Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry is an American animated series of theatrical shorts, television shows and specials,
feature film, home films created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that
centered on a never-ending rivalry between a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry) whose chases and battles
often involved comic violence.
Hanna and Barbera ultimately wrote and directed one hundred and fourteen (114 ) Tom and
Jerry cartoons at the MGM cartoon studio in Hollywood, California between 1940 and 1957, when the
animation unit was closed. The original series is notable for having won the Academy Award for
Animated Short Film seven times.
Tom and Jerry has a worldwide audience that consists of children, teenagers and adults, and has
also been recognized as one of the most famous and longest-lived rivalries in American cinema.
In 2000, TIME named the series one of the greatest television shows of all time.
Beginning in 1960, in addition to the original 114 H-B cartoons, MGM had new shorts produced
by Rembrandt Films, led by Gene Deitch in Eastern Europe.  Production of Tom and Jerry shorts
returned to Hollywood underChuck Jones's Sib-Tower 12 Productions in 1963; this series lasted
until 1967, making it a total of 161 shorts. 
The cat and mouse stars later resurfaced in television cartoons produced by Hanna-
Barbera andFilmation Studios during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; a feature film, Tom and
Jerry: The Movie, in 1992 (released domestically in 1993); and in 2000, their first made-for TV
short, Tom and Jerry: The Mansion Cat for Cartoon Network. The most recent Tom and Jerry
theatrical short,The Karate Guard, was written and co-directed by Barbera and debuted in Los
Angeles cinemas on September 27, 2005.
 In February 2010, the cartoon celebrated its 70th anniversary and a DVD collection of 30
shorts, Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection, was released in late June 2010 to celebrate
the animated duo's seventh decade. It then had a rerun on Cartoon Network.

Characters
 Tom Cat
Thomas "Tom" Cat is a blue/grey cat who first appeared in the 1940 animated short Puss Gets the Boot. Tom was originally known
as "Jasper" during his debut in that short, however, beginning from his next appearance in The Midnight Snack and onwards, he is
known as "Tom".

 Jerry Mouse
Jerry Mouse is a brown  mouse, who first appeared as an unnamed mouse in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the
Boot. Years later, William Hanna gave the mouse's original name as "Jinx", while Joseph Barbera claimed the mouse went
unnamed in his first appearance.
  Spike
Spike (occasionally referred to as Butch or Killer) is a stern but occasionally dumb British bulldog who is particularly
disapproving of cats, but a softie when it comes to mice, and later, his son Tyke. In the shorts Jerry would often try to get Tom in
trouble with Spike making him a shoo-in for a beating from the bulldog. Spike has a few weaknesses that Tom tries to capitalize
upon: his possessiveness about his bone and his ticklishness. He made his first appearance in the 1942 Tom and
Jerry cartoon Dog Trouble, and his first speaking role was in 1944's The Bodyguard, where he was voiced by Billy Bletcher up until
1949, from which point he was voiced by Daws Butler.

 Tyke
Tyke is the son of Spike. Unlike his father Spike, Tyke does not speak. He only communicates by yapping, wimpering,
growling, facial expressions and wagging his tail. Spike is very protective towards his son and gets very angry at Tom if Tyke is
bothered or harmed.

 Butch
Butch is a black and white alley cat - who made his first appearance in the Tom and Jerry series in the 1943 short, Baby
Puss alongside Topsy and the already-established Meathead. His character, however (along with the character of Toodles Galore),
first appeared in the 1941 MGM short The Alley Cat, directed by Hugh Harman. Butch is the leader of the alley cat bullies who
usually help Tom catch Jerry . In his first appearance, however, Butch was an antagonist, tormenting Tom after Tom's young girl
owner treated him like a baby—to the point of dressing Tom up in a diaper, a bonnet, and pink paw mittens. Thus costumed, Tom
couldn't help but be a figure of fun—both for Butch and his gang, and for Jerry. Butch also battles with Tom over Toodles Galore
and her affections in a couple of shorts including the 1946 short, Springtime for Thomas and the 1951 short Casanova Cat.

 Toodles Galore
Toodles Galore is an attractive female, white cat, and is supposedly Tom's usual love interest. Although Tom is a
reputed playboy, and had other love interests before and after Toodles. Toodles is the only love interest who appeared more than
twice, and is probably the most favored. During the classic era, Tom had to compete twice against Butch and even once
against Spike/Killer for Toodles' affection, and he lost them all. In one episode, Toodles fell in love with Jerry. Toodles is one of the
most anthropomorphic animals in the series, with the only cat features being her tail, nose and ears. Like Butch, Toodles Galore's
first appearance was outside of the Tom and Jerry series.

 Mammy Two Shoes

From the beginning, Tom also has to deal with Mammy Two Shoes (voiced by Lillian Randolph), a mammy African-
American domestic housemaid based on Hattie McDaniel. In the earliest shorts, Mammy is depicted as the maid taking care of the
often opulent home in which Tom and Jerry reside. Later Tom and Jerry shorts are set in what appears to be Mammy's own house.
Her face is never seen (with the exception of 1950's Saturday Evening Puss, in which her face is very briefly seen as she runs
towards the camera), and she usually wallops the cat with a broom when he misbehaves. When Mammy was not present, other
humans would sometimes be seen, usually from the neck down as well. Mammy would appear in many cartoons until 1952's Push-
Button Kitty; Mammy's character was retired after that following McDaniel's death. Later cartoons would instead show Tom and
Jerry living with a 1950s Yuppie-style couple. Soon after, virtually all humans in the series had visible faces.

 Tuffy
Tuffy is a mouse who is close to Jerry and appears frequently with him, especially in the comics. He is sometimes seen as
Jerry's nephew, but occasionally referred to as an orphan. In many cartoons, Tuffy is seen eating a lot (he's always hungry). In his
first animated appearance, he was left on Jerry's doorstep, abandoned by his parents. Tom enjoys chasing Tuffy much as he does
with Jerry.

 Quacker
Another recurring character in the series was Little Quacker the duckling, who was later adapted into the Hanna-Barbera
character Yakky Doodle. He appears in Little Quacker, The Duck Doctor, Just Ducky, Downhearted Duckling, Southbound
Duckling, That's My Mommy, Happy Go Ducky and The Vanishing Duck. Quacker talks a lot compared to Tom and Jerry. In many
episodes, he is the only one who speaks. He's very trusting, even trusting Tom in many situations in which Tom wishes to eat him.
He's a friend of Jerry, but unlike Jerry harbors no hard feelings towards Tom.In "The Duck Doctor" he was shown as a Wild Duckling
rather than a yellow Duckling

 Cuckoo
Cuckoo is a canary that first appeared in "Kitty Foiled", He has made many appearances in "The Flying Cat", "Life With Tom"
too. He is Jerry's good friend.
  Lightning
Lightning is an orange-red cat - who first appeared in the 1948 short, Old Rockin' Chair Tom, as Tom's rival. Lightning is
named as such because in his first short, he practically moved at the speed of lightning. In later cartoons, Lightning often appeared
as one of Tom's alley cat buddies/rivals. Fans have occasionally confused Lightning with Meathead, though the two are not the
same and have appeared side-by-side in two cartoons.

 Topsy
Topsy is a small gray/brown cat. He is either a friend of Tom's or befriends Jerry. He first appeared in Baby Puss; his final
golden age appearance was in Scat Cats. He also appears in Tom and Jerry Tales with a more yellowish color than before.

In Professor Tom Topsy is explicitly a house cat; more often (as in Smarty Cat and elsewhere), he is depicted as an alley cat or
a cat of unknown origin.

 Meathead
This brown, mangy, generally dull-witted cat first appeared in the 1943 short, Sufferin' Cats!, as Tom's rival. Meathead later
reappeared inBaby Puss and additional shorts as one of Tom's alley cat buddies/foes. Fans have occasionally confused Meathead
with Lightning, though the two are not the same and have appeared side-by-side in two cartoons.

 George and Joan

George and Joan are an average middle class white couple, who first debuted on the 1954 episode Pet Peeve. They are the
new owners of Tom and Spike, but Tom likes to keep Joan company and Spike likes to keep George company. Joan is George's
wife and is often seen either cooking in the kitchen, or sitting on her armchair knitting or sewing a dress with Tom keeping her
company. George on the other hand is Joan's husband, he hates the monthly bills and complains that they're too expensive. But
when he's not complaining about the bills, he is sitting on his armchair or on the sofa reading the newspaper wearing his smart
purple or grey suit and Spike keeping him company. Both George and Joan are very kind and polite towards each other and Tom
and Spike. In Pet Peeve, George and Joan decided that they keep Jerry as a pet because he is easy to look after and doesn't eat
too much and tell Tom and Spike to leave. However, in later episodes with George and Joan, Tom and Spike still happily live with
them and Jerry is not known by the couple and he is not a pet anymore.

 Jeannie
Jeannie is an average teenager who spends much of her time talking on the phone to school friends about their dates and her
own activities. Jeannie is the babysitter of George and Joan's baby, and they often call on her to look after the baby if they're going
out. Jeannie proceeds to leap straight onto the phone just as George and Joan shut the front door, which tells us that she is very
negligent about her job. Despite this, Jeannie is very kind, friendly, cheerful and rarely loses a smile—except to scold Tom for
"bothering the baby," which she thinks he is doing on purpose to annoy her. Jeannie was seen in two episodes, Busy
Buddies and Tot Watchers.

 Cousin George
Cousin George is Tom's cousin seen on the 1957 episode Timid Tabby and episode of Tom and Jerry Kids Show. George is a
look alike to Tom, but he is terrified of mice. Cousin George has the same voice tone and act of phobia as Piglet from Winnie the
Pooh, although a different voice actor provides the voice of cousin George. And the first Winnie the Pooh featurette would be
released 9 years later in 1966.

 Cousin Muscles
Cousin Muscles is Jerry's cousin and was only seen in the episode Jerry's Cousin, voiced by Paul Frees. He is same height as
Jerry, but he speaks with a tough stance and his strength can easily knock down a fully grown man. Cousin Muscles was called to
Jerry because Jerry was having problems with Tom. When Muscles sees Tom, he grabs him and says Spike's famous "Listen
pussy cat!" catchphrase, but in a tougher tone.