[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tom_and_jerry_tales_hd.jpg]]

''Tom and Jerry Tales'' was a modern {{Revival}} of the ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'' franchise which began production in 2005 and ran in the United States from [[UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation September 23, 2006 to March 22, 2008]] on Creator/KidsWB It is the fourth television show in the ''Tom & Jerry'' franchise and probably the most well-received.

Episodes used a ThreeShorts format, mirroring the length and format of the original theatrical shorts. Secondary characters from the original series returned, many for the first time since the 1950s. WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}} even starred in a few shorts alongside Tom and Jerry. It may have lacked some of the madcap {{slapstick}} violence of the original shorts, and towards the end relied too heavily on RecycledInSpace-styled plots, but it tends to be viewed as better in comparison to past (and [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow2014 later]]) ''Tom & Jerry'' adaptations, as well as other cartoons on at the time.

The DirectToVideo ''WesternAnimation/{{Tom and Jerry|DirectToVideoFilmSeries}}'' movies made since the series ended are somewhat of a SpiritualSuccessor, having the same animation and writing style. It used to air reruns on Creator/CartoonNetwork from 2011-2017 and is currently airing reruns on Creator/{{Boomerang}}.
----
!!{{Trope}}s in this series:
* FiveFiveFive: In "A Life Less Guarded", Tom's phone number is 555-0178.
* AccordionMan: Or "Accordion Cat"; after Tom gets SquashedFlat in "Feeding Time", he ends up like an accordion.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Most of the time, Jerry is shown to be an absolute sadist who provokes Tom or gets him into trouble just for laughs. All while wearing an open-mouth smile. This is in contrast to the classic shorts, in which Jerry was either just out for food, Tom went after him on his own, or one of Tom's often-abusive owners forced him to.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:"Game of Mouse & Cat".]]
* AmicableAnts: In "Little Big Mouse", Tom [[PetTheDog gives a cube of ice to a little ant who is nearly dying with the heat]]. Minutes later, Jerry takes advantage of the nap Tom and his owner are taking in front of the open fridge to snatch all the food for a picnic outside, causing Tom to be unfairly kicked out of the house. The little ant reappears to ask some of the food Jerry has stolen, but he refuses to share. She proceeds to steal the food from under Jerry's nose until the humiliated mouse is forced to toss the towel. [[spoiler:Then she shares it [[AndroclesLion with Tom]]]].
%%zce* AmusingInjuries: It wouldn't be ''Tom & Jerry'' otherwise.
* AntagonistInMourning: Tom in "Bats What I Like About the South" creates a tombstone of Jerry and crying for him, not aware that Jerry is alive and scaring him with a bat who looks like him.
* AnimationBump: In the opening sequence and the first few episodes. Sadly, this didn't really last.
* ArtShift: One later short, "Game of Mouse & Cat", features the duo as they looked in their early 1940s shorts.
* BadassBiker: Tom rides on his motorcycle in "Xtreme Trouble".
* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: In "Babysitting Blues", both Tom and Jerry babysit their respective nephews.
* BeachEpisode: "Beach Bully Bingo".
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: An implied one with [[spoiler:the ant in "Little Big Mouse". She doesn't seem to have any motivation to help Tom defeat [[ArchEnemy Jerry]] other than the former being kind to her. Granted, food might've had at least some part in it, but even then, she's fine with sharing it with Tom]].
* TheCameo: Wolfie, from Tex Avery's ''WesternAnimation/RedHotRidingHood'' and numerous Droopy shorts, appears as a ghost in "Spook House Mouse". [[BearsAreBadNews Joe Bear]], an [[NoIndoorVoice extremely loud bear]] who hates noise from Tex Avery's ''Rock-a-bye Bear'', makes a cameo in the episode "Sasquashed".
* CoolBoard: Jerry rides on his Skateboard in "Xtreme Trouble".
* ChekhovsGunman: At the end of "Northern Light Fish Fight," the fish is ultimately eaten by [[spoiler:the polar bear sighted briefly in the short's opening pan]].
* ConstructionZoneCalamity: "Deconstruction Junction" and "Jackhammered Cat".
* ContinuityNod: At the end of "Babysitting Blues", Tom and Jerry both leave (after not wanting to watch their sisters' kids any longer) to go fishing. Guess what they're doing in "Catfish Follies?"
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In "A Life Less Guarded", Tom and Droopy are training to become lifeguards at a city pool. While Tom is sabotaging Droopy to get the job, Jerry is retaliating by sabotaging Tom to help Droopy. Tom then ends up needing to be saved when he gets stomach cramps after eating a whole pizza in the pool. Droopy rescues him and starts bouncing on his chest to squeeze the water out of his mouth, and even goes as far as to give him mouth-to-mouth. The look on Jerry's face is ''priceless''.
--> '''Lifeguard trainer:''' You know, I almost hope he doesn't wake up.
* CruelTwistEnding: In the ending of "Which Witch", Tom & Jerry put the two witches' brooms together to break their curse, revealing to be [[spoiler: two bulldogs who been turned into witches by [[Main/TheGhost their master]] and chased Tom & Jerry because a cat and mouse was the cause of them becoming witches.]]
* DependingOnTheArtist: In season 2, the show was animated by three overseas studios: Creator/RoughDraftStudios, Creator/YearimProductions, and Creator/ToonCity. Rough Draft episodes tended to be on-model but with [[LimitedAnimation less in-betweens]], while Yearim and Toon City opted for [[AnimationBump fuller animation.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Tom defends Tyke from the out-of-control tennisball shooter, but he misses one, and it slowly shoots up and barely hits Tyke, but Spike takes this as "playing rough" anyway. It also counts as MisplacedRetribution because it was Jerry who got the shooter out of control.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: In "Hi, Robot", Jerry briefly checks out a RobotGirl that he's in love with.
* EnemyMine: In a few shorts. For example, in "Cry Uncle", the duo teams up to get rid of Jerry's annoying Uncle Pecos (who first appeared in 1953's "WesternAnimation/PecosPest").
* EtTuBrute: Type III. When Jerry learns the [[RobotGirl female "mouse"]] he's in love with was actually working for [[ArchEnemy Tom]], thus implying she never liked him in the first place, he's clearly hurt.
* TheFaceless: Mrs. Two-Shoes and most other human characters in the series don't show their faces (though part of the former's face is very briefly shown in "A Game of Mouse and Cat").
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Hi Robot!", after rebuilding a toy mouse into a RobotGirl to capture Jerry, Tom sometimes looks visually annoyed and strained while trying to control her. [[spoiler:This was apparently hinting that she ultimately becomes a sentient living]].
* FierySensuality: In "Freaky Tiki", Tom and Jerry anger a shapely Hawaiian volcano goddess who wears nothing but a bikini top and skirt made of flames.
* FingerSnappingStreetGang: In "League of Cats", when Tom is recruited into the "cat mafia" to scare mice, Jerry and other mice create the League of Mice. Jerry summons them with a BadassFingersnap, and then all the mice started singing and finger-snapping, scaring cats into submission and beating the crap out of them. In fact, their song is a ShoutOut to aforementioned ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie''.
* GratuitousSpanish: A justified case in "Flamenco Fiasco". El Presidente, who's Hispanic, uses some [[UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage Spanish]] words.
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Tom pulls one in Cat Show Catastrophe.
* HandRubbing: At least once [[CatsAreMean Tom]] did the paw-equivalent via rubbing them together.
* HollywoodPrehistory: Oddly ZigZagged in "Pre-hysterics". The beginning of the episode seemingly has the non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs going extinct (via an [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology ice age]] rather than a giant asteroid) allowing the mammals to take over just as in real life, but later on, Tom and Jerry deal with a ''Tyrannosaurus'' and a few ''Pteranodon'' show up, including one that snatches Tom away at the end of the episode. Are the ''Tyrannosaurus'' and ''Pteranodon'' [[LivingDinosaurs survivors]] or something?
* HumanoidFemaleAnimal:
** Tom's taste in cat-women hasn't changed.
** There's also the lionesses in "You're Lion".
* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The premise of "A Game of Mouse and Cat", where Jerry is inexplicably the intimidating house pet trying to catch Tom. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a virtual simulation Jerry is in, while Tom has a go chasing a terrified Spike around.]]
* KnottyTentacles: The titular Jerry once tricked Tom, who was trying to [[SquashedFlat step on him]], into getting his legs twisted together.
* LampshadeHanging: During "Game of Mouse & Cat":
-->'''Butch:''' Does anything about this "Mouse chases cat" thing seem off to you?\\
'''Tom:''' (Shakes head no)\\
'''Butch:''' Yeah, me neither.
* LastNoteNightmare: For some strange reason, the last note is a dissonant chord after a fairly upbeat theme song.
* LavaSurfing: Also the trope image. Tom does this with a shield to escape from Pele, the Goddess of Flame in "Freaky Tiki."
* LimitedAnimation: Some of the episodes suffer from looping animation. This is otherwise [[AvertedTrope averted]] as the show actualy has rather fluid animation.
* ManEatingPlant: In "Monkey Chow", Tom was eaten by a Man Eating Plant.
* MimeAndMusicOnlyCartoon: Most episodes.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: When a tennis ball harmlessly bounces off of Tyke's nose in "Game, Set, Match", Spike proceeds to beat on Tom for being "too rough" with him.
* NeverMyFault: "24-Karat Cat" ends with Tom and Butch being arrested for trying to steal Jerry's gold. Butch, who spent most of the episode goading Tom into stealing Jerry's gold, says he knew they shouldn't do it. Tom, glaring at him as he says so, pounces and assaults him for the comment.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:"Beefcake Tom" has Jerry (who serves as the episode's VillainAntagonist) successfully making Tom, who was trying to get fit, buff. What happens next? Tom uses him for a dumbbell]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Tex Avery's cameo in "A Life Less Guarded".
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: In "Monster Con", Tom has transformed in to a werewolf cat, after being bitten by a werewolf.
* PiranhaProblem: One episode, "Piranha Be Loved By Me", has Tom (and in some instances Jerry) repeatedly pursued by a piranha.
* PunBasedTitle: Numerous episode titles.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: In "Feeding Time", Spike does this as he bashes Tom against the sign that says:
-->'''Spike:''' DO! NOT! FEED! THE! ANIMALS!
* RaceLift: The maid was brought back for the series, only she was recolored white and had a voice that sounded like a Southern accent (much like the actual maid, only her grammar isn't broken). The maid was a controversial character because she portrayed [[{{Mammy}} several black stereotypes]] that were widespread in the 1940s, so the decision to make her white was to make the modern-day shorts politically correct.
* RapidAging: The ''T. rex'' and the ''Triceratops'' in "Din-O-Sores" quickly grow into adults moments after hatching from their eggs.
* RecycledINSPACE: The duo is in the Middle Ages, prehistoric times, the US Revolutionary War... and even, indeed, IN SPACE!!
* {{Robosexual}}: In "Hi Robot!", Tom rebuilds a toy mouse into a RobotGirl to trick Jerry into falling in love with her (which he does). [[spoiler:But in the end, she develops emotions and falls in love with Jerry, giving Tom a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for wanting to hurt Jerry]].
* {{Sentai}}: The Amazing Acquaintances are a variation of this. Notable in that they get their powers from the "Power Rings".
* SewerGator: After Tom and Jerry drive through the New York sewers in "Joy Riding Jokers", they are more than a little surprised to see that a white alligator somehow managed to get in the car's back seat.
* ShoutOut: To a lot of Creator/TexAvery shorts; in "A Life Less Guarded", the man auditioning Tom and Droopy for a lifeguard job is a caricature of Avery, and one of the few human characters whose face is fully visible in the series. His assistant [[MsFanservice Miss Shapely]] is a comely blonde, referring to Avery's penchant for gorgeous women in his pictures.
* SlasherSmile: The alien in "Invasion of the Body Slammers" when impersonating Tom and Jerry.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Tom once entered a cat show and Jerry and Nibbles decided to sabotage him. One of their plans included adding lemon juice at his voice spray for his {{Theatre/Pagliacci}} act. With the sounds he made once the juice took effect, the narrator assumed (and announced) that Tom gave up opera and decided to imitate bird songs. Tom decided to play along.
* SwappedRoles: Jerry pursues Tom in "Game of Mouse & Cat", despite being much smaller than a cat. However, this also means he gets dealt a bit of slapstick punishment normally reserved for Tom. [[spoiler:It turns out it was a simulation run by Jerry]].
* TagAlongKid: Nibbles in a few shorts.
* TeamRocketWins[=/=]ThrowTheDogABone: Similar to the original shorts, Tom gets a rare victory every now and then.
* ThreeShorts
* ThroughAFaceFullOfFur: In "Spook House Mouse", the duo goes through a carnival funhouse and come out so scared that their fur is permanently bleached white. They then end up getting jobs at the carnival as an albino cat and mouse.
* WalkThroughTheCamera: In the short "You're Lion", where Tom and Jerry saw many lions in a dark hut. Tom runs away towards the camera, and runs back out.
* WerewolvesAreDogs: The werewolf in "Monster Con" acts like a big, playful dog.
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Tom actually manipulates this in "Little Big Mouse". Seeming to get wise to the "smaller cuter underdog creature always wins" formula, he retaliates to Jerry stealing food by getting an even smaller and cuter-looking ant to steal it all back for him, and takes pleasure in watching Jerry convert into a bumbling pursuer for once.
----