Safety Second is a 1950 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Hanna-Barbera.
It's Independence Day, and Nibbles is excited to celebrate with lots of fireworks and firecrackers. Jerry won't let him, wanting him to keep the holiday safe and sane. But they might need those firecrackers when Tom shows up as usual, wanting to chase and eat them.
Tropes:
- Ash Face: Happens several times in the episode, as a result of taking place on July 4 where there are a lot of firecrackers around. In particular, Jerry gets one when he tries to throw away a firecracker that Nibbles lit, only for it to blow up in his face.
- Alliterative Title: Safety Second.
- Asinine Alternate Activity: Nibbles is clearly unhappy when Jerry gives him a noisemaker instead of firecrackers to play with on July 4.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: Jerry has a bad time trying to keep Nibbles from lighting firecrackers.
- Delayed Reaction: Nibbles runs into the mousehole with a box full of firecrackers with his eyes closed. He takes a few seconds to realize that Jerry took them off of him.
- Depending on the Writer: In this short, Nibbles has clearly been living with Jerry for some time and has his own bed. Although the episodes are standalone, previous shorts like The Milky Waif and The Little Orphan showed him being dropped off at Jerry's house as a Doorstop Baby.
- Eye Take: At the beginning of the short, Nibbles briefly does one when he sees that it's July 4, Independence Day.
- Fatal Fireworks: Jerry keeps being subject to exploding fireworks being set off by Nibbles on the 4th of July. Later they both team together to attack Tom with fireworks which ends with Tom holding onto a firework rocket and being launched for a display of death.
- Forbidden Fruit: Nibbles really, really wants to set off those firecrackers that Jerry won't let him play with.
- Fun-Hating Confiscating Adult: Jerry takes away Nibbles' giant box of firecrackers, and to emphasize his point, points to his wall calendar that says, "July 4: Make it safe and sane."
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Jerry repeatedly tries to convince Nibbles that you can have just as much fun on the 4th of July with simple noisemakers as you can with fireworks. Needless to say, Nibbles remains unimpressed.
- Matryoshka Object: Tom is cornered by a large firecracker. Instead of blowing up, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller firecracker, which then reveals a smaller firecracker, and so on until all that is left is a tiny firecracker. Tom holds it in his hand and places it on his nose, and then it goes off with a huge explosion.
- Pyromaniac: Nibbles loves his firecrackers...
- Shake Someone, Objects Fall: When Nibbles pulls a little firecracker out of his diaper, Jerry confiscates it and gestures for him to hand over the rest of his firecrackers. Nibbles gives him a tiny one, and then tries to run for it, but Jerry grabs him, holds him upside down, and shakes out a ton of firecrackers that he was hiding in his diaper.
- Sticky Situation: To save Jerry from getting caught by Tom, Nibbles tricks the cat into taking a stick of dynamite from him with glue smeared on it, which gets stuck to his paw.
- Too Dumb to Live: Tom laughs at a tiny firecracker that Nibbles sets off in front of him, and even balances it on his nose, thinking it won't hurt him. It does.
- You Are Grounded!: When Nibbles disobeys Jerry's rule about lighting firecrackers, Jerry makes him stay in the house.
