Thomas Cat and Jerry Mouse, the stars of a long-running series of short theatrical cartoons produced by MGM during The Golden Age of Animation, were the first characters created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. In the duo's first short, "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940), the cat's name was Jasper and the mouse, though left unnamed onscreen, was supposedly dubbed Jinx by the animators (according to Bill Hanna's autobiography, anyhow) and called Pee-Wee in a press release from the era.note
The characters gained their permanent names after an in-house contest staged by MGM, with animator John Carr submitting the winning entry. Carr may have been inspired by the names of the two young tearaways in the 1821 novel Life in London by Pierce Egan, or perhaps by the eggnog-like beverage known as "Tom and Jerry" (itself named after Egan's characters), or possibly even by the earlier, human animated duo created by Van Beuren Studios (for which Barbera worked at the dawn of his career) in the '30s. In any event, the Tom and Jerry series went on to become one of the most popular and successful of all time, earning 13 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and seven wins (including four in a row from 1943–46). The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was Disney's Silly Symphonies.
After MGM's animation unit closed in 1957, Hanna and Barbera started their TV animation studio. No new Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced until MGM revived the series in 1961, contracting it out to a Czechoslovakian-based production company supervised by American-born director Gene Deitch. Chuck Jones took over from Deitch two years later, returning production to Hollywood and directing new Tom and Jerry shorts for MGM until 1967.
On September 25, 1965, CBS introduced Tom and Jerry to television, broadcasting an Animated Anthology on Saturday mornings featuring the original '40s and '50s MGM shorts; this series ran until 1972. Throughout the rest of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, vintage T&J cartoons ran in syndication, usually alongside Droopy, Barney Bear, Tex Avery's MGM shorts, and MGM's other one-shots, with the duo taking top billing and the others simply listed as "and Friends".
From 1975–77, Hanna-Barbera produced a less violent The Tom and Jerry Show anthology for ABC, supported by a new character, the Great Grape Ape. This was followed by Filmation's 1980–82 version on CBS, which used the classic slapstick formula. Another series, Tom & Jerry Kids, ran on the Fox network from 1990–93. From 2006 to 2008, The CW's animation block included Tom and Jerry Tales, which continued with the slapstick humor of the theatrical shorts, as did a series of direct-to-video films. Tom and Jerry Tales was canceled after 4KidsTV took over Kids WB, but the movies have continued.
Warner Bros. acquired the rights to Tom and Jerry after purchasing Turner Broadcasting System, which in 1986 had purchased MGM's entire pre-1986 library. Interestingly, since then it seems like Warner has been treating Tom and Jerry better than their own Looney Tunes (probably due, in part, to the commercial bombing of Looney Tunes: Back in Action). Until 2017, Tom and Jerry was the only classic cartoon series to air consistently on Cartoon Network. Tom and Jerry has also been the only classic cartoon to air consistently on Boomerang, with the shorts airing since the channel's launch and they continue to do to this very day. Since acquiring the rights to Tom and Jerry, Warner has produced several direct-to-video movies — and Tom and Jerry Tales — which, for the most part, stay true to the classic T&J form. After which came the 2014's version of The Tom and Jerry Show, which is made in Adobe Flash but otherwise continues the usual format of the series.
A feature length Tom and Jerry film was released in 1992. There have also been some direct-to-video feature length Tom and Jerry films released since which are much closer to the premise. For a recap of that part of the filmography, see the Tom and Jerry Direct-to-Video Film Series. Another theatrical film was released in 2021, this one a mix of live-action and animation directed by Tim Story and with Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña as the main (human) stars; for this movie, Tom and Jerry were modeled after their original appearances, to the relief of those dreading a "realistic" CGI makeover. As a tie-in, the team behind the Looney Tunes Cartoons created two brand-new Tom and Jerry shorts exclusively for HBO Max.
Not to be confused with Van Beuren's Tom & Jerry
cartoons (which were renamed Dick & Larry in later home movie rereleases to avoid confusing them with the cat and mouse). Or, for that matter, the musical duo that went by the name "Tom and Jerry" for several years before switching to their real names. Also, despite what their names might tell you, neither Tom or Jerry are British and German respectively.
See also Nu, Pogodi!, a Soviet (now Russian) cartoon which, by sheer coincidence, bears an uncanny resemblance to Tom and Jerry despite its creators having never seen it before their show's creation.
Tom and Jerry media:
- Puss Gets the Boot (1940): The debut of the characters, and the short that establishes the series formula. Also the first of several Oscar-nominated shorts in the series.
- The Night Before Christmas (1941): Oscar nominee.
- Dog Trouble (1942)
- The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943): First T&J short to win an Oscar.
- Mouse Trouble (1944): Oscar winner.
- Mouse In Manhattan (1945)
- Tee for Two (1945)
- Flirty Birdy (1945)
- Quiet Please! (1945): Oscar winner.
- The Milky Waif (1946)
- The Cat Concerto (1947): Oscar winner.
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (1947): Oscar nominee.
- Kitty Foiled (1948)
- Mouse Cleaning (1948)
- The Little Orphan (1949): Oscar winner.
- Hatch Up Your Troubles (1949): Oscar nominee.
- Heavenly Puss (1949)
- Little Quacker (1950)
- Safety Second (1950)
- Saturday Evening Puss (1950)
- Cue Ball Cat (1950)
- Jerry's Cousin (1951): Oscar nominee.
- The Two Mouseketeers (1952): Oscar winner.
- Push Button Kitty (1952)
- Jerry and Jumbo (1953)
- Johann Mouse (1953): Oscar winner.
- Touché, Pussy Cat! (1954): Oscar nominee.
- Pet Peeve (1954): The first T&J short in Cinemascope.
- Blue Cat Blues (1956): A surprisingly sad short and probably the only one with a truly tragic ending.
- Tot Watchers (1958): The last-ever T&J short made by both Hanna and Barbera.
- Switchin' Kitten (1961): The first of the infamous Gene Deitch shorts.
- The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit (1962)
- Tall in the Trap (1962)
- The Cat Above and the Mouse Below (1964)
- Snowbody Loves Me (1964)
- The Cat's Me-Ouch! (1965)
- Duel Personality (1966)
- Cannery Rodent (1967)
- The Mansion Cat (2001): Made-for-TV short.
- The Karate Guard (2005): The final T&J theatrical short to date, and the last T&J short made by Barbera.
TV Shows
- The Tom and Jerry Show (1975)
- The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (1980-1982)
- Tom and Jerry's Funhouse on TBS (1986–1995)
- Tom & Jerry Kids (1990-1994)
- Tom and Jerry Tales (2006-2008)
- The Tom and Jerry Show (2014-2021)
- Tom And Jerry Special Shorts (2021): Two brand-new animated shorts for HBO Max, done by Pete Browngardt and the team behind the Max-exclusive Looney Tunes Cartoons.
- Tom and Jerry in New York (2021-present): HBO Max series.
- Tom And Jerry Time (TBA): A Cartoonito / HBO Max series.
Movies
- Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992): Theatrical film.
- Tom and Jerry Direct-to-Video Film Series:
- Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001)
- Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars (2005)
- Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry (2005)
- Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers (2006)
- Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007)
- Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010)
- Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz (2011)
- Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (2012)
- Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure (2013)
- Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon (2014)
- Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest (2015)
- Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (2016)
- Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (2017)
- Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! (2022)
- Tom and Jerry: Snowman's Land (2022)
- Tom & Jerry (2021): Theatrical film.
- Tom and Jerry: The Ultimate Game of Cat and Mouse! (1991)
- Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics! (1994)
- Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers (2002)
- Tom and Jerry: Chase (2019)
- MultiVersus (2022): Tom and Jerry are playable as The Dividual.
