I was watching old reruns of the Tom & Jerry show a few nights ago and there was one cartoon in particular that I’ve never thought much about until now. It was the one where Tom gets blown up by the atomic white mouse and looks directly into the camera and says “Don’t you believe it!” in a really detached, creepy voice. What is this supposed to mean?
He was responding to the radio announcer. The radio kept reporting all through the cartoon about this dangerous atomic mouse, and at the end said it was harmless after all. After being terrorized by the mouse up until then, Jerry proceeded to kick the sh*t outta the mouse, which then blew everything to kingdom come. In the wreckage of the house, the speaker cone is still blaring, “We repeat, the mouse is NOT dangerous!”
I believe it was a topical joke–a reference to some then-current radio or TV program. I’ll have to look around.
The title of the short was “The Missing Mouse” (1953). Paul Frees was the voice of the radio announcer.