“Best of Enemies. Worst of Friends.”
This “tag line” on posters for that 2021 live-action/animated movie Tom & Jerry, perfectly sums up the relationship the two have had since their debut almost 83 years ago.
The team’s evergreen refresh/reboot/re-“run” – via the direct-to-DVD/Streaming features by Darrell Van Citters (last year’s Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! and Tom and Jerry: Snowman’s Land are the latest) – gives us the perfect opportunity to look back at their animated career by re-visiting some of their more popular films.
Puss Gets the Boot (1940)
The very first Tom & Jerry short at MGM set up their contentious relationship from the get-go with a simple story. After chasing Jerry, Tom is chastised by the maid, who informs him that she will throw him out of the house if he breaks one more thing. Jerry then proceeds to spend the rest of the short trying to get Tom in trouble.
The short would be co-directed by Rudolph Ising, along with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The latter two would go on to helm the characters’ films for the next eighteen years at the Studio and would use these films to launch their own animated empire.
Puss Gets the Boot features lush animation and a number of what would become standard sight gags, many of which would become pain points for Tom. There were some differences from later films, mainly in that Tom’s original name here was Jasper and that his design was of a different (almost kitten-like) appearance.
However, with Puss Gets The Boot, their rivalry was set and the chase was on.
Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943)
This was the first of the pair’s seven Academy Award wins and Yankee Doodle Mouse is not just significant for that, but also with being loaded with World War II-era patriotism, as Tom & Jerry battle each other in a basement. At one point, Jerry flies a box of lightbulbs like a fighter pilot, dropping the bulbs like “bombs” on Tom. As the short ends, Jerry holds up a sign that reads “send more cats” – a reference to the real-life Battle of Wake Island.
The short is such a product of its time that a gag involving ration stamps was actually removed when it was re-issued in 1950.
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Talk about your iconic film moments! Gene Kelly’s dance with Jerry in this live-action feature has become a landmark, technical use of animation and live actors and one of the most famous sequences from the Golden Age of MGM Musicals. Eight years later, Tom & Jerry would return to live-action films to swim with Esther Williams in Dangerous When Wet.
The Cat Concerto (1946)
Another Academy Award winner, which was also recognized as one of the 50 Greatest Cartoons in Jerry Beck’s 1994 book of the same name. In the short, Tom is a tuxedo-clad classical pianist who battles with Jerry during a concert when the mouse turns up inside the piano.
What follows is a perfect Tom & Jerry chase, all of it set to Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
Author Will Friedwald writes in The 50 Greatest Cartoons: “The two protagonists revel in the opportunities for comic violence found in the mechanisms of the music-making process-parodying not only the hoity-toity manner of the concert virtuoso, but the hammers and strings of the piano itself.”
The Milky Waif (1946)
This short is significant for introducing Nibbles, a cute, little grey orphaned mouse who is left at Jerry’s doorstep, clad in a diaper and in need of milk. Jerry attempts to get this milk from Tom’s dish and the chase is on!
Nibbles became a recurring supporting player and made frequent appearance through the years and starred with Tom & Jerry in 1949’s The Little Orphan (which was remade as Feedin’ the Kiddie in 1957) and Safety Second (1950). In all, Nibbles appeared in thirteen Tom & Jerry shorts, including The Two Mousketeers (1952), 1953’s Two Little Indians (where he had an identical twin) and Touché, Pussy Cat! (1954), where he spoke.
Love That Pup (1949)
This short marked the debut of two other Tom & Jerry supporting players, the canine Dad and Son, Spike & Tyke. The father, Spike, whose voice was based on comedian Jimmy Durante had first made his debut in the 1942 Tom & Jerry short, Dog Trouble. It was with Love That Pup, however, that Spike and Tyke appeared for the first time together.
In the short, Tom runs afoul of Spike, while almost hurting Tyke as he chases Jerry. Tom soon finds himself with a new adversary in Spike.
Spike and Tyke were popular enough to garner their own spin-off series of cartoons shorts, which was short lived with only two.
Switchen Kitten (1961)
This Tom & Jerry short is significant in that it was the first produced after William Hanna and Joseph Barbera left MGM and the reigns were handed over to director Gene Deitch.
Deitch had come over from the UPA and Terrytoon Studios and brought with him a style that was more reminiscent of those Studios than MGM. This coupled with lower budgets resulted in animation that was nowhere near as full as the heyday of Tom & Jerry and this era of cartoons has come under criticism and is not fondly remembered by fans.
Pent-House Mouse (1963)
After a year of Gene Deitch, none other than Chuck Jones took over as director of the Tom & Jerry cartoons at MGM with this short subject.
Jones had recently been unfortunately fired from his home of many years, Warner Bros. and contracted his newly formed animation Studio, Sib Tower 12 Productions to produce brand new Tom & Jerry Cartoons.
Working with frequent collaborators, Abe Levitow, Michael Maltese and Ken Harris, this era of shorts (which ran from 1963-1967) bear the creative & quirky sense of humor that was a Jones hallmark at Warner Bros, as well as the distinctive animation found in his later TV Specials, like How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show (1975)
Things came full circle in 1975. After years of their classic shorts rerunning on TV, Tom & Jerry returned to Hanna-Barbera, now titans of TV animation, for this new Saturday Morning show that aired on ABC. It was filled with not only new Hanna-Barbera produced cartoons, but the show was “split” between Tom & Jerry shorts and those featuring a brand-new character, the Grape Ape, a forty-foot purple gorilla and his adventures with his sidekick Beagle Beagle.
This new Hanna-Barbera iteration ran through 1977 and started a recurring television resurgence for the characters that continued with The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show in 1980, which was produced by the Filmation Studio in 1980 and Tom & Jerry Kids (1990), which brought them back to Hanna-Barbera, now co-producing with Turner Entertainment Company.
Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)
The duo returned to film for their first fully animated feature. Taking a few pages from the “Disney book” of the era, the film is a musical and involves a plot in which Tom & Jerry help a young girl named Robyn escape her evil aunt.
Another game-changer with the film was that Tom & Jerry would speak, throughout the entire film, with actor Richard Kind as Tom and actress Dana Hill as Jerry.
The film opened internationally in 1992 and here in the states during the summer of ’93. Released by Miramax and directed by Phil Roman (with Joseph Barbera as “Creative Consultant”), the film was a box-office disappointment, but didn’t stop a litany of direct-to-video Tom & Jerry features that would follow.
And now, Tom & Jerry are back in a big-budget feature that combines live-action and animation and a cast that includes Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena and Colin Jost. In the film, set at a New York City Hotel, the two start off as rivals, but must team up to help stop a “diabolical conspiracy.”
Will a new generation embrace Tom & Jerry? Well, after eight decades, Warner Bros is hoping that audiences will be ready to play another “game of cat and mouse!”
And so… What are YOUR favorite Tom & Jerry cartoons? Please limit the number to your TOP FIVE.
This article originally appeared on ANIMATION SCOOP, February 26th 2021
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
OLD ROCKIN’ CHAIR TOM (1948)
THE MISSING MOUSE (1953)
PET PEEVE (1954)
DESIGNS ON JERRY (1955)
THE TOM AND JERRY CARTOON KIT (1962)
1) Solid Serenade
2) Mouse Trouble
3) Jerry’s Cousin
4) Quiet, Please
5) Tom’s Photo Finish
I saw the comedy revue at the Second City in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend in 1983, and as I did I was conscious that I might be seeing some of the great comedy stars of the future. But even with a cast that included Dan Castellaneta, it was Richard Kind who stole the show. He couldn’t open his mouth without getting a belly laugh, and he really distinguished himself in the improv section at the end of the night. About a year later I saw him in a bit part in “Mannequin”; shortly after that he was in the revival of Carol Burnett’s show, and before long he was getting major roles in sitcoms and voice work in cartoons. He’s a reliably funny comic actor who’s been working steadily in the field for the last 40 years, and I’ve been a fan of his that whole time.
So when I heard that Richard Kind was going to lend his voice to Tom in the 1992 movie, my reaction was: “He’s perfect!” But then, I felt the same way when Matt Frewer was cast as the Pink Panther.
As for favourite Tom & Jerry cartoons, I have a soft spot for the ones I’ve seen on the big screen, including:
The Zoot Cat
Solid Serenade
Casanova Cat
Heavenly Puss
Jerry and Jumbo
I just know some wise guy is going to list “Dickie Moe” five times.
I love all the cartoons with “Mammy Two Shoes”, plus some of the abovementioned films. also, the one where the duckling imprints on Tom and thinks he’s “his mommy”. That one is a riot. Don’t like the other duck cartoons.
The Lonesome Mouse
Zoot Cat
Mouse Trouble
Mouse Comes To Dinner
Flirty Birdy
Part Time Pal
Old Rockin’ Chair Tom
Mouse Cleaning
I can name a lot more, but these are at the top of the list.
Didn’t catch I had to limit the list to 5, so I’ll just go with these…
Mouse Trouble
Mouse Comes To Dinner
Flirty Birdy
Old Rockin’ Chair Tom
Mouse Cleaning
BOWLING ALLEY CAT
HEAVENLY PUSS
DESIGNS ON JERRY
LOVE ME, LOVE MY MOUSE
THE CAT ABOVE AND THE MOUSE BELOW
1) The Cat Concerto
2) Jerry’s Cousin
3) That’s My Mommy
4) The Little Orphan
5) Catty Cornered
Though I couldn’t place them in my Top 5, I’ve got a soft spot for Deitch’s T&Js. Quirky, cartoony, funny; traits that cannot be found in Jones’ T&Js. Even he knew that Bill and Joe own this series.
Top 5, huh? I’ll give five different responses tomorrow, but…
The Truce Hurts
Mouse Trouble
Texas Tom
Trap Happy
A Mouse in the House
1. THE TRUCE HURTS
2. SOLID SERENADE
3. TRIPLET TROUBLE
4. KITTY FOILED
5. THE CAT CONCERTO
1. The Zoot Cat
2. The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R.
3. Mouse Trouble
4. The Yankee Doodle Mouse
5. Tee For Two
Off the top of my head (and excluding Yankee Doodle Mouse and The Cat Concerto mentioned above) I’ll go with:
1. The Zoot Cat
2. Tee For Two
3. Quiet, Please
4. Pecos Pest
5. The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
I know I’m forgetting one so I’m putting Quiet, Please in as a placeholder (because it is a fantastic cartoon and one of my favorites) but if I think of it I’ll amend my five in a reply.
Well, about a year later, I’ll make a few amendments to my top 5. I was a fool not to put The Cat Concerto in my original post;
1. The Zoot Cat
2. The Cat Concerto
3. The Yankee Doodle Mouse
4. Tee For Two
5. The Tom And Jerry Cartoon Kit
I found a copy of “The Gene Deitch Collection” at Walmart today, so I’ll be rewatching all of those tomorrow, which should be a treat.
The bees gag in TEE FOR TWO is one of my favorite moments in the history of movies.
My top five Tom and Jerrys are as listed
1.Mouse Cleaning
2.Old Rockin’ Chair Tom
3. A Mouse in the House
4. The Zoot Cat
5. Trap Happy
What about the “Tom and Jerry Festival of Fun” as my favorite Tom and Jerry feature?
Having seen just about every T&J circulated on Cartoon Network for most of the network’s life, I’m confident enough to list my five favorites – mind you, it’s not an easy task!
1) Mouse Trouble: The Oscar was well earned with this one. People think of the series as being fast-paced, but at a slower tempo it helps bring out the best of the character animation.
2) Trap Happy: There’s a lot of great comedy you could mine on the premise “why not just hire an exterminator?”, and it’s probably the best they did with Butch.
3) Solid Serenade: This one seems to be a favorite of a lot of people here, and I understand completely. There’s something about pogo hopping on a cello that brings out a crack in people.
4) Timid Tabby: The underrated one in my book. The premise is solid for being a later H&B entry, and the final gag is one of the best victories for Tom.
5) The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit: I like this one somehow. Deitch did an excellent job merging classic cat-and-mouse action with mid-century postmodernism.
Also, I have to confess that the “kawaii” Tom & Jerry series they started producing in Japan last year is probably one of the best interpretations I’ve ever seen. Granted, the art style will rankle purists, but they’ve done a fantastic job capturing the spirit of the series!
I’m especially fond of the four Musketeer (Mouseketeer?) shorts. Set in period Paris, they center on swordplay and have a dash of Hollywood swashbuckler about them.
The favorite is “Tom and Cherie”, in which Jerry spends the whole cartoon writing love letters and sending Nibbles to deliver them. On every trip, Nibbles finds Tom spoiling for a duel (“En grade!”). By fadeout Nibbles is fed up with both his costars.
—————
It should be remembered that the Gene Deitch toons were produced at Rembrandt Films in Prague, where everybody was post-UPA. An early example of outsourcing abroad, in contrast to Warner and Universal having contractors working on their lots.
The Zoot Cat
The Cat Concerto
The Million Dollar Cat
Saturday Evening Puss
The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
To name only five.
MOUSE IN MANHATTAN
MOUSE FOR SALE
MICE FOLLIES
PET PEEVE
SNOWBODY LOVES ME
If we weren’t limited to five:
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
BUDDIES: THICKER THAN WATER
OF FELINE BONDAGE
And of course the oft-mentioned MOUSE CLEANING
My TOP 5 Tom and Jerry cartoon :
1.”Mouse Trouble”
~Honorable Mention: “Mouse at Manhattan”
2. “The Zoot Cat”
3. “Million Dollars Cat”
4. “Mouse comes to The Dinner”
5. Tom and Jerry in ” The Hollywood Bowl”
Cue Ball Cat
Jerry’s Cousin
Mouse Trouble
Tee for Two
Heavenly Puss
I’ve never been a Tom and Jerry fan (a controversial view), but there are a handful that I really like, mostly for Scott Bradley’s score.
Mouse In Manhattan – love the use of Manhattan Serenade in the score. Country Cousin was surely an influence.
Tee For Two – Spence’s animation of Tom in the sandtrap at the start is hilarious as well as the buildup to the punchline.
That’s My Mommy – a rare glimpse into Tom’s soft side.
Jerry And Jumbo – great timing.
Mice Follies – ingenious concept
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the poster for Puss Gets The Boot.
Carmen Get It
The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
The Zoot Cat
Is There A Doctor in the Mouse?
Pecos Pest
Guilty Pleasure Mention: Tom and Jerry The Movie
Regarding Yankee Doodle Mouse
this article by Devon Baxter is also worth reading : https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mgms-the-yankee-doodle-mouse-1942/
Honorable mentions go to CUE BALL CAT, HEAVENLY PUSS, and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. MOUSE. JEKYLL has one of the best scores of any golden age cartoon.
5. MOUSE IN MANHATTAN
4. THE CAT CONCERTO
3. OLD ROCKIN’ CHAIR TOM
2. TEE FOR TWO
1. SOLID SERENADE
The Hanna and Barbera ones ONLY made in house at MGM;;.:)
Reasons are also posted..
1.MOUSE IN MANHATTAN-the sole solo of them, for Jerry, for Scott Bradley’s take on MANHATTAN SERENADE..and animaiton and story, a la Country Cousin even if it does go on a little too long..
2.JERRY AND JUMBO for the hysteriucally ridcilkous storyline, sort of like Bob McKimsonn and WB’s Sylvester and Hippetyu Hopper..Tex Avery takes.
3.HEAVENLY PUSS for the storyline and animation..
4.MOUSE TROUBLE, one of the Oscar winners, for the use the different gags of catching Jerry,
hmmm.
Oh, another
5.CLEAN UP PUP, with Spike and son, really riotous stuff with poor Tom struggling to keep Spike clean.
St.Carras
5.
My above post may remind everyone that Spike did have that pup earlier. THe last one had Spike and son..it has Tom trying to keep Tyke clean..isn’t it from 1944, or when?
The cartoon you are referring to is SLICKED-UP PUP from 1951
Ah..Butch is the bulldog in above!
The Mammy and Spikes are pretty good..the duckling, no way, except for the vanishing cream on e..
1. The Cat Concerto
2. The Zoot Cat
3. Designs on Jerry
4. The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
5. Casanova Cat
Mouse Trouble
Cueball Cat
Heavenly Puss
Mice Follies
Mouse Cleaning
1. Quiet Please
2. Hic-up Pup
3. The Cat’s Me-Ouch
4. Dickie Moe
5. Spike’s Birthday
Yup… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. 🙂
I am, have for 43 years been, and will always be, a 1975 Tom and Jerry fan no matter how many objections! 😊