Line #109 YMMV/TomAndJerry


1	[[foldercontrol]]
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3	[[folder:''Tom and Jerry'' Media With Their Own Pages]]
4	* ''YMMV/PussGetsTheBoot''
5	* ''YMMV/MouseTrouble''
6	* ''YMMV/TheCatConcerto''
7	* ''YMMV/TheTwoMouseketeers''
8	* ''YMMV/BlueCatBlues''
9	* ''YMMV/TheTomAndJerryShow''
10	* ''YMMV/TheTomAndJerryComedyShow''
11	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryKids''
12	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryTheUltimateGameOfCatAndMouse''
13	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryTheMovie''
14	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryTales''
15	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryDirectToVideoFilmSeries''
16	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryTheMagicRing''
17	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryBlastOffToMars''
18	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryTheFastAndTheFurry''
19	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryShiverMeWhiskers''
20	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryANutcrackerTale''
21	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryMeetSherlockHolmes''
22	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryAndTheWizardOfOz''
23	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerrysGiantAdventure''
24	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerrySpyQuest''
25	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryBackToOz''
26	** ''YMMV/TomAndJerryWillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory''
27	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerryInWarOfTheWhiskers''
28	* ''YMMV/TheTomAndJerryShow2014''
29	* ''YMMV/TomAndJerry2021''
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	!!General YMMV
33	[[folder:A]]
34	* AccidentalAesop:
35	** "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues" has several:
36	*** Your love life will not grind to a halt just because your first love cannot work things out with you. It's not worth [[SpurnedIntoSuicide throwing your life away over your first romantic rejection]]. There are other fish in the sea.
37	*** Watch out for {{Gold Digger}}s. Ditch the parasites as soon as you find out no matter how pretty or charismatic they are. It's not worth it.
38	*** Don't give everything or sacrifice your well being in order to get a partner, especially when she/he is not paying attention to you. This is more evident when Tom signs a contract giving up a leg and 20 years of slavery to get money in order to outbid Butch.
39	*** At the very least KnowWhenToFoldEm and always keep the receipts for the stuff you bought. Tom could have escaped his predicament if only he was able to return the rejected presents.
40	*** Don't push away those who care about you by obsessing over someone who doesn't. The beginning of the episode's flashback makes it clear that, despite everything, the titular Tom and Jerry are close friends, but as soon as the white cat enters the picture, Tom begins throwing away everything else in his life just to have a ''chance'' at winning her heart. By the end of the episode, he's left with ''less'' than nothing, and even Jerry sadly acknowledges that there's nothing that even he can do to cheer his old pal up.
41	** "Pet Peeve" can be taken as a lesson about taking long-term costs into account when buying high-maintenance pets while also advocating getting a low-maintenance pet instead if you are already struggling to pay your bills.
42	** "Million Dollar Cat": A fortune is not worth it if the situation that grants it makes you miserable.
43	** As multiple episodes have shown, much trouble would have been avoided if the characters picked a less dangerous place to sleep in. The elephant calf from “Jerry and Jumbo” slept against the open doorframe of the train carriage. Jerry himself keeps picking odd places to sleep in like a pool table or piano.
44	* AccidentalInnuendo:
45	** The part from "The Midnight Snack" where Tom blows into an ''[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything eclair while Jerry is licking the other open side, covering him in a pile of cream]]''.
46	** Similarly, [[http://darzeken.tumblr.com/post/121791169139 this particular scene]] where Jerry ''spreads'' Tom's rear fur for a good place to kick.
47	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
48	** Several cartoons imply that Tom and Jerry are actually VitriolicBestBuds who enjoy their game of chase. The comics and TheMovie made it pretty explicit.
49	** Alternatively, some fans view Jerry as the VillainProtagonist. Of course, in some cartoons, he explicitly ''is''.
50	** Does Tom really chase and/or torment Jerry for the heck of it, or is it just a job that he has to do to appease his masters? It's telling that when he gets drunk, he acts friendly towards Jerry and antagonistic towards the maid.
51	** Is Spike the world's worst guard dog? He spends more time helping Jerry out than guarding the house like he's supposed to.
52	** The Maid was originally designed with the intention that she was the housekeeper rather than the owner of the house Tom and Jerry are terrorising. However, due to the absence of any employers for her to answer to, even at night, it could be seen as her house. The creators even subtly started implying the latter as the years went on, showing her with a bedroom in the house and even taking personal phone calls.
53	* AluminumChristmasTrees: "Professor Tom" shows if a kitten is introduced to a mouse or rat early enough, [[InterspeciesFriendship they have been known to befriend them in real life]]. This is actually scientifically true.
54	* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: The MGM executives expressed doubt in the series at first, unaware that it would become a pop-culture phenomenon.
55	-->"When I let on to the others in the studio...that Bill and I were developing a cat-and-mouse cartoon, we were greeted with a universal chorus of jeers and raspberries. A cat and a mouse! How unoriginal can you get? And how much variety can you milk out of such a hackneyed, shopworn idea? How many cat-and-mouse cartoons can you make?"
56	--->-- '''Joseph Barbera''', ''My Life in 'Toons''
57	* ArchivePanic: The original MGM series [[LongRunner lasted for the better part of 20 years]], and that's not counting the Deitch and Jones shorts, TV shows, and movies, [[OneHundredPercentCompletion if you're really a completist]].
58	* AudienceAlienatingEra:
59	** The Gene Deitch shorts, which butcher the formula by giving Tom a {{Jerkass}} owner who beats the stuffing out of him [[DisproportionateRetribution whenever he slips up]], whilst [[TookALevelInJerkass additionally amplifying Jerry's more malicious side]] to further push Tom into a needlessly tormented ButtMonkey. Moreover, it suffered a lot of [[OffModel animation errors]], incredibly stiff movement and sparse, tinny background music (all [[SeasonalRot immense comedowns]] from the fluid animation and lush, vibrant score of the MGM shorts) populated by obnoxious electronic sound effects.
60	** The 1975 TV series, which suffers from similarly low-budget animation and the show's main premise of Tom and Jerry (thanks to the omnipresent influence of MoralGuardians during production) becoming friends, which surgically removed both the slapstick and conflict from a series formerly devoted almost entirely to slapstick and conflict, which many fans believe [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks left little more than an empty shell of dull shenanigans in its place]].
61	** The Filmation era tries to bring back the slapstick and conflict, but the extreme reuse of soundboards and repetitive, dull scenes and jokes turn many fans off.
62	[[/folder]]
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64	[[folder:B-D]]
65	* BadassDecay: [[PlayedWith Yes and no]]. Tom is significantly more threatening in his early appearances. Compare how much of a dominating force Tom is in the first few episodes and how easy he is to beat as time went on. However, by the end of Hanna Barbera's run, Tom has more instances of outright ''[[TeamRocketWins defeating]]'' Jerry.
66	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
67	** Jerry. Many Tom fans hate him and think he's a jerk who provokes Tom. Other fans, however, prefer Jerry over Tom.
68	** The maid, commonly known as Mammy Two Shoes. While she ''definitely'' earns EthnicScrappy points these days, she is still often considered the most iconic and humorous of Tom's owners due to her matriarchal SassyBlackWoman personality. Generally her character goes down better with those who grew up with redubbed shorts than the originals, given they toned down some of the ValuesDissonance of her character.
69	* BetterOnDVD: The Warner Home Video [=DVD=]s still have some censored shorts ("His Mouse Friday") and shorts that are missing entirely ("Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat"), so if you're a classic cartoon purist, then it would be an aversion (unless you like the fact that the Cartoon Network/Boomerang Station ID bug is no longer visible on the screen). But the MGM/UA home video Laserdisc box sets are completely uncensored (sans "His Mouse Friday" which mutes the [[HollywoodNatives African Cannibals]]' (and Jerry's poor imitation) voices and "Saturday Night Puss" which is the 1960s redrawn version that replaces Mammy with a white-teenager). The Golden Collection set contains the uncensored versions of both however.
70	* BileFascination: The Creator/GeneDeitch shorts, which are filled to the brim with [[LimitedAnimation terrible animation]], sound effects so bizarre that you would believe they were created by extraterrestrials, unlikable side characters such as Tom's obese owner, messy pacing, poor writing and a more sadistic and mean-spirited tone. People who have never seen those particular shorts before are curious as to why they angered many a ''Tom and Jerry'' fan.
71	* BrokenBase:
72	** Depending on who you ask, the short "Baby Puss" (which is almost entirely a HumiliationConga for Tom) is either a funny episode or an unfunny and mean-spirited one.
73	** The Maid's redubs by Thea Vidale. Either you like her less stereotypical voice and mannerisms or dislike Vidale's slightly flat performance.
74	* CatharsisFactor: The times [[TeamRocketWins Tom defeats Jerry]] are cathartic for the latter's detractors. Shorts like "The Million Dollar Cat", [[spoiler:[[AlliterativeTitle "Timid Tabby"]], and "The Year of the Mouse"]] come to mind immediately.
75	** Tom’s owner from the Gene Deitch shorts is an Abusive Short-Tempered Animal Abuser who constantly gets hit with KarmaHoudini. But in his final appearance, "Sorry Safari", he’s mauled by a lion, attacked by an angry rhino, and ultimately tied to a stick alongside Tom and said rhino, seemingly as a final punishment for all the abuse he put upon poor Tom.
76	* CommonKnowledge:
77	** No, the name of the Proto-Jerry from ''WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot'' is ''not'' Jinx. The only source claiming it so was an apocryphal claim made by Bill Hanna in his biography (which was disputed by Joe Barbera, who claimed the mouse originally didn't have a name). According to MGM's own press on the cartoon, [[https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2020/02/metro-myths.html?spref=fb&m=1 the actual name of the mouse in the short was Pee-Wee.]]
78	** Also, contrary to popular belief, the black maid's name is '''not''' Mammy Two Shoes; absolutely no evidence exists, whether in production art or interviews that the character was ever given a real name in the original theatrical cartoons. The name in fact derives from an almost identical character from the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts. That said, "Mammy Two Shoes" still continues to be a popular nickname for the character, to the point where even Website/{{Wikipedia}} uses it. This did lean a little into AscendedFanon in ''Tom and Jerry Tales'', whose RaceLift counterpart was officially dubbed Ms. Two Shoes.
79	** Another common misconception is the duo [[TheVoiceless never talk at all in the cartoons]]. In truth, there are [[https://youtu.be/IrRDokfFtZ8 many times where Tom or Jerry spoke actual dialogue]], it just happens sporadically enough to allow the series to maintain the image of being pure pantomime slapstick.
80	** The already-depressing "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues" is often cited as the final original Creator/HannaBarbera short and thus the [[GrandFinale finale of the series]] as a whole, given [[DownerEnding how the short ends]] with Tom and Jerry being SpurnedIntoSuicide by train. In actuality, there were several more original shorts produced afterwards, and the ''actual'' final ''Tom & Jerry" short by Hanna Barbera's unit is "Tot Watchers", which ends with the titular duo being arrested instead, a much more humorous DownerEnding that's PlayedForLaughs.
81	** Many people assumed that Tom's [[FatBastard portly]] and [[HairTriggerTemper ill-tempered]] owner in the Creator/GeneDeitch-directed shorts was meant to be Clint Clobber, a character Deitch had created earlier for Creator/{{Terrytoons}}. Deitch himself confirmed they were two different characters, although [[{{Expy}} they look alike enough]] that you might be forgiven for mixing them up. The main difference between the characters is that Clint Clobber was often portrayed as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, while Tom's owner in these shorts [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty very much isn't]].
82	** The basic premise of classic ''Tom & Jerry'' shorts is that Tom wants to eat Jerry. And while it is true [[DependingOnTheWriter in some of the shorts]], their relationship is more one of sparring partners -- always one-upping another, getting immediate revenge, and fighting over a common goal.
83	* ContestedSequel: [[ContestedSequel/TomAndJerry Enough for its own page]].
84	* CrossesTheLineTwice: In "Mouse Trouble", when Tom tries to ambush Jerry by hiding inside a package, a suspicious Jerry begins pushing large needles all through the package, eliciting muffled yelps. Jerry then proceeds to ''saw the package in half''. After that, when he takes a glimpse inside the package, he looks up, ''horrified'', gulps, and asks if there's a doctor in the house.
85	* DesignatedHero: Jerry skirts this line in many cartoons. Nowhere is this worse than in "WesternAnimation/TheTwoMouseketeers", which [[OffWithHisHead Tom's death]] is somehow treated as heroic [[KarmicOverkill despite Tom not doing anything heinous]] and Jerry and Nibbles showing little remorse for him. This title occasionally applies to the Gene Deitch shorts' interpretation of Jerry the most accurately, in which the mouse is exaggerated from a (at least) somewhat sympathetic, if mischievous, character confronting the genuine threat of being eaten by Tom (or another cat) into a quasi-{{Jerkass}} who torments Tom for seemingly no reason.
86	* DesignatedVillain: We're almost ''never'' meant to be rooting for Tom, even if he didn't actually do anything to provoke Jerry (common in many infamous episodes), or if Jerry doesn't even have the right to feel provoked (like when he screws with Tom's golf game and piano performance because they were disturbing his sleep; never mind that Jerry's the idiot who decided to set up shop in those specific places).
87	* DracoInLeatherPants: Both titular characters have received this treatment.
88	** Many fans believe Tom did nothing wrong. While he has likable qualities and UnintentionallySympathetic moments, he still has many villainous actions: [[FrameUp framing an innocent Jerry]], trying to eat innocent animals (like a new-born Quacker), attempting to ''[[WouldHurtAChild shoot Nibbles/Tuffy]]'', etc.
89	** While Jerry has good qualities, he can also: be manipulative, commit {{Disproportionate Retribution}}s, torment Tom unprovoked (e.g. "Fraidy Cat"[[note]]not to be confused with the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'' episode[[/note]]), or steal food. Nevertheless, some viewers think he isn't bad, with his cute appearance probably helping.
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92	[[folder:E-F]]
93	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
94	** Jerry's more consistent family members are often fan favourites:
95	*** Muscles, Jerry's "tough guy" cousin and one of the most unambiguously badass characters on the show, who also underwent a bit of MemeticMutation. It's easy to forget that [[OneshotCharacter he only appeared in one episode]] in the original shorts.
96	*** Uncle Pecos, Jerry's uncle for being TheJuggernaut and having a very catchy song. Nothing is going to get in the way of him using Tom's whiskers as replacement guitar strings.
97	** The Maid is this to fans who don't see her as an EthnicScrappy, due to offering admittedly funny moments.
98	** Topo from "Neapolitan Mouse" is also fondly remembered for being a BullyHunter and a fan of the silent duo.
99	** Despite only appearing in [[OneshotCharacter one episode each]], both Eagle (from "Flirty Birdy") and Lion (from "Jerry and the Lion") were fondly remembered enough to be playable characters in ''Tom And Jerry: War Of The Whiskers''.
100	* EsotericHappyEnding: Several candidates, but [[spoiler:"Down and Outing" deserves a special mention. It ends with Tom's owner [[NoHoldsBarredBeatDown assaulting him so brutally]] that ''[[ArchEnemy Jerry]]'', a HeroicComedicSociopath who generally hates Tom, [[EveryoneHasStandards actually looked horrified]]. The owner then ties Tom up, places him in a bucket, and throws any fish he catches at his face while he starts crying... with happy music playing]].
101	-->'''An [[https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4347235/?ref_=tt_urv IMDb Review]]:''' [Tom] even cries at the end of the episode and it ends like as if ''[sic]'' it's [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments funny]]. [[TearJerker It's not]].
102	* EthnicScrappy: The black maid, commonly (and erroneously) known as Mammy Two Shoes. Later TV airings would dub her with a less "stereotypical" voice, but it didn't last long. Even at the time there were complaints from activists as early as 1949, which resulted in her being written out by the time of the 60s.
103	* FanNickname:
104	** Surprisingly, the allegedly official name for the otherwise unnamed Maid, Mammy Two-Shoes, turned out to be one all along. The misconception stems all the way back to the 1970s and likely stems from a very similar Disney-owned character (from the short "Three Orphan Kittens") having the name Mammy Twoshoes (note spelling), but in truth the Maid was never given an official name in the theatrical cartoons, and no evidence exists in either art or interviews that she was ever intended to have one. The comics only muddle things further, as she alternated between the names Mandy and Dinah in them.
105	** Jinx is also one for Jerry's early unnamed form in [[WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot "Puss Gets the Boot"]], which stems from an apocryphal statement made by Bill Hanna in his biography. Joe Barbera claimed the mouse originally was [[NoNameGiven nameless]], and MGM's press came up with their own name for the mouse, Pee-Wee.
106	* FandomRivalry:
107	** In an odd example, Tom and Jerry and their fellow MGM characters are in the middle of one. Namely because even though the MGM cartoons are legally Time Warner property (via their acquisition of [[UsefulNotes/TedTurner Turner Broadcasting]] in 1996), there is [[WritingAroundTrademarks next to no use of MGM as a brand]] ([[ScrewedByTheLawyers likely because MGM still exists as a separate company]]). As a result, Warner Bros. and fans tend to lump them either in with ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', due to being from the same era and influence of Tex Avery, etc., or with Creator/HannaBarbera because they created ''Tom and Jerry'' and their company and/or the men themselves worked on many of the recurring MGM characters at some point. These two fandoms have some issues regularly but there is some animosity which one Tom and Jerry and friends are better off with.
108	** With ''[[Creator/HarveyComics Harveytoons]]'' due to Tom and Jerry fans seeing ''WesternAnimation/HermanAndKatnip'' as a cruder ripoff.
109	** Warner Bros. originally seemed to split the difference in home media-- they put MGM cartoons as extras on ''Looney Tunes'' Blu-Rays but also moved their planned DVD releases to the Warner Archive where most of the Hanna-Barbera library was released, likely assuming, one way or another, they'd see which approach worked.[[note]]Outside of ''Tom and Jerry'' and ''Droopy'', neither approach has hit paydirt yet.[[/note]] Presently it seems WB is lumping them more in with Hanna-Barbera, as witnessed by having ''Tom and Jerry'' [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerrySpyQuest cross over with]] ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' and having ''Tom and Jerry'' items show up on Wbshop when you select Hanna-Barbera. In mid-2017, they also rebranded the ''Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection'' into the ''Hanna Barbera Diamond Collection''.
110	* FanficFuel: What would happen if Tom even ''caught'' Jerry? The possibilities have been speculated since the beginning.
111	* FanonDiscontinuity:
112	** Some fans choose to ignore all shorts produced after Fred Quimby's retirement (see reasons under SeasonalRot), especially the Cinemascope remakes, "Blue Cat Blues", and "Tot Watchers".
113	** The Gene Deitch shorts mostly get this treatment from fans (see AudienceAlienatingEra above), who instead choose to believe the franchise went straight to Creator/ChuckJones after Hanna and Barbera left. Even then, some people ignore Jones' shorts, too, though nowhere near to the extent of Deitch's works. Chuck Jones himself later said that he didn't really care much for his shorts. That being said, some fans, while having no problem disowning Deitch's works, accept a few of his shorts[[note]] mainly "Tall in the Trap", "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit", "Buddies Thicker Than Water", "Carmen Get It", and sometimes "Calypso Cat"[[/note]].
114	** Many fans go as far as ignoring every post-theatrical era T&J property, especially Creator/{{Filmation}}'s [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryComedyShow series]], ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'', the 2000s shorts, most of the DTV films and ''especially'' the [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow 1975 series]]. Not even Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation's generally well-received ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTales'' is safe in some circles.
115	* FetishRetardant: It can be hard to view the dancer in "Carmen Gets It" as a MsFanservice due to the low animation quality and her disturbing face.
116	* FirstInstallmentWins: The original MGM series of shorts are usually considered the best of the entire franchise, particularly the first ones made by Hanna-Barbera.
117	* FoeYayShipping: Despite their [[ArchEnemies famous enmity]], some people ship Tom and Jerry themselves. It's likely because of them sometimes being FriendlyEnemies and Tom occasionally having TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou moments with Jerry. And Jerry has even [[TakeThatKiss kissed him many times]], [[TheGadfly just to annoy him]]. The shorts "Springtime for Thomas" and its near-remake "Smitten Kitten" don't help, where Jerry's ShoulderDevil encourages him to break up Tom's budding relationship with a girl cat because it's getting in the way of their fun!
118	* FountainOfMemes: The titular Tom and Jerry are incredibly iconic characters in pop culture and their fame has been kept alive through [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/tom-and-jerry/children meme culture]]. This is mainly due to their animations/shorts being rife with different and often hilarious reactions, sounds, facial expressions and zany situations throughout the years.
119	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Tom and Jerry would, in some of the original shorts, be friends and speak, though in sporadic PlayedForLaughs sequences, several of these episodes end with something always coming between their friendship, [[StatusQuoIsGod making them fight again]]. These elements are what are most reviled about ''The Tom And Jerry Show'' from the 1970's, and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie''.
120	[[/folder]]
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123	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: ''Tom and Jerry'' has always been an incredibly noteworthy part of American animation since its debut, but its liberal use of MickeyMousing means so little of the series (including its [[{{Slapstick}} humor]]) has to be translated into foreign languages. As a result, there are several countries where ''Tom and Jerry'' is much more popular and well-known than WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes.
124	** A particular example is the [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime series' popularity in Japan]], where (at one point in time) it was not only the ''only'' non-{{anime}} series to make an audience top-100 list, at #58, it beat out other series like ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' and ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell''!
125	** In the United Kingdom, they are almost ''the'' definition of a classic quality cartoon. For decades, the BBC programmed ''Tom & Jerry'' on TV, especially when technical difficulties occurred and they had to broadcast something of general interest to keep their audience watching (like how, in 1993, ''Noel's House Party'' had to be taken off-air due to a bomb threat from the IRA, and [=BBC1=] put on ''Tom & Jerry'' instead). In the "100 Best Cartoons" list, held by Channel 4 in 2005, Tom & Jerry came in ''second'', only behind ''The Simpsons'' (another foreign cartoon, incidentally).
126	** It's popular in Iran (of all places) and among the Iranian diaspora.
127	** It is quite popular in former USSR countries, probably due to having little dialogue, and resemblance to Soviet cartoons themed around animal rivalries such as ''Animation/NuPogodi'' and ''Animation/LeopoldTheCat''. In fact, the infamous Gene Deitch shorts were produced in the Eastern Bloc (specifically, in Czechoslovakia) and have a cult status in the Czech Republic to this day.
128	* GrowingTheBeard:
129	** The earliest cartoons featured Tom and Jerry looking more like a real cat and mouse, and making real animal sounds. Hanna and Barbera soon realized that this made them too much like laughing at animals getting hurt, and anthropomorphized them a little more. The design refinements were also simply a cost factor: It was much more time-consuming and painstaking to draw realistic fur on Tom, so they made his design much cleaner so it would be easier for the animators.
130	** The fifties era Hanna-Barbera shorts gained a better grasp of the grey dynamic between the two. The slapstick was more free game, Tom usually avoided being a DesignatedVillain, with Jerry either having a more benevolent personality or being punished whenever he surpassed Tom's mean streak. Their FriendlyEnemy chemistry was also displayed on a more regular basis. Most of the supporting characters had also been fully established and different backdrops from the usual household were frequently used, making for less formulaic scenarios.
131	** For some, this even applies to Gene Deitch's shorts, as quite a few fans felt that "Carmen Get It" was where Deitch and the animators finally managed to nail the ''Tom and Jerry'' formula. Unfortunately for Deitch, that was the last short he worked on for the series; MGM pulled the plug on his team and gave the series to Chuck Jones immediately afterwards.
132	* HilariousInHindsight:
133	** Near the end of "The Milky Waif", Jerry, who is absolutely outraged at Tom [[WouldHurtAChild spanking Nibbles on the rear with a flyswatter]], grabs the cat by the tail, slams him on the ground back and forth thrice and swings him around before tossing him away. 50 years later, [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 a certain heroic plumber would do the same to a certain reptilian king]].
134	** "Jerry's Cousin" has the titular character blowing his thumb to inflate his fist before using it as a MegatonPunch against Tom. As a fellow humanoid feline decades later, [[Manga/OnePiece Rob Lucci]] can certify it's effectiveness. [[spoiler:Taken even further with the advent of Luffy's Gear Fifth, where Luffy's attacks are best described as the antics of ''Tom and Jerry'', something that was ''confirmed by the writer himself in an interview'']].
135	** Chuck Jones inventing the Road Runner series to parody how simplistic Tom and Jerry's chase formula was became poetic when he himself got a tenure on the series itself. It also came with a large dose of LetsSeeYouDoBetter as, by Jones' own admission, his own run didn't quite nail the dynamic Hanna-Barbara established.
136	* HoYay: The 1945 short "Flirty Birdy" revolves around Tom dressing himself in drag to seduce a male hawk who snatched Jerry from him. After much flirtation and shenanigans that would put ''WesternAnimation/PepeLePew'' to shame, the cartoon ends with the two apparently married and Tom (somehow) laying eggs.
137	* HypeBacklash: Widely considered to be one of the greatest theatrical cartoon series from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, but in the internet age, a handful of notable animation personalities like Creator/JohnKricfalusi and ''Cartoon Brew'' editor Amid Amidi have criticized the shorts for their [[StrictlyFormula formulaic stories]] and alleged "workman-like" animation. Animation historian Michael Barrier is also not a fan of the series, claiming that nothing actually happens in the cartoons (alternatively describing the majority of the shorts' events as merely distractions from definitive plot, characterization or 'real' gags).
138	* ItWasHisSled: Some episodes' endings generally aren't treated like {{spoiler}}s (e.g. the ending of "WesternAnimation/TheTwoMouseketeers").
139	* ItsShortSoItSucks: A common criticism of Chuck Jones' shorts. Although the return to the iconic cat-and-mouse slapstick was appreciated by audiences, half of said shorts clocked in at less than six minutes.
140	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Guess which character is more disliked by the community--the DumbBlonde who neglects her duties as a babysitter or the [[CatsAreMean mean cat]] who has zero qualms against trying to eat other animals? (Granted, the latter is often subjected to DracoInLeatherPants.)
141	* JerkassWoobie: Although he can exemplify CatsAreMean and he's often ([[HoistbyHisOwnPetard and usually ironically]]) punished for his own cruelty towards Jerry, there are times where Tom becomes the Jerry's victim without provocation, and Jerry sometimes [[DisproportionateRetribution goes way too far in his retaliations]]. He's also often mistreated by several other characters (including his owners and Spike) for little to no good reason. "Un-Welcome Home" also implies his [[BigBrotherBully brother bullied him since he was little]]. For the most part, Tom chases Jerry away because he's '''ordered''' to do so, rather than any actual malice towards the mouse.
142	* MisaimedMerchandising: Tom & Jerry [[http://fudak.gomalaysia.com.my/en/prod/27972 baby diapers]] by Onwards.
143	* MorePopularReplacement: Tom's female owner from "Buddies Thicker than Water", one of the few Creator/GeneDeitch shorts to receive somewhat better reviews than the others, isn't as disliked as the cat's fat, Clint Clobber-esque owner (the less said about that disgrace to the human race, the better) since she is much more mellow and doesn't resort to over-the-top physical punishments like he does. Though there is the implications that she threw her own cat out in the snow and was planning on doing so once more if Tom didn’t so to Jerry.
144	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
145	** The opening theme in the Hanna-Barbera shorts as a whole would fit under this, but it's the conclusion of the theme (as the "Produced by Fred Quimby" title card would appear) that's especially beautiful.
146	** One of the best inclusions of the Gene Deitch era was adding a closing fanfare version of the theme when the cartoon ended.
147	** Tom's iconic "leather-lunged scream" (as described by Website/TheOtherWiki), performed by Hanna himself.
148	** The loud rifle crack when someone takes a massive hit from something or a few other instances like a light bulb breaking or an actual gun going off.
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151	[[folder:N-S]]
152	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames:
153	** ''The House Trap'' on the [=PS1=], which is a decently fun ''Spy vs Spy'' clone with a well-designed home level.
154	** ''Fists of Furry'' on the [=N64=]. A ''Tom and Jerry'' fighting game might sound like a recipe for disaster, but the end result is a competent ''VideoGame/PowerStone'' clone with the cartoon's slapstick elements mixing into the formula very nicely. It later got a spiritual sequel for the [=PS2=] and Gamecube with ''War of the Whiskers''.
155	** ''VideoGame/TomAndJerryChase'' for mobile devices (Simply titled ''"猫和老鼠"'' for the original Chinese Region app). It plays vaguely similarly to [=NetEase=] Games' other work, "Identity V", but in 2D and with a more light-hearted tone that fits the source material.
156	* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: While the original Hanna and Barbera shorts are generally considered the best, most of the revival projects done under them are just as contentious as those by other creative teams (especially the 1970s TV series). Even within their initial run, some fans are divided whether the series decayed or not when Hanna and Barbera doubled as producer for the series in Fred Quimby's absence.
157	* PopCulturalOsmosis: Tom and Jerry are named for two characters from a 1932 short story by Damon Runyon, who in turn named his characters after a Christmas-time cocktail, which is itself named for two characters from the 19th century play ''Tom and Jerry, or Life in London'' by William Moncrieff which is itself adapted from the novel ''Life in London'' by Pierce Egan. Prior to MGM's ''Tom and Jerry'' there had been a previous short-lived animated duo, a pair of Mutt and Jeff types, called Tom and Jerry from the early 30's. These days you'd be hard pressed to find many people who, upon hearing the names "Tom and Jerry," wouldn't think of the animated cat and mouse first, if they thought, or even knew, of the names' previous uses at all.
158	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The UsefulNotes/{{SNES}} game is just another bland platformer, where the player, as Jerry, plays through a series of stages, running around until he hits the end of each stage and fights Tom. Along the way, he can pick up peas that he can use to throw at his enemies. The music is composed of nothing but random beeps. The game's multiplayer aspect is no better; to quote a Website/YouTube commentator:
159	-->So, lemme get this straight, both players, not even playing at the same time, have to complete the level, and if one dies they switch.
160	* RonTheDeathEater: Although the titular Tom has gotten this treatment, Jerry gets it more frequently. Yes, he's '''not''' a saint in canon, but multiple fans make him out to be an outright malicious monster simply for sometimes going overboard with his retaliations against [[ArchEnemy Tom]]. Regardless if it was provoked or not. A few people even portray Jerry as a [[{{Squick}} pedophile who molests his underaged cousin/nephew, Nibbles/Tuffy]], when [[PapaWolf he's anything but]] in canon. Many also claim he's actually the show's true villain and the instigator in ''all'' his and Tom's altercations. The truth is that neither him nor Tom are by any means innocent, being victim and provoker in almost equal measure. However, the latter just gets the DracoInLeatherPants pass more often because he's an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who gets more abuse. And even then there were some occasions [[TeamRocketWins Tom won]] undeserved instead, like [[spoiler:"Spike Gets Skooled [sic]"]].
161	** Many fans give Jerry flack for his actions in "The Million Dollar Cat" where he constantly torments Tom while the cat's under the stipulation that he must not harm a living animal or he will lose his million dollars[[note]]One million in the 40s is considered at least '''20''' million today.[[/note]]. This is despite the fact that the cartoon starts with Jerry tied up and an apple over his head while Tom was throwing darts at him. Not hard to see why he took the opportunity to retaliate.
162	* RootingForTheEmpire: Tom. This actually made its way in-universe to some extent. Allegedly Hanna and Barbera got several letters from fans rather irked by the heavy punishment Tom suffered in many early shorts. As a result, many more later shorts actually let Tom [[TeamRocketWins get the last laugh]] (most of which were karmic victories due to Jerry starting the feud).
163	* SacredCow: The original Hanna-Barbera shorts (at least before 1955) are beyond reproach. They capture everything great about the Golden Age of Animation, and the later shorts receive nowhere near the same level of praise. It is, however, acceptable to criticize the shorts for their racial stereotypes, but that's it. ''Tom and Jerry'' is one of the only cartoons that absolutely ''everyone'', no matter what generation they're from or what language they speak, can enjoy.
164	* TheScrappy:
165	** Quacker Duck. Not only does he talk ''nonstop'', but many a viewer has struggled to understand what he's saying. Episodes focusing around him, especially his later appearances, often make him a tagalong who bothers both Tom and Jerry (particularly in "Happy Go Ducky") and an unlikeable {{Determinator}} who frequently ignores Jerry's counsel in episodes like "Southbound Duckling" and "That's My Mommy". In [[AlliterativeTitle "Downhearted Duckling"]], [[DrivenToSuicide he resorts to suicide]] despite Jerry's efforts to snap him out of it.
166	** The Clint Clobber-esque owner from the Creator/GeneDeitch shorts, who lashes out at Tom [[DisproportionateRetribution for simple mistakes]] and beats him in shockingly agonizing ways that would make animal lovers (especially cat lovers) and PETA scream in horror[[labelnote:Which include...]] Stomping on one his paws, searing Tom's face with a grill, [[ForceFeeding forcing Tom to drink an entire bottle of carbonated soda]], wrapping a shotgun around Tom's head and then firing it (causing Tom to go deaf), slamming Tom's face with a thermos lid, and slamming Tom's fingers against a lid of his lunchbox (we're also treated to a close-up of Tom's flattened fingers).[[/labelnote]]. It doesn't help that we're supposed to find this [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it's clearly anything but. The fact that he was only featured in three of the thirteen shorts speaks volumes of how much of a disgrace he is to the ''Tom and Jerry'' franchise.
167	** Jeannie the babysitter--not only does she treat the telephone as more important than the baby, she beats up Tom for "bothering" the baby although he was doing ''exactly what Jeannie was paid to do''. If that didn't solidify her status, then having Tom and Jerry arrested for "kidnapping" the baby certainly did.
168	* SeasonalRot: The original Hanna-Barbera shorts are considered by some to have gone downhill in 1955, around the time Fred Quimby stepped down as producer and Hanna and Barbera themselves took his place. Common points of contention are a notable increase in [[RecycledScript rehashed plots]] (e.g. "The Vanishing Duck", which has the same plot as "The Invisible Mouse" a decade earlier), cheaper looking animation/backgrounds, a decline in slapstick, and simplified character designs. Not helping matters is shorts like "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues" (which is extremely controversial among fans for its depressing tone and [[SpurnedIntoSuicide ending]]) and the final short, "Tot Watchers" (which is disowned by fans for being a copy of [[AlliterativeTitle "Busy Buddies"]] two years earlier, the lack of {{Slapstick}}, and the mean-spirited ending with Tom and Jerry being accused of baby-napping and arrested, [[AllForNothing plus all their efforts practically being wasted]]).
169	* SoOkayItsAverage:
170	** Those who don't outright hate or love the Gene Deitch shorts state that, looking past the DerangedAnimation, they are pretty decent in their own right, and can actually capture the ''Tom and Jerry'' spirit rather well at times.
171	** Ditto for the Creator/ChuckJones shorts. While they are nowhere near as beloved as the original Hanna-Barbera directed shorts, they're generally considered to be much better than Gene Deitch's shorts.
172	* {{Squick}}:
173	** "Heavenly Puss": The implied causes of death of the cats in line for the train -- most particularly the kittens in a burlap sack.
174	** In "The Karate Guard", the samurai bulldog slices through Tom top-to-bottom at one point. Tom is facing the camera and we don't see anything, but we heard this disturbing ''wet'' sound of stuff falling out before he faints out of frame. Jerry stares at the audience with a wide-eyed look of shock!
175	** The infamous "WesternAnimation/TheTwoMouseketeers" cartoon, in which Tom is '''[[OffWithHisHead beheaded]]''', albeit [[GoryDiscretionShot off-camera]] for obvious reasons.
176	** "High Steaks" has Tom's owner giving him a shaken-up bottle of soda, and then Tom '''swallows''' it, becoming the shape of the soda bottle.
177	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
178	** The direct-to-video films (like "Tom & Jerry & The Magic Ring") feature a sound-alike to the classic ''Tom & Jerry'' theme. Averted in ''Spy Quest'', which springs for the original theme.
179	** In the case of "The Karate Guard", not only does the opening horn fanfare sound similar to the ones in the classic cartoons, but Warner Bros. designed their VanityPlate to look ''very'' identical to MGM's blue-background cartoon intro ([[WritingAroundTrademarks they can't use the logo itself because MGM is still a separate company]] -- they just own the pre-1986 stuff thanks to the 1996 merger with [[UsefulNotes/TedTurner Turner Broadcasting]], who acquired the library in 1986 after having MGM/UA for 74 days, then returning it).
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:T-W]]
183	* TakeThatScrappy: In "Sorry Safari", Tom's owner is mauled by a lion, attacked and chased by a rhino, and the short ends with him, Tom, and the rhino being captured and taken away. Many see this as justified karma for the abuse he gave Tom in his prior appearances, largely as a result of [[MisplacedRetribution Jerry messing with him.]]
184	* ToughActToFollow: Like most cartoon series from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, the original shorts are iconic. Any re-imaginings that followed are up for debate.
185	* UglyCute:
186	** [[BadassAdorable The tiny bulldog]] in "The Cat's Me-Ouch" and "Purr-Chance to Dream".
187	** Tom in the Chuck Jones shorts, due to the ArtShift.
188	* UnintentionallySympathetic: Tom. It's been said that you know you're a grown-up when you watch [=T&J=] and start rooting for him. Even in the episodes where Jerry '''wasn't''' harassing him, like "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues" Tom gets sympathy from fans for [[DidNotGetTheGirl not winning the affections of a female cat and losing her to Butch]]. He's even nearly SpurnedIntoSuicide at one point. Worse, you later realize that the female cat Tom was chasing after was a GoldDigger and very shallow which makes Tom's failure to get the girl a blessing of sorts, sure. But it also means he was wasting his time on someone who wouldn't have done right by him even if he succeeded in winning her over, which in some ways makes the episode that much more sadistic.
189	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Jerry, to the point most consider him a VillainProtagonist, as many episodes feature him as the instigator of the conflict. The few that don't, weren't written until he had a '''long''' history of brutally harassing and physically harming Tom, in some episodes even getting him killed off-screen. Making this worse, even in said episodes, he goes way too far in his retaliations. It doesn't help that he is consistently portrayed as a thief who steals much more food from Tom than he would ordinarily need.
190	* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Tom is quite possibly the most despised character on the show, as he is often beaten to a pulp by Spike (and by other dogs in some shorts), is double-teamed by whoever takes Jerry's side of the two's conflicts, and even his owners treat him like garbage. Yet despite all that, he's generally adored by the fans, as most of them even prefer to see him claim a victory against Jerry.
191	* ValuesDissonance:
192	** Like many works from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, the theatrical shorts frequently indulge in anti-black jokes, namely through copious use of {{blackface}} gags and depicting the Maid as a hapless and brutish servant who speaks in caricatured AAVE. Re-releases typically edit out the blackface bits, while the Maid was first replaced with a white woman before being reinserted and redubbed by Thea Vidale to sound less stereotypical.
193	** Some viewers outside the USA, as well as some Americans from later eras, are absolutely surprised the maid isn't the housewife/owner-- she reflects the social values of 1940s America and is a lowly ill-paid black servant.[[note]]Some cartoons muddy the waters by implying that it ''is'' her house, with her having a bedroom and making personal phone calls there; that being said, it's still possible she's a live-in servant.[[/note]]
194	** At the end of "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues", Tom and Jerry's superficial love interests both ditch them for richer suitors, leaving the pair heartbroken, so they both decide to commit suicide and put themselves out of their misery by waiting on train tracks for a train to come and run them over. A train starts to rumble along towards them, comical music starts playing, and the short irises out to the usual MGM logo outro, suggesting the coda was supposed to be another amusing punchline. SuicideAsComedy gags were pretty regular back then (the Looney Tunes has its fair share of them as well), but most modern day viewers find the suicide joke to be more disturbing than anything. And unlike most other SuicideAsComedy gags at that time, which usually involved guns, falls, or even drowning, being struck by a train carries far more gruesome implications (especially with the act in this case being off-screen).
195	** As mentioned elsewhere in the entry, some of what seems to be casual animal abuse today was commonplace at the time-- drowning a bag of unwanted kittens as seen in "Heavenly Puss" was a normal thing to happen, considered a bit cruel but continuing nonetheless. Likewise, kicking/throwing out a cat if it failed to catch mice, although exaggerated to make the owners {{Jerkass}}es (and presumably because Tom is sapient), was more acceptable at the time despite the efforts of many a KindheartedCatLover.
196	** Related to the above, the owner from the Gene Deitch shorts and his treatment of Tom would flat-out be considered animal abuse nowadays if it hadn't been considered such in the 1960s. The cartoons featuring him treated the abuse as funny, which would be suicidal in the age of PETA and other animal rights groups.
197	* ValuesResonance: What Jerry does for the Lion in "Jerry and the Lion" is actually a pretty noble thing to do when taking into consideration the modern views of circuses, especially after the calling out of animal abuse found within the likes of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Indeed, lions belong out in the jungle (or savannas) rather than in circuses at the mercy of whips and loud noises.
198	* ViewerGenderConfusion:
199	** It is easy for first-time viewers to assume that Jerry is a female since he has long eyelashes, [[MasculineLinesFeminineCurves round features]], [[PaleFemalesDarkMales a light color palette]], a tendency [[TakeThatKiss to kiss Tom,]] and a [[MamaBear motherly protectiveness]] over his sidekick, whether it be a younger mouse, baby bird, duckling, or puppy. He's even been [[CrossdressingVoices played by several voice actresses]] and his name can be a TomboyishName or feminine nickname.
200	** Nibbles/Tuffy can be victim to this, especially when written as older than an infant. Like Jerry, [[CrossdressingVoices he's been voiced by several voice actresses]]. For instance, the DTV movies have Creator/KathSoucie voicing him, and is especially jarring considering she voiced Lil and Phil from ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''. Also, he plays female characters in certain direct-to-video movies.
201	* ViewerNameConfusion:
202	** Many people believe the black maid's name is Mammy Two-Shoes. Although there's no evidence [[NoNameGiven she was ever even given a name]].
203	** A common misconception is that Jerry was originally named Jinx in his debut. However, unless one counts an apocryphal claim from Bill Hanna, there's no evidence suggesting that. Granted, it's debatable exactly what his name was; MGM's press on the short claims he was intially named Pee-Wee while Joe Barbera claimed he was originally [[NoNameGiven nameless]].
204	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Thanks to MGM's hefty budgets and the skilled work of several master animators, the original shorts feature some of the best character animation by a non-Disney studio. This is particularly true of the 1940s shorts, when the majority of the shorts' runtime was heavily populated with surprisingly nuanced and expressive character animation from the likes of Ray Patterson, Irv Spence and Ken Muse, in addition to similarly impressive effects work (the effects animation in ''Heavenly Puss'' for the hell scenes is still stunning nearly a century later).
205	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Much like classic ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and many other theatrical cartoons of the era, the classic ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts were originally made with adult audiences in mind, to be showcased in theatres before the main movie (hence the name "theatrical shorts"). The MoralGuardians who criticize ''Tom and Jerry'' for its famously violent {{Slapstick}} being unsuitable for children [[StrawmanHasAPoint aren't entirely wrong]], since the shorts weren't intended to be watched by children. Thanks to the AnimationAgeGhetto myth, and the violence in ''Tom and Jerry'' being strictly slapstick with no blood or gore, many, ''many'' people out there still believe that ''Tom and Jerry'' is for kids, so it can still come as quite a shock for Moral Guardians when fans who researched the era tell them, "''Tom and Jerry'' isn't suitable for children, you say? That's because it was originally made for adults."
206	[[/folder]]

Context YMMV / TomAndJerry