# Tom and Jerry
**Tom and Jerry** (トムとジェリー) is an American animated franchise built on the comic chase between Tom, a house cat, and Jerry, a mouse, created by the animators [William Hanna](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-hanna) and [Joseph Barbera](https://www.edgepedia.org/joseph-barbera) at [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-goldwyn-mayer) (MGM) in 1940.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) Now owned by Warner Bros., the property has grown from more than 160 theatrical shorts into a worldwide brand of television series, direct-to-video and theatrical films, and localized productions.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) • [3](https://www.warnerbros.com/brands/tom-and-jerry)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created | 1940, MGM, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera; the debut short Puss Gets the Boot first showed the pair unnamed[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) |
| Theatrical shorts | More than 160 since 1940: 114 by Hanna-Barbera (1940–1958), 13 by Gene Deitch (1961–62), 34 by Chuck Jones (1963–67)[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) |
| Awards | Seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Subject, from thirteen nominations, won mainly in the Hanna-Barbera era[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) |
| Format | Almost entirely wordless, driven by action and visual humor[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) |
| Owner | Warner Bros. controls the franchise since Time Warner's 1996 purchase of Turner Entertainment[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) |
| 2021 film | Tom and Jerry (2021), a live-action/animation hybrid, grossed more than $100 million worldwide[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) |
| TV output | 48 made-for-TV stories (1975–77) and later series including Tom and Jerry Tales (2006), The Tom and Jerry Show (2014), and Tom and Jerry in New York (2021)[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) • [2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) • [5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry) |
## Origins and creation
The characters first appeared, unnamed, in the 1940 MGM theatrical short *Puss Gets the Boot*, in which Tom the cat was called Jasper and Jerry the mouse was called Jinx.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) • [6](https://my.comics.org/feature/610/) The short was a hit with audiences, and Hanna and Barbera went on to direct the series for MGM until 1958.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) • [5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry)
Production was expensive for its genre. Each short took weeks to make and cost up to $50,000, so only a handful could be made each year; Barbera estimated a typical budget of $50,000 and about six weeks of work per cartoon, with no script written in advance.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832) • [4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) The investment showed in the result: rich hand-drawn animation and detailed backdrops, qualities for which the [Hanna-Barbera](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanna-barbera) shorts are widely praised.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832)
## Production eras
**Hanna-Barbera at MGM, 1940–1958.** In the classic era Tom was initially a plump blue-gray cat, sometimes quadrupedal, becoming more bipedal and stylized over time, while Jerry remained a small brown mouse; the polished graphics and high-quality animation were typical of MGM productions.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) MGM closed its animation department after 18 years and 114 shorts; the Norwegian encyclopedia dates the end of Hanna and Barbera's direction to 1958.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) • [5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry)
**Gene Deitch, 1961–62.** The 13 shorts produced in [Czechoslovakia](https://www.edgepedia.org/czechoslovakia) under [Gene Deitch](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-deitch) adopted a very different style, marked by a reduced budget and a more rudimentary, almost experimental animation.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry)
**Chuck Jones, 1963–67.** [Chuck Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-jones), the animator behind the Grinch, imposed his own graphic style, giving Tom thick eyebrows, uniformly gray fur, pointed ears, and a longer tail, and making his face more twisted.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) • [7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832) His Sib Tower 12/MGM Animation Visual Arts, founded with Les Goldman after Jones was fired from [Warner Bros. Cartoons](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-cartoons), produced 34 shorts from 1963, and Jones revived the series in the mid-1960s with softened violence.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) • [1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) Theatrical production ended in 1967.[5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry)
## Characters, format, and music
The series is driven entirely by action and visual humor; the characters almost never speak.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) Hanna himself voiced Tom's trademark scream, and Scott Bradley composed the music.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832)
The near-wordless chase formula is the franchise's structural signature, running on action rather than talk.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938)
## By the numbers
Counted by production period, the theatrical output runs 114 Hanna-Barbera shorts (1940–1958), 13 Deitch shorts (1961–62), and 34 Jones shorts (1963–67), for more than 160 in total.[2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) Of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, thirteen were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject and seven won; the honored titles include *Yankee Doodle Mouse* (1943), *[The Cat Concerto](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cat-concerto)* (1946), and *Johann Mouse* (1952).[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) • [1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) • [8](https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/56051/) A single classic-era short cost up to $50,000 and roughly six weeks of work.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832) • [4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) Eight decades later a hybrid film earned more than $100 million worldwide, and a mobile game in China has more than 100 million users.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) • [7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832)
## Television, film, and streaming adaptations
Television brought the first change of character: from 1965 production turned toward TV and broadcast regulation tightened, and the 1975 Hanna-Barbera series *The Tom and Jerry Show* adopted the premise that the two do not fight, portraying them as friends to satisfy fresh children's-TV violence guidelines.[8](https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/56051/) • [7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832) That series consisted of 48 seven-minute cartoons paired with Grape Ape and Mumbly segments on ABC Saturday mornings between September 6, 1975 and September 3, 1977.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) Filmation's *The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show* debuted in 1980 on CBS and restored the chase formula, and Hanna-Barbera's *Tom & Jerry Kids* (1990) recast the duo as children with a lighter tone.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) • [2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) Warner Bros. later launched *Tom and Jerry Tales* (2006), *The Tom and Jerry Show* (2014), and *[Tom and Jerry in New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-and-jerry-in-new-york)* (2021); *Tom and Jerry Time* began in 2025.[5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry) • [2](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry) • [4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry)
The animated feature *Tom and Jerry: The Movie* (1992), directed by Phil Roman, premiered in Europe in 1992 and reached American screens the following year.[5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry) • [1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) A direct-to-video series followed, beginning with *Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring*, which differing sources place in 2001 or 2002.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) [Warner Bros. Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-animation) produced two shorts exclusively for [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) in 2021, the same year the live-action/animation hybrid *Tom and Jerry* became a surprise box-office hit, grossing more than $100 million worldwide.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) • [1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938)
Ownership consolidated with Time Warner's purchase of Turner Entertainment in 1996, which gave Warner Bros. full control of the franchise; the company now markets Tom and Jerry as one of its owned brands, with releases available on disc and digital.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry) • [3](https://www.warnerbros.com/brands/tom-and-jerry)
## How it compares and why it traveled
A Japanese observer quoted by ORICON News drew the sharpest contrast: Disney, he said, had a "model student" character, while Tom and Jerry ran in the opposite direction, full of nonsense, violence, and black humor, and that difference helped the series succeed globally.[8](https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/56051/) The awards record is the measurable side of the same story: the Hanna-Barbera shorts won seven Academy Awards.[4](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry)
## International reception, censorship, and legacy
In Japan, where the franchise is known as トムとジェリー, [Warner Bros. Discovery](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-discovery) presents it on [Cartoon Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-network) as the most famous Hanna-Barbera work, including Academy Award-winning episodes, and Warner Bros. Japan runs an original short-animation series, *とむとじぇりーごっこ* (Tom and Jerry Gokko), with Japan-original character designs featuring Tom (とむ), Jerry (じぇりー), and Tuffy (たふぃー).[9](https://www.discoveryjapan.jp/cartoonnetwork/tomandjerry/) • [10](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/tomandjerry/short-animation/) In China, a Tom and Jerry mobile phone game has more than 100 million users.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832)
The early shorts also carry a censoring history. From the Hanna-Barbera era into part of the Chuck Jones era, the shorts contained discriminatory depictions, violent action, and black humor; in later versions the characters' behavior became far less violent and potentially racist or otherwise offensive elements were moderated.[8](https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/56051/) • [5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry) The housemaid character [Mammy Two Shoes](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammy-two-shoes), a Black character with an exaggerated southern accent usually seen from the waist down, has been labeled an offensive racial caricature, and in 2014 Amazon Prime Instant Video added a "racial prejudice" warning to the series; the worst-offending episodes are usually cut from re-release collections and streaming platforms.[7](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832) Broadcast television has long edited racist or other offensive elements from the early shorts.[1](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938) In print, a Tom and Jerry comic strip ran from 1942 to 1974, drawn by, among others, Harvey Eisenberg.[5](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry)
## References
1. [Tom and Jerry, Britannica Kids (Scholars)](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Tom-and-Jerry/443938)
2. [Série de Cartoons - Tom & Jerry, Ciné Animation](https://www.cineanimation.fr/dossier/serie-de-cartoons-tom-jerry)
3. [Tom and Jerry, WarnerBros.com Brands](https://www.warnerbros.com/brands/tom-and-jerry)
4. [Tom and Jerry, Tom and Jerry Wiki (Fandom)](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry)
5. [Tom og Jerry, Store norske leksikon](https://snl.no/Tom_og_Jerry)
6. [GCD Feature: Tom and Jerry, Grand Comics Database](https://my.comics.org/feature/610/)
7. [Tom and Jerry: 80 years of cat v mouse, BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51357832)
8. [『トムとジェリー』愛されて80年..., ORICON NEWS](https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/56051/)
9. [トムとジェリー, ワーナーブラザース・ディスカバリー・ジャパン](https://www.discoveryjapan.jp/cartoonnetwork/tomandjerry/)
10. [ショートアニメーションシリーズ『とむとじぇりーごっこ』公式サイト, Warner Bros. Japan](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/tomandjerry/short-animation/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime series, episodes, and franchises › Long-running and multi-version anime franchises*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license