Thomas Jasper Cat Sr., known simply as Tom, is an American character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being

Jerry Mouse Gerald Jinx Mouse, known simply as Jerry, is an American character and one of the two titular characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films and other animated ...

) in

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 ...

's series of ''

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 ...

'' theatrical animated short films. Created by

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 ...

and

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 ...

, he is a blue-grey and white

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

(but usually silent) domestic short haired tuxedo British cat who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short '' Puss Gets the Boot''. The cat was initially known as "Jasper" during his debut in the short; however, beginning with his next appearance in '' The Midnight Snack'' he was known as "Tom" or "Thomas".

History

Tom and Jerry cartoons

His name, "Tom Cat", is based on "tomcat", a word which refers to male

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s. He is usually mute and rarely heard speaking with the exception of a few cartoons (such as 1943's ''The Lonesome Mouse'', 1944's ''The Zoot Cat'', 1947's ''Part Time Pal'', 1953's ''Puppy Tale'' and 1992's '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie''). His only notable vocal sounds outside of this are his various screams whenever he is subjected to panic or, more frequently, pain. He is continuously after

, for whom he sets traps, many of which backfire and cause damage to him rather than Jerry. His trademark scream was provided by creator

. Hanna's recordings of Tom screaming were later used as a stock sound effect for other MGM cartoon characters, including a majority of

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

's shorts. Tom has changed over the years, especially after the first episodes. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal. However, over the years (since the episode ''Dog Trouble''), he has become almost completely bipedal and has human intelligence. In 1945 shorts he had twisted whiskers and his appearance kept changing. In the 1940s and early 1950s, he had white fur between his eyes. In newer cartoons, the white fur is gone. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity. Tom is usually defeated in the end (or very rarely, killed, like in ''

Mouse Trouble ''Mouse Trouble'' is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon short and is the 17th ''Tom and Jerry'' short produced by Fred Quimby. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music direction by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was ...

'', where he explodes), although there are some stories where he outwits and defeats Jerry. Besides Jerry, he also has trouble with other mouse or cat characters. One of them that appears frequently is Spike Bulldog. Spike regularly appears and usually assists Jerry and beats up Tom. Though in some occasions Tom beats him or he turns on Jerry (like his debut appearance in

Dog Trouble The Tom and Jerry, ''Tom and Jerry'' series consists of 163 Short film, shorts produced and released between 1940 and 2005. Of these, 162 are theatrical shorts while one is a made-for-TV short, subsequently released in theatres. 1940–1958: ...

). Usually when Tom is chasing Jerry after a bit Jerry turns the tables on Tom and beats him or uses an outside character such as Spike to beat Tom. Tom has variously been portrayed as a house cat doing his job, and a victim of Jerry's

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

attempts, sometimes within the same short. He is almost always called by his full name "Thomas" by Mammy Two Shoes. In 1961 short Switchin' Kitten Tom has a membership card as belong to the "International Brotherhood of Cats".

''Anchors Aweigh'' and ''Dangerous When Wet''

Tom and Jerry showed up together at the 1945

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' Anchors Aweigh'' where Tom briefly appears as a butler for King Jerry, the latter who has a dance sequence with

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, and also in another musical with the same studio '' Dangerous When Wet'' (1953), where, in a dream sequence, main character Katie Higgins (

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

) does an underwater ballet with Tom and Jerry, as well as animated depictions of the different people in her life.

Voice actors

Despite almost every short depicting Tom as silent (besides his vocal sounds such as screaming and gasping), there are some cartoons which feature him speaking, with his first film appearance (along with co-star Jerry) in 1992, '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie,'' being an example as Tom and Jerry talk throughout the film. Here are several of his voiceover actors: * Harry E. Lang (1940–1953): Vocal effects in the Hanna-Barbera era (1940–1953) shorts, and speaking in the shorts: '' The Lonesome Mouse'', ''The Million Dollar Cat'', ''The Mouse Comes to Dinner'', ''Quiet Please!'', '' Solid Serenade'' (1943–1946) *

(1941–1958, 2006, 2014–present): Vocal effects in the Hanna-Barbera era (1940–1958) shorts Archival recordings of Hanna have been used in later productions, namely the Chuck Jones era shorts (1963-1967), '' Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers'', ''

Tom and Jerry Tales ''Tom and Jerry Tales'' is an American Animated series, animated television series featuring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Turner Entertainment Co., it is the seventh installment in the ''Tom and Jer ...

'', '' The Tom and Jerry Show'', '' Tom & Jerry'', '' Tom and Jerry Special Shorts'', '' Tom and Jerry in New York'', '' MultiVersus'', and the Singapore Tom and Jerry shorts * Kent Rogers (1942–1943): Vocal effects in the 1942 shorts: ''Fraidy Cat'' and ''Puss n' Toots'' * Jerry Mann (1944, 1946, 1950): Vocal effects and speaking in the 1944 shorts: ''The Zoot Cat'' and ''The Million Dollar Cat'', speaking in the 1946 short: ''Solid Serenade'' (archival recordings from ''The Zoot Cat''), speaking in the 1950 short: ''The Framed Cat'' * Billy Bletcher (1944, 1946): speaking in the 1944 short: ''The Bodyguard'', laughing in the 1946 short: ''Solid Serenade'') *

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

(1946, 1953–1954, 1963–1967): Screaming in the 1946 short, ''The Milky Waif'' (reused from the 1942 MGM cartoon, '' The Hungry Wolf''), sneezing in the shorts: ''Just Ducky'' and ''Puppy Tale'' (reused from ''The Hungry Wolf''), vocal effects in the Chuck Jones era (1963–1967), and '' The Tom and Jerry Show'' (archival recording from ''The Hungry Wolf'') * Cal Howard (1946): speaking in the 1946 short: ''Trap Happy'' * Ira "Buck" Woods (1946): singing in the 1946 short: ''Solid Serenade'' * Red Coffey (1950, 1952–1953, 1955): quacking in the shorts: ''Little Quacker'', ''The Duck Doctor'' and ''That's My Mommy'', drowning vocal effects in the 1953 short: ''Just Ducky'' *

Ken Darby Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...

(1950): "singing" in the 1950 short: '' Texas Tom'' *

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

(1951): snoring in ''Sleepy-Time Tom'' * Pinto Colvig (1952): seal vocal effects in the 1952 short: ''Little Runaway'' * Fred Karbo (1953): laughing in the 1953 short: ''Life with Tom'' *

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

(1957): speaking in the 1957 short: ''Mucho Mouse'' *

Allen Swift Ira J. Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American actor, writer and magician, best known as a voiceover artist who voiced cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ' ...

(1961–1962): vocal effects in the Gene Deitch era (1961–1962) shorts *

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

(1961–1962): vocal effects in the Gene Deitch era (1961–1962) shorts * Terence Monk (1964, 1967): singing in '' The Cat Above and the Mouse Below'', singing in ''

Cat and Dupli-cat The ''Tom and Jerry'' series consists of 163 shorts produced and released between 1940 and 2005. Of these, 162 are theatrical shorts while one is a made-for-TV short, subsequently released in theatres. 1940–1958: Hanna-Barbera/MGM cartoo ...

'' *

Arte Johnson Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (January 20, 1929 – July 3, 2019) was an American actor and comedian who was best known for his work as a regular on television's ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Biography Early life Johnson was born January 20, 19 ...

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

Tom and Jerry Talking Hand PuppetArchived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
*

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

(1966): vocal effects in the 1966 short: '' Duel Personality'' * John Stephenson: '' The Tom and Jerry Show'' *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

: imitating the ghost's laugh in ''The Tom and Jerry Show (1975 TV series)'' episode "Castle Wiz" * Lou Scheimer: '' The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

: '' Tom & Jerry Kids'' and '' The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' episode "Just Plane Nuts" *

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include '' Carol & Company'' (1990–1991), Dr. Mark Devanow in '' Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in '' Spin City'' (1996–20 ...

(1992): speaking, non-speaking and singing in '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' *

Jeff Bergman Jeffrey Bergman (born July 10, 1960) is an American voice actor who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with ''Looney Tunes'' and Hanna-Barbera. Bergman was the first to replace Mel Blanc as th ...

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

* Alan Marriott: '' Tom and Jerry in Fists of Furry'' *

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

: '' Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring'' *

Marc Silk Marc Silk (born 14 September 1972) is a British voice actor. Career During his school years, Silk was a quiet student who was aspiring for creativity. He presented a mock radio show for his media course, in which he performed an "unusual mix" ...

: ''

Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers ''Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers'' is a Fighting game, fighting video game developed by VIS Entertainment, published by NewKidCo for PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox (console), Xbox. It is the sequel to the 3D cartoon fighting video game ' ...

'' *

Bill Kopp William Kopp (born April 17, 1962) is an American animator, writer and voice actor. Career Kopp studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1984, he won a Merit Award from the Student Academy Awards for ''Mr. Gloom''. In 1985, ...

: '' Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars'' and '' Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry'' *

Spike Brandt Christopher John Brandt and Anthony Joseph Cervone are an American television writer, television writing, animation and production team at Warner Bros. Animation and formerly at Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Brandt was born on December 24, 1961, ...

: '' The Karate Guard'', '' Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale'', '' Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes'', '' Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz'', '' Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse'', ''

Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

'', '' Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon'', '' Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest'', '' Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz'', and '' Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' * Don Brown: ''

'' * Rich Danhakl: '' The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

: Four of his 9 lives in ''The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' *

Dave B. Mitchell David Benjamin Mitchell (born July 25, 1969) is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Knuckles the Echidna in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise, since 2019. Career Since beginning his professional voiceover career in 19 ...

: Three of his 9 lives in ''The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' * Rene Mujica: One of his 9 lives in ''The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' * Erick Bolivar: singing in ''The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'' episode "Tom Quixote" *

Kaiji Tang Kaiji Tang (; born January 25, 1984), also known as Kaiji Von Tang, is a Chinese-born voice actor who is based in Los Angeles, California. Biography Tang graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in theatre. He com ...

: '' Tom & Jerry'' *

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

: singing in '' Tom & Jerry'' * Andrew Dickman: '' Tom and Jerry Special Shorts'' *

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

: '' MultiVersus'' * Megumi Aratake: ''Tom and Jerry'' Japanese shorts * Rick Zieff: '' Tom and Jerry Time'' Voiced by in unofficial material: *

Stephen Stanton Stephen Walter Stanton (born August 22, 1961) is an American voice actor and visual effects artist. His roles include Sasha Nein in ''Psychonauts'' and '' Psychonauts 2'', Grand Moff Tarkin in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, Ben Kenobi in '' Star ...

(2012): '' Mad'' *

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...

(2013): ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' Tom has had a number of different voice actors over the years. When the character debuted in '' Puss Gets the Boot'', voice actor Harry E. Lang provided the screeches and meows for Tom. He would continue to do so until ''Sufferin Cats'' (1943). Beginning with the short ''The Night Before Christmas'' (1941), co-creator William Hanna provided the vocal effects and famous screams for the character until the last Hanna-Barbera short '' Tot Watchers'' (1958). This was accomplished by someone recording him screaming, chopping the top and bottom of it, leaving the strongest part of the recording in. During this time period, Lang continued doing vocal effects for Tom and occasionally did his speaking voice between 1943 and 1946. Billy Bletcher also voiced him in a few shorts between 1944 and 1950. In 1961–1962, when

took over as director after the

MGM cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (also commonly referred to as MGM Cartoons) was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsi ...

shut down in 1957, he and

did vocal effects for Tom throughout that time period. When

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

took over during 1963–1967, Mel Blanc (best known for voicing

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

and other characters) and June Foray voiced Tom. Terence Monk did his singing voice in ''The Cat Above and the Mouse Below'' (1964) and ''Cat and Dupli-cat'' (1967). In ''The Tom and Jerry Show'' (1975), Tom was voiced by John Stephenson. Lou Scheimer voiced him in ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' in 1980–1982. Frank Welker voiced him in ''Tom and Jerry Kids'' in 1990–1993. Other voice actors include Richard Kind (in ''Tom and Jerry: The Movie''), Jeff Bergman (in a Cartoon Network Latin America bumper and a Boomerang UK bumper), Alan Marriott (in ''Tom and Jerry in Fists of Furry''), Jeff Bennett (in ''Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring''), Marc Silk (in ''Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers''), Bill Kopp (in ''Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars'' and ''Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry''), Spike Brandt (in ''The Karate Guard'', ''Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale'', ''Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes'', ''Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz'', ''Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse'', ''Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure'', ''Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon'', ''Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest'', ''Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz'', and ''Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''), and Don Brown (in ''Tom and Jerry Tales''). In ''The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV series)'', his vocal effects are provided by the show's sound designer Rich Danhakl and archival recordings of William Hanna from the original theatrical shorts. In ''Tom & Jerry (2021 American film), Tom & Jerry (2021 film)'', his voice was provided by Kaiji Tang and archived recordings of William Hanna. On November 18, 2021, it was confirmed that Eric Bauza would be voicing the character in the 2022 fighting game, '' MultiVersus'', which establishes Tom's original given name "Jasper" to be his middle name. Additionally, William Hanna's archival audio recordings (usually Tom's iconic screams as a death scream sound) are also used in the game. In Cartoon Network (Japanese TV channel), Cartoon Network in Japan's ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts, Tom was voiced by Megumi Aratake.

In popular culture

Tom's screams have been used as stock sound effects in various media, such as the 1981 James Bond film ''For Your Eyes Only (film), For Your Eyes Only'', ''Critters 2'' and ''Critters 3'' (used for the Critters when they scream and shriek) and the ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'' episode, "Small Stuff" (used for Jang Keng, a black cat). It was also used for the caveman in the 1995 game ''Prehistorik Man''. Tom and Jerry were planned to make cameo appearances in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral" from the 1988 film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit''. ''The Itchy & Scratchy Show'' from ''The Simpsons'' parodies ''Tom and Jerry'', with its cat character Scratchy, unlike Tom, usually being portrayed as a harmless character who is subject to wanton unprovoked graphic violence by the psychopathic Itchy. Tom and Jerry made a cameo appearance in the 1992 animated TV special ''Little Rosey, The Rosey and Buddy Show''. The Supreme Leader of Iran, supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei likened the Iran–United States relations, rivalry between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to Tom and Jerry, with the United States in the role of Tom.

Notes and References