"Triplet Trouble" is a Tom and Jerry cartoon released on April 19th, 1952 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby.
Mammy adopts three kittens, believing them to be well-behaved and leaves Tom to babysit them while she goes out to buy milk for them, but as soon she leaves, the three kittens soon reveal themselves to be mischievous towards Tom... and Jerry.
This animated feature provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Jerry finds it amusing to see the three kittens tormenting Tom... until he soon sees them smirking at him, hinting at who they want to torment next.
- In turn, Tom laughed himself silly after seeing what the kittens were doing to Jerry.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: Mammy leaves Tom in charge to care of her three "little angels", however, Tom soon learns the hard way they're troublemakers.
- Bait-and-Switch: After the kittens get Tom on the floor, the former three pretend to help him up and shake hands with him, which he gladly returns until the black kitten hands him a curtain string which pulls Tom outside the window.
- Comedic Spanking: As retribution for their mischievous behavior, the three kittens are left being constantly spanked by Jerry and with Tom putting fake angel wings on them as a taunt.
- Cuteness Overload: Exploited. The first time the kittens cause him trouble, Tom is all set to throttle them, but they start meowing and brushing up against him. Tom quickly cools off and smiles, only for the kittens to immediately slap some roller skates on him and slam him into a door.
- Dirty Coward: The kittens are quite content to pick on the much smaller Jerry without a second thought, but since Tom is substantially bigger than they are, they opt for trickery to take him by surprise. When that doesn't work, they make a show of pretending to be nice or outright running away from him until an advantage presents itself.
- Enfant Terrible: The three kittens pretend to be nice in front of Mammy, but they take pleasure into tormenting Tom and Jerry. This comes to bit them back later, though.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Three adorable kittens taken in off the street that are really vicious, mean-spirited pranksters.
- Impact Silhouette: After Tom is sent through the window via curtain string, we see a Tom-shaped hole.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: A couple of times, the three kittens react to Tom with cuteness or concern, as if to suggest their actions are Nothing Personal and just intended as harmless fun. The second Tom lowers his guard, further pranking ensues.
- Loud Gulp: Jerry over the three kittens glaring at him.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: For once, Tom was actually quite pleasant and welcoming to some new arrivals instead of petty and jealous. The three kittens immediately attack him when he least suspects it and even frame him for some misbehavior.
- Pie in the Face: As the revenge begins, Tom hits each kitten with a pie.
- Rivals Team Up: After the kittens torment both Tom and Jerry, the latter two soon team up to give the former three a lesson. It works.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Jerry, as he slowly realizes the kittens are about to start on him.
- Would Hurt a Child: Justified, as the three kittens were very mischievous and tormented Tom and Jerry, who soon get back at them by sending them into a rotating clothing dryer, where the three kittens are slapped by behind.