Blue Cat Blues

Blue Cat Blues is a 1956 one-reel animated "Tom and Jerry" cartoon and was written, directed and produced by co-creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The short was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 16, 1956 in CinemaScope.
Unusual for a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, Jerry "speaks" lengthy lines through an inner monologue, voiced by Paul Frees.
Plot.
Tom is seen sitting on train tracks, heavily depressed and waiting for an oncoming train to come and run him over, while Jerry laments at his friend's state and recalls how he ended up there.
Jerry narrates that he and Tom were best friends before Tom fells for a beautiful white cat (unknown name) who, at first, seems to return his feelings (though she is actually manipulating him to her whims) before leaving him for Butch (who, unlike in other cartoons, is extremely rich), revealing she is actually a gold digger, confirming Jerry's earlier suspicions.
Despite Jerry's protests, Tom desperately tries to buy back his love, but is continually outdone by Butch. When he tries to present her with a flower, he finds she has had already received a beautiful horseshoe garland of roses from Butch. He squanders all of his life savings to buy a diamond ring for her (with a diamond so small she needs a magnifying glass to see it) only to learn that Butch has had already gifted her a ring with a large diamond so shiny that she and Tom don welding helmets just to see it, much to Tom's terrible shock. He even sells himself into slavery just to buy her an old, rickety automobile, only for Butch to arrive in his long train-like limo, crushing Tom and his car. Tom starts drinking (milk) uncontrollably, ignoring Jerry's pleas, and eventually nearly goes down the literal gutter, but is saved just in time by Jerry. Tom becomes even more depressed when Butch and Toodles drive by in the limousine and revealing that the couple was just married, proving it with a "JUST MARRIED" sign on the back of the limo.
As the flashback ends, Jerry kisses a picture of his girlfriend before she drives past, having been married and proving it in a parody of the scene that Tom found out Butch and his crush got married. Heartbroken, Jerry meets Tom and joins him on the tracks.
Availability.
Additionally, the soundtrack was officially released on "Tom and Jerry & Tex Avery Too!" album.
Reception.
Critical response.
In "Cartoon Carnival: A Critical Guide to Best Cartoons", writer Michael Samerdyke said ""Blue Cat Blues" is deeply indebted to Tex Avery for its gags." "Video Movie Guide: 1995" called the short (in a review for the aforementioned "Festival of Fun" VHS) said "among the worst "Tom & Jerry" outings".
Legacy.
The short is often considered the darkest "Tom and Jerry" cartoon due to its subject matter and unusually dark ending.
Additionally, it is often confused to be the final short of the series due to its ending implying the deaths of Tom and Jerry. The final short produced at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was "Tot Watchers" in 1958, and the final short overall was "Purr-Chance to Dream", produced by Chuck Jones at Sib Tower 12 in 1967.