Tom and Jerry are fictional characters that starred in a series of early sound

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

produced by the

Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...

, and distributed by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

. The series lasted from 1931 to 1933. American cartoon artist

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in New York City, Bar ...

began his career as an animator and storyman on this series. In 1940, Barbera co-created with

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator, voice actor, and musician who is best known for co-creating ''Tom and Jerry'' and providing the vocal effects for the series' title characters. Alongside Joseph B ...

another duo of cartoon characters for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

using the same names: a cat and mouse named ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, 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 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

''. When

Official Films Official Films, Incorporated (Inc.) was founded by Leslie Winik in 1939 to produce educational shorts. Soon, after buying some negatives of public-domain Keystone Chaplin films, the company found itself in the 16mm/8mm home movie business. Home ...

purchased the Van Beuren library in the early 1940s, the characters were renamed Dick and Larry to avoid confusion with MGM's Tom and Jerry. Despite this, animation historians refer to the original Tom and Jerry characters as Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry. All of the cartoons are currently available in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

Description

The characters were a

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept o ...

-like pair, one short (Jerry) and one tall (Tom). Each cartoon featured a different adventure and the plot varied from film to film. Sometimes they were lawyers, hunters, plumbers, hobos, etc. The duo were likely named after the

stage play A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging ...

and/or the mixed drink of the same name, both of which predated the duo by a century through an 1821 book titled '' Life in London'' written by

Pierce Egan Pierce Egan (1772–1849) was a British journalist, sportswriter, and writer on popular culture. His popular book '' Life in London'', published in 1821, was adapted into the stage play '' Tom and Jerry, or Life in London'' later that year, wh ...

(

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

sportswriter and author of ''Boxiana''), which was based on

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank or Cruickshank ( ; 27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dicken ...

's,

Isaac Robert Cruikshank Isaac Robert Cruikshank, sometimes known as Robert Cruikshank (27 September 1789 – 13 March 1856), was a caricaturist, illustrator and portrait miniaturist, the less well-known brother of George Cruikshank, both sons of Isaac Cruikshank. Just ...

's, and Egan's own careers. Stylistically, the cartoons were similar to those made by

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

, which like Van Beuren Studios was located in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; one 1932 short, ''Piano Tooners'', even introduced a "

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their ...

" character similar to Fleischer's

Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...

, and Maltin (1980) says "it's probable that one of the women who did Betty Boop's voice . . . also worked on recording sessions for this studio."Maltin, Leonard. ''Of Mice and Magic: a History of American Animated Cartoons''. Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1980. p. 198. According to Markstein's

Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

, Fleischer staff sometimes moonlighted at Van Beuren's, which was situated just across the road, and this accounts for the many visual similarities between the two. Tom and Jerry's adventures were generally absurd comedies featuring music as sound effects. Tom and Jerry, however, did not obtain popularity of the type

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

, Betty Boop, and

Bosko Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko was the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series and was the star of thirty-nine ''Looney Tunes'' shorts released by Warn ...

had, and the series was cancelled in 1933.

Filmography

Home video availability

Thunderbean Animation released a Blu-ray in January 2024 with the best prints of the shorts currently available, including 'Piano Tooners' from the original camera negative. it was an upgrade of the DVD they released in 2010. Also, Mill Creek Entertainment released 12 shorts out of 26 as part of the ''Giant 600 Cartoon Collection'', ''150 Cartoon Classics'', ''100 Classic Cartoons'', and ''200 Classic Cartoons'' DVD sets. The series appeared on ''Tom Sawyer, And Other Cartoon Treasures'', including Tom and Jerry shorts. Some shorts were eventually restored on some ''Cartoon Roots'' Blu-ray releases. It was also released on DVD as ''Tom and Jerry & Friends: The Tuba Tooter'' as part of the Digiview Productions’ ''Cartoon Craze'' series. The short (''The Tuba Tooter'') was included on one of the discs of ''350 Classic Cartoons'' as well.

References

{{reflist

External links

Before the Cat and Mouse: Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry

''Plane Dumb'', a Tom and Jerry cartoon

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080520074751/http://www.foro3k.com/cine-tv-radio-espectaculos/65325-tom-jerry-antes-del-gato-y-el-raton.html TOM & JERRY: Antes del gato y el ratón(Spanish) Animated duos Animated film series Film characters introduced in 1931 Animated characters introduced in 1931 Film series introduced in 1931 Van Beuren Studios

Description

Filmography

Home video availability

See also

References

External links