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Tom and Jerry
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Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry (also known as Tom & Jerry) is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.
Created in 1940 as the MGM cartoon studio struggled to compete with Walt Disney Productions and Leon Schlesinger Productions, Tom and Jerry's initial short-film titled Puss Gets the Boot proved successful in theaters and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Cartoon). Hanna and Barbera later directed a total of 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for its initial MGM run from 1940 to 1958. During this time, they won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. After the MGM cartoon studio closed in 1957, MGM revived the series with Gene Deitch directing an additional thirteen Tom and Jerry shorts for Rembrandt Films in Czechoslovakia, from 1961 to 1962. Tom and Jerry became the highest-grossing animated short-film series of that time, overtaking Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones produced another 34 shorts with Sib Tower 12 Productions between 1963 and 1967. Five more shorts have been produced since 2001, making a total of 166 shorts.
A number of spin-offs have been made, including the television series The Tom and Jerry Show (1975), The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (1980–1982), Tom & Jerry Kids (1990–1993), Tom and Jerry Tales (2006–2008), and The Tom and Jerry Show (2014–2021). In 1992, the first feature-length film based on the series, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, was released. Thirteen direct-to-video films have been produced since 2002. In 2019, a musical adaptation of the series, titled Tom and Jerry: Purr-Chance to Dream, debuted in Japan, in advance of Tom and Jerry's 80th anniversary. In 2021, the live-action/animated hybrid film Tom and Jerry was released, while a Chinese-American computer-animated film, Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass, premiered in June 2025.
The series features comic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a house mouse (Jerry). The plots of many shorts are often set in the backdrop of a house, centering on Tom (who is often enlisted by a human) trying to capture Jerry, and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck. However, on several occasions, they have displayed genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being. At other times, the pair set aside their rivalry in order to pursue a common goal, such as when a baby escapes the watch of a negligent babysitter, causing Tom and Jerry to pursue the baby and keep it away from danger, in the shorts Busy Buddies and Tot Watchers respectively. Despite their endless attacks on one another, they have saved each other's lives every time they were truly in danger, with the exception of The Two Mouseketeers and Blue Cat Blues.
The cartoons are known for their violent gags; Tom uses axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry, and Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent, with frequent success, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron or a mangle, kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, letting a tree or electric pole drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, etc. While Tom and Jerry has often been criticized as excessively violent, there is no blood or gore in any scene.
Music plays a very important part in the shorts, emphasizing the action, bringing in humor, filling in for traditional sound effects, and lending emotion to the scenes. Musical director Scott Bradley created complex scores that combined elements of jazz, classical, and pop music. Bradley often used contemporary pop songs and songs from other films, including MGM films like The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St. Louis.
Even though Tom and Jerry almost never speak, the shorts also often had dialogue from other characters. Minor characters are not similarly limited, and the two lead characters speak English on rare occasions. For example, the character Mammy Two Shoes has lines in nearly every cartoon in which she appears. Most of the vocal effects used for Tom and Jerry are their high-pitched laughs and gasping screams.
Tom, named "Jasper" in his debut appearance, is a gray and white domestic shorthair cat. "Tom" is a generic name for a male cat. He is usually but not always, portrayed as living a comfortable, or even pampered life, while Jerry, whose name is not explicitly mentioned in his debut appearance, is a small, brown house mouse who always lives in close proximity to Tom. Despite being very energetic, determined and much larger, Tom is no match for Jerry's wits. Jerry possesses surprising strength for his size, approximately the equivalent of Tom's, lifting items such as anvils with relative ease and withstanding considerable impacts.
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Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry (also known as Tom & Jerry) is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.
Created in 1940 as the MGM cartoon studio struggled to compete with Walt Disney Productions and Leon Schlesinger Productions, Tom and Jerry's initial short-film titled Puss Gets the Boot proved successful in theaters and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Cartoon). Hanna and Barbera later directed a total of 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for its initial MGM run from 1940 to 1958. During this time, they won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. After the MGM cartoon studio closed in 1957, MGM revived the series with Gene Deitch directing an additional thirteen Tom and Jerry shorts for Rembrandt Films in Czechoslovakia, from 1961 to 1962. Tom and Jerry became the highest-grossing animated short-film series of that time, overtaking Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones produced another 34 shorts with Sib Tower 12 Productions between 1963 and 1967. Five more shorts have been produced since 2001, making a total of 166 shorts.
A number of spin-offs have been made, including the television series The Tom and Jerry Show (1975), The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (1980–1982), Tom & Jerry Kids (1990–1993), Tom and Jerry Tales (2006–2008), and The Tom and Jerry Show (2014–2021). In 1992, the first feature-length film based on the series, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, was released. Thirteen direct-to-video films have been produced since 2002. In 2019, a musical adaptation of the series, titled Tom and Jerry: Purr-Chance to Dream, debuted in Japan, in advance of Tom and Jerry's 80th anniversary. In 2021, the live-action/animated hybrid film Tom and Jerry was released, while a Chinese-American computer-animated film, Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass, premiered in June 2025.
The series features comic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a house mouse (Jerry). The plots of many shorts are often set in the backdrop of a house, centering on Tom (who is often enlisted by a human) trying to capture Jerry, and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck. However, on several occasions, they have displayed genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being. At other times, the pair set aside their rivalry in order to pursue a common goal, such as when a baby escapes the watch of a negligent babysitter, causing Tom and Jerry to pursue the baby and keep it away from danger, in the shorts Busy Buddies and Tot Watchers respectively. Despite their endless attacks on one another, they have saved each other's lives every time they were truly in danger, with the exception of The Two Mouseketeers and Blue Cat Blues.
The cartoons are known for their violent gags; Tom uses axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry, and Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent, with frequent success, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron or a mangle, kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, letting a tree or electric pole drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, etc. While Tom and Jerry has often been criticized as excessively violent, there is no blood or gore in any scene.
Music plays a very important part in the shorts, emphasizing the action, bringing in humor, filling in for traditional sound effects, and lending emotion to the scenes. Musical director Scott Bradley created complex scores that combined elements of jazz, classical, and pop music. Bradley often used contemporary pop songs and songs from other films, including MGM films like The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St. Louis.
Even though Tom and Jerry almost never speak, the shorts also often had dialogue from other characters. Minor characters are not similarly limited, and the two lead characters speak English on rare occasions. For example, the character Mammy Two Shoes has lines in nearly every cartoon in which she appears. Most of the vocal effects used for Tom and Jerry are their high-pitched laughs and gasping screams.
Tom, named "Jasper" in his debut appearance, is a gray and white domestic shorthair cat. "Tom" is a generic name for a male cat. He is usually but not always, portrayed as living a comfortable, or even pampered life, while Jerry, whose name is not explicitly mentioned in his debut appearance, is a small, brown house mouse who always lives in close proximity to Tom. Despite being very energetic, determined and much larger, Tom is no match for Jerry's wits. Jerry possesses surprising strength for his size, approximately the equivalent of Tom's, lifting items such as anvils with relative ease and withstanding considerable impacts.