning cartoon (minus the one gag) can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"

    My grade for the original: A+

    My grade for the bastardized version on the DVD: B-
    8preppy-3

    Fast, funny, beautiful to look at

    Jerry gets a little orphan mouse named Nibbles for Thanksgiving dinner. The problem is Nibbles LOVES to eat and Jerry has no food. So him and Nibbles have to sneak around to get food without Tom getting them.

    I'm no big fan of Tom & Jerry cartoons. I find the cartoon violence in most of their shorts way TOO violent. Also I happen to love cats and Tom is always the one being hurt. Still I do like this one. It's just beautiful to watch with bright strong colors and the violence has been toned down (a little). Also the views of the huge Thanksgiving meal set out for the humans are actually mouth-watering:) And Nibbles isn't TOO cutesy. Fast and funny. Recommended.
    8planktonrules

    cutesy Tom and Jerry short

    This short features Nibbles as Jerry's nephew. In some other cartoons he's referred to by other names and is generally SUPER-cutesy, but in this case the little white mouse is a little more entertaining and less cloying. This time, the white mouse has an amazing appetite--eating a whole orange at once! Well, after getting him to cough it up, Jerry takes Nibbles for some real food. And, being Thanksgiving, they dress up in costumes and raid the humans' feast. But, these cute little mice dressed as pilgrims are foiled by Tom who appears in Indian head dress. And, the rest of the cartoon consists of Tom trying to kill the little rodents. An exceptional cartoon with some good laughs and excellent animation.

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    Related interests

    Still frame
    Adventure
    Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)
    Animation
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
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    Family
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    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Nibbles' second appearance after The Milky Waif (1946) and the first Tom and Jerry cartoon in which Nibbles and Jerry work as a team against Tom.
    • Alternate versions
      The original print has a scene showing Tom being set on fire, then burnt into an African-American caricature (complete with knotted hair-do). Later prints have reanimated Tom so that he no longer looks "black" though some network TV prints omit the gag entirely.
    • Connections
      Edited into Life with Tom (1953)
    • Soundtracks
      Throw Another Log on the Fire
      (uncredited)

      Music by Murray Mencher

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 30, 1949 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El pequeño huérfano
    • Production companies
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoon Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 8m
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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