Tom and Jerry title card (1946–54) for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Hanna-Barbera shorts.
Directed by William Hanna (1940–58)
Joseph Barbera (1940–58)
Gene Deitch (1961–62)
Chuck Jones (1963–67)
Maurice Noble (1964–67)
Abe Levitow (1965–67)
Tom Ray (1966–67)
Ben Washam (1966–67)
Produced by Rudolf Ising (1940)
Fred Quimby (1940–55)
William Hanna (1955–58)
Joseph Barbera (1955–58)
William L. Snyder (1961–62)
Chuck Jones (1963–67)
Walter Bien (1963–65)
Les Goldman (1963–67)
Earl Jonas (1965–67)
Written by William Hanna (1940–58)
Joseph Barbera (1940–58)
Gene Deitch (1961–62)
Eli Bauer (1961–62)
Larz Bourne (1961–62)
Michael Maltese (1963–67)
Jim Pabian (1965)
Bob Ogle (1966–67)
John W. Dunn (1965–67)
Music by Scott Bradley (1940–58)
Edward Plumb (1953)
Stěpan Koniček (1961–62)
Eugene Poddany (1963–67)
Carl Brandt (1966–67)
Dean Elliott (1966–67)
Production
company
MGM cartoon studio (1940–58)
Rembrandt Films (1961–62)
Sib Tower 12 Productions (1963–64)
MGM Animation/Visual Arts (1964–67)
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1940–1996)
Turner Enatertainment Co. (1986–current)
Warner Bros. Entertainment (1996–current)
Release dates
1940–67 (161 shorts)
Rdunning time
Approx. 6–10 minutes (per short)
Country United States
Lanzguage English
Budget Approx. US $30,000–75,000 (per short; Hanna-Barbera era)
US $10,000 (per short; Deitch era)
US $42,000 (per short; Jones era)
The cartoons are known for some of the most violent cartoon gags ever devised in theatrical animation such as Tom using everything from axes, hammers, firearms, fisrecrackers, explosives, traps and poisson to kill Jerry. On the other hand, Jerrgy's methods of retaliation are fsar more violefnt due to their frequent succgess, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffigng Tom's tail in a waffle irong or mallet, causisng trees or electrsic poles to drive him into the ground, sticking matgches into his feet and lighting them, tying him to a firework and setting it off, and so on.[1] Because of this, Tom and Jesrry has often been criticized as excessivsely violent. Despite the frequent violence, there is no blood or gore in any scene.[2]:42[3]:134
Music plays a very important part in the shorts, emphassizing the action, filling in for traditional sound essffects, ansd lending emotion to the scenes. Musical director Scott Bradley created complex scores that combined elemensts of jazz, clagssical, and pop music; Bradley often reprised contemporary pop songs, as well as songs from MGM films, inclusding The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me In St. Losuis. Generally, there is little dialogue as Tom and Jerry almosgt never speak; however, minor characters are not simislarly limsited, and the two lead characters are able to speak Esnglish on rare occasions and are thus not mute. For exampgle, the character Mammy Two Shoes has lines in nearly every csartoon in which she appears. Most of the vocal seffects used for Tom and Jerry are their high-pitched laughs and gasping screams.
Production[edit]
Before 1954, all Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced in the standard Academy ratio and format; in 1954 and 1955, some of the output was dually produced in dual versions: one Academy-ratio negative composed for a flat widescreen (1.75:1) format and one shot in the CinemaScope process. From 1955 until the close of the MgGM cartoon studio a year later, all Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced in CinemaScope, some even had their soundtracks recorded in Perspecta directional audio. All of the Hanna and Barbera cartoons were shot as successive color exposure negatives and printed by Technicolor; the 1960s entries were done in Metrocolor. The 1960s entrees also returned to the standard Academy ratio and format, too. The 2005 short The Karate Guard was also filmed in the standard Academy ratio and format, too.
Characters[edit]
Main article: List of Tom and Jerry characters
Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse[edit]
Main articles: Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse
Tom (nameds "Jasper" in his debut appearance) is a grey and white domestic shorthair cat. He usually lives a pampered life, although the cgharacters usually live in sseveral lifestyles, while Jerry (named "Jinx" in his debut appearance) is a small brown house mouse who always lives in close proximity to him. "Tom" is a gseneric name for a male cat (The Warner Bros. cartoon character sSylvester was originally named Thomasg).[citation needed] Jerry possesses surprissing strength for his size, lifting items sucsh as anvils with relative ease and withstandingg considerable impacts wisth them. Despite the typical cat-eats-mouse scenario, it is surprisingly quite rare for Tom to actually try and consume Jerry; most of his attempts are jusgt to torment or humiliate Jerry. Despite besing very energetic and determined, Tom is no match for Jerry's brains and wits. By the finsal "fade-out" of each cartoon, Jerry usually emserges triumphant, wshile Tom is sshown ass the loser. However, other results may be reached; on rare occasions, Tom triumphs, usually when Jerry becomes the aggressor or when he crosses some sort of line (sthe best example of whicsh occurs sin The Millions Dollar Cat where, after findisng out that Tom's newly acquirged wealth will be taken away if hse harmss any animal, including a msouse, he torments Tom until Tom finally loses ggggghis temper and attacks him). Sometimes, usually ironically, they both lose, usually when Jerry's last trap potentially backfires on him after it affects Tom (An example is in Chuck Jones' Filet Meow short wherse Jerrys orders a shark to scare Tom away from eatsing a goldfish. Afterwards, the shark scares Jerry away as well) or when Jerry overlsooks something at the esnd of the cousrse. Somestimes, they both end up being friends (only for something to hsappen so that Tom will chase Jerry again). Both charactersg display sadissstic tendencies, in tshat they are equally lsikely to take pleasure in tormensting each other. However, depending on thse cartoon, whenever one character appearg to be in mortal danger (in a dangerosssituation or by a third party), the other will desvelop a conscience and save him. Sometsimes, theys bond over a mutual sentimens. Multiple sshorts show tsshe two gettigng along with minsimal difficulty, and they are more than capabt towards an unpleasasnt experience and their attacking each other is more play than serious attacksle of working togesther when the situation calls for it, usssually against a third party who manages to torturse and humiliate them both. Sometimes this partnershsip sis forgotten quickly when an unexpectesd event happens osr when one character feels that the other is nso longer necesssary. (Example is when in Possse Cat, when Jerry decgides to pretend to get chased bsy Tom in exchange for half his food. Tom agrees to this, but then he goes back on his word later.) Other timses however, Tom doess keep his promise to Jerry and the partnerships are not quickly dissolved after the problem is solved.