Tom & Jerry Rewind
This is my second older re-post for new subscribers :)
A Slice of History
Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise with short animated films typically lasting between 5 and 7 minutes. Created by the prolific William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1940 and is best known for the 161 shorts created, initially by MGM Studios. When MGM Studios closed in 1957, the pair revived the animation with 13 more shorts, and, at this time, Tom and Jerry became the highest-grossing animated series of all time.
Hanna and Barbera produced 141 of these shorts between 1940 and 1968, winning an incredible seven Academy Awards, tying with Walt Disney for Silly Symphonies. Between 1963 and 1967, Chuck Jones produced a further 34 shorts. In 1975, they were again with Hanna and Barbera, who produced more of the cartoons for the next decade for Saturday morning TV until 1986.
Warner Bros. introduced Tom and Jerry Kids throughout the 1980s and 1990s as many cartoons underwent a ‘babyfication’, making many cartoon characters into babies for a growing younger market watching television.
Amazingly, in 2005, Joseph Barbera, who was 95 then, wrote and directed a theatrical short to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the cartoon. Many other producers kept the animation in their pockets until the last animation, for now, in 2021.
Centring on the rivalry between a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry) and many of the shorts feature several recurring characters. The animation is known for some of the most violent cartoon gags ever devised using axes, hammers, dynamite and firearms.
As the storyline develops, the music plays a pivotal role as voices are rarely heard in the cartoon, giving viewers a sense of the animated action.
Initially shown in theatres, the cartoons started appearing on television by 1965, although they were heavily edited to reflect a changing American society.
The Plot
The cartoon revolves around comic fights between house cat Tom and mouse Jerry and Tom’s numerous attempts to capture Jerry as mayhem unfolds from his actions. Tom rarely captures Jerry due to the mouse’s cunning abilities and smart-wittedness. Ironically, both characters are concerned for each other’s safety while continuing their endeavours.
The Characters
Tom
Tom is a grey, short-haired house cat often, but not always, seen to be living in luxury. Over the years, his image has been altered several times to make him seem softer to the eye to a culturally changing audience. He doesn’t have any other interests outside capturing Jerry by any means possible, and, on many occasions, this is not to eat his rival but rather to score points with his mistress.
Although Tom rarely talks when he has a voice part, he is heard with a smooth, sophisticated American accent.
Jerry
Jerry is often seen living in a mouse hole in Tom's house. Like Tom, his appearance has changed to move with the changing animation times. He was changing ears and hair. Jerry has surprising strength because of his size and ability to lift things like chairs, dogs, and anvils.
Like all the other characters, Jerry rarely speaks, typically having a higher-pitched voice than Tom when he does. Jerry will usually get the better of Tom!
Spike & Tyke
Tom also has to deal with Spike (also known as Killer and Butch), an angry bulldog who tries to attack him. Spike is often seen building his kennel, which is prevented by the antics of what he thinks is Tom, but Jerry has tricked him. Spike is usually brought into the action by Jerry, making him aware of Tom’s presence. Tyke only has minor roles in the cartoon as Spike’s son and always tries to be like his dad. In the 1940s, they had a short-lived spin-off cartoon made about them.
Nibbles
This tiny grey mouse has no concept of danger and relies on Jerry to save him. Although he only appears occasionally, he is used to adding more comedy to the animation with his carefree attitude. Again, he rarely speaks and has both a French and a very masculine voice.
Mammy Two Shoes
She became a controversial character as times changed from the 1940s. Initially, she is Tom’s owner and is seen as a heavy-set, middle-aged black woman who deals with the carnage the pair brings. She is voiced by Lillian Randolf. Over time, her character was edited and, with pressure from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), removed from the animation. See controversies.
Spin-Offs
Other Countries -The cartoon was easy to market to other countries as there were very few voices in the shows, which meant there weren’t many countries where the show hadn’t been seen. This made the cartoon accessible to many countries, especially in the late 1960s when distribution networks improved.
Videos—Thirteen straight-to-video movies were initially made by MGM Studios and then Warner Bros, which now owns the rights to the show.
Movies- There have been several Tom and Jerry movies, the first in 1992, with the most recent grossing $136.5m in 2021.
Musical - In 2019, a musical to celebrate the 80th anniversary (2020) was produced in Japan.
Others—Tom and Jerry's clothing remains a famous line, along with board games and soft toys.
Controversies
The cartoon has changed over time, trying hard to reflect cultural changes made through pressure from many outside agencies and cultural acceptance. With a video release in 2005 of old episodes, Whoopi Goldberg issues this disclaimer about the cartoon before it starts-
The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in U.S. society. These depictions were wrong then, and they are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today’s society, these cartoons are being presented as they were initially created because to do otherwise would be the same as these prejudices never existed.
Fun Facts
Tom was named Jasper in his debut, and Jerry was Jinx in pre-production.
The characters rarely speak, but Tom can do a wolf whistle.
Tom and Jerry were originally going to be a fox and a dog.
After the first cartoon was shown, MGM was undecided whether to commit to the cartoon. By chance, a letter from a prominent businesswoman (Bessa Short) asking for more of the cartoon made them decide.
The names Tom and Jerry were given their names in a studio contest which employee John Carr won (he did get $50 for it)
It was shown regularly in the UK for 33 years.
The Simpsons Itchy and Scratchy show is based on Tom and Jerry.
While there's no doubt the Fred Quimby era was the best (I also loved Droopy), I have to give props to the Gene Deitch years of the early '60s. I'd watch Tom and Jerry obsessively as a latch-key Gen X kid after school, and the Gene Deitch cartoons were just so bizarre - unlike any other iteration. Herky-jerky animation, and the orchestrated soundtracks of the classic toons were replaced with an odd over-reliance on percussion (congas, bongos, etc). Clearly an outlier in the T&J world.
Loved the write-up - and this Substack!
-In between the last Hanna-Barbera films and the Jones ones, Gene Deitch directed several films with the characters for MGM.
-These two were not the first animated characters named Tom and Jerry- an earlier, almost equally mute pair had appeared in films from the 1930s from the New York-based Van Beuren Studio (where Barbera had worked prior to joining MGM).
-The names had previously been used in America for a cocktail, and in England to refer to a raucous outbreak of exuberant noise (accurate considering the films' content).
-While Mammy Two Shoes is controversial now, she was actually an animated version of what was once a common and accepted series of live-action characters, based on the real-life Black domestic servants many households employed at the time.