# Tom Cat
**Tom Cat** (Thomas Cat) is an animated cat character created by [William Hanna](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-hanna) and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's *Tom and Jerry* theatrical short films, in which he perpetually pursues the mouse Jerry. He debuted in the 1940 short *[Puss Gets the Boot](https://www.edgepedia.org/puss-gets-the-boot)* under the name Jasper and was renamed Tom from his second appearance, *The Midnight Snack*, in 1941.[1](https://www.preceden.com/timeline/history-of-tom-and-jerry) In most of the series he is placed in the role of an antagonist, though the roles of aggressor and victim switch between the two characters.[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full names | Thomas D. Cat in the 2021 live-action film; Thomas Jasper Cat Sr. in the fighting game *MultiVersus*[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) |
| First appearance | *Puss Gets the Boot*, released February 10, 1940, as "Jasper"[1](https://www.preceden.com/timeline/history-of-tom-and-jerry) • [3](https://warnerbros.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Tom_and_Jerry_filmography) |
| Design | Bluish-gray and white tuxedo cat; a fan-facing profile describes him as a domestic British Shorthair, while a breed-reference guide reads him as a gray-and-white domestic shorthair with no official breed assignment[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) • [4](https://breedquest.com/stories/cats/behaviour/cartoon-cat-breeds/) |
| Classic era | 114 Hanna-Barbera shorts for MGM, 1940–1958; seven Academy Awards for the series[5](https://asipi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/12/El-uso-del-derecho-de-autor-en-procesos-marcarios-y-la-competencia-desleal-como-accion-residual-contra-la-afectacion-de-derechos-de-PI-Brian-Rupp.pdf) |
| Voice | Harry E. Lang 1940–1953; William Hanna 1941–1958 and again from 2006; Mel Blanc 1963–1967; Richard Kind from the 1992 film[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) |
| Role | Usually the antagonist of the cat-and-mouse rivalry, but sometimes the victim or the protagonist[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) • [6](https://eathealthy365.com/is-tom-the-villain-or-the-victim-in-tom-and-jerry/) |
## Origins and naming
Hanna and Barbera, working at MGM's struggling cartoon department, proposed a cat-and-mouse conflict: as Hanna put it, "We thought we needed conflict, and chase and action. And a cat after a mouse seemed like a good, basic thought." Their first cartoon, *Puss Gets the Boot*, overcame doubts from superiors about the hackneyed premise.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/hall-fame/william-hanna-and-joseph-barbera-hall-fame-tribute)
At his debut the cat was Jasper and the mouse was unnamed; MGM initially did not plan further cartoons. After the short earned an Academy Award nomination at the 13th Academy Awards, the studio commissioned a series, and a studio naming contest won by animator John Carr produced the names Tom and Jerry, first used in *The Midnight Snack* (July 19, 1941).[1](https://www.preceden.com/timeline/history-of-tom-and-jerry) Barbera later wrote that the winning names were drawn from a hat among studio personnel.[8](https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/9175/1/Ren%20Garden%20PhD%20Thesis.pdf)
## Appearance and design
Tom is a blue-gray anthropomorphic cat with white on his belly, muzzle, hands, feet, and tail tip, green pupils, and a white patch between his eyes. His fur has no permanently consistent shade; depending on the cartoon it varies among different shades of blue, gray, or blue-gray. In his earliest appearance he stood on all fours more often and looked closer to a real cat, but by 1944 he stood upright and resembled the more cartoony [Looney Tunes](https://www.edgepedia.org/looney-tunes) and [Tex Avery](https://www.edgepedia.org/tex-avery) characters.[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
**Breed and type.** Fan material describes him as a domestic British Shorthair Tuxedo, but there is no official pedigree in the character. A breed-reference guide concludes that the honest label is gray-and-white domestic shorthair, with [Russian Blue](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-blue) only a plausible visual guess based on the shifting design.[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) • [4](https://breedquest.com/stories/cats/behaviour/cartoon-cat-breeds/)
## Voice
Tom rarely speaks; his characterization is carried by vocal effects. Harry E. Lang voiced him in 1940–1953, and William Hanna supplied much of the vocal effects for the non-speaking characters, including Tom's trademark scream.[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat) • [9](https://www.firstversions.com/2019/12/tom-and-jerry-cartoon.html) Later voice credits include [Allen Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/allen-swift) (1961–1962), [Mel Blanc](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-blanc) (1963–1967), [Frank Welker](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-welker) (1990–1993), Richard Kind (1992 onward), and Spike Brandt (2005–2017).[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
## Character and the chase formula
Tom's role is fluid. A character guide contrasts the pair with [Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner](https://www.edgepedia.org/wile-e-coyote-and-the-road-runner): Tom's motivations are complex (duty, instinct, retaliation, sometimes hunger), the aggressor and victim roles switch frequently, and audience sympathy shifts between both characters, often within a single episode; the comparison concludes that Tom is vulnerable in a way that makes his status as a "victim" plausible.[6](https://eathealthy365.com/is-tom-the-villain-or-the-victim-in-tom-and-jerry/) In the Golden Era shorts Tom is characterized by expressive energy, a short fuse, and remarkable resilience.[10](https://shapes.inc/characters/tom-cat-from-tom-and-jerry-the-golden-era-anthology-1940-1958-explained) Supporting characters around him include Spike the bulldog, the alley cat Butch who is Tom's "bad friend," and the white female cat Toodles.[11](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/tomandjerry/)
**Violence without consequence.** Scholars attribute the acceptability of the series' constant, often brutal, slapstick to its framing: the violence in Tom and Jerry is almost always comedic and cartoonish, and despite the harm Tom experiences, he never dies, bleeds, or is in pain for long.[12](https://blog.animationstudies.org/controversial-or-comfortable-what-is-the-secret-to-acceptable-violence-in-animation/) A German-language study adds that anthropomorphization, incongruity, and aestheticization create a cartoon world in which depictions of violence are drastic but without consequence for the protagonists.[13](https://ojs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/gkjf/index.php/jahrbuch/article/view/127) Hanna himself described the gag logic: "the harder the cat gets hit, the funnier it is, but it is for comedy not violence."[14](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=ohiou1532695541735552&disposition=inline)
## Awards and the Golden Era
The [Hanna-Barbera](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanna-barbera) era, 1940–1958, produced 114 theatrical shorts and is regarded as the franchise's Golden Era, defined by the series' Academy Awards record: thirteen nominations and seven wins for Best Short Subject, Cartoons.[5](https://asipi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/12/El-uso-del-derecho-de-autor-en-procesos-marcarios-y-la-competencia-desleal-como-accion-residual-contra-la-afectacion-de-derechos-de-PI-Brian-Rupp.pdf) • [10](https://shapes.inc/characters/tom-cat-from-tom-and-jerry-the-golden-era-anthology-1940-1958-explained) The wartime short *The Yankee Doodle Mouse* (1943) won the first of the seven Oscars.[1](https://www.preceden.com/timeline/history-of-tom-and-jerry) The classic-era scores were composed by Scott Bradley.[10](https://shapes.inc/characters/tom-cat-from-tom-and-jerry-the-golden-era-anthology-1940-1958-explained)
## After the classic era
MGM closed its animation studio in 1957, after which Hanna and Barbera founded their own studio; MGM retained the rights and commissioned further shorts in the 1960s, first through the Prague-based Rembrandt Films and then under ex-Warner Bros. director [Chuck Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-jones).[15](https://static.ccbb.com.br/site-prod/2021/07/Moviese.pdf) • [16](https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/18699/3/I%27ll%20Get%20You%20Tom%20and%20Jerry%20And%20That%20Little%20Dog%2C%20Too.pdf) In later iterations the dynamic sometimes shifted toward friendship between the cat and mouse, unlike the high-stakes predator-prey relationship of the Golden Era shorts.[10](https://shapes.inc/characters/tom-cat-from-tom-and-jerry-the-golden-era-anthology-1940-1958-explained) Later screen appearances include the theatrical film *Tom and Jerry: The Movie* (released October 1, 1992),[3](https://warnerbros.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Tom_and_Jerry_filmography) direct-to-video films, the 2021 live-action hybrid film in which Tom's full name Thomas D. Cat was revealed, and the crossover fighting game *MultiVersus*.[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
## Depiction issues
The housemaid character [Mammy Two Shoes](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammy-two-shoes), who appeared in the early shorts including the debut, was later omitted: a logic of absence and erasure prevailed in the handling of the racially stereotyped character, who was removed during the era of Civil Rights in the US and replaced by a white Irish female character.[8](https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/9175/1/Ren%20Garden%20PhD%20Thesis.pdf)
## Family
Fan-facing documentation gives Tom a family that includes his parents, a twin brother Tim Cat, and a younger sister Thomasina Cat, the latter revealed with a nephew in a *Tom and Jerry Tales* episode, "Babysitting Blues."[2](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
## References
1. [History of Tom and Jerry Timeline, Preceden](https://www.preceden.com/timeline/history-of-tom-and-jerry)
2. [Tom Cat, Tom and Jerry Wiki (Fandom)](https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Cat)
3. [List of Tom and Jerry filmography, Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki](https://warnerbros.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Tom_and_Jerry_filmography)
4. [Cartoon cat breeds: what Garfield, Tom and Hello Kitty really are, BreedQuest](https://breedquest.com/stories/cats/behaviour/cartoon-cat-breeds/)
5. [Tom and Jerry (Brian Rupp), ASIPI](https://asipi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/12/El-uso-del-derecho-de-autor-en-procesos-marcarios-y-la-competencia-desleal-como-accion-residual-contra-la-afectacion-de-derechos-de-PI-Brian-Rupp.pdf)
6. [Tom: Villain or Victim? The Definitive Answer, EatHealthy365](https://eathealthy365.com/is-tom-the-villain-or-the-victim-in-tom-and-jerry/)
7. [William Hanna and Joseph Barbera: Hall of Fame Tribute, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/hall-fame/william-hanna-and-joseph-barbera-hall-fame-tribute)
8. [Ren Garden PhD thesis, Glasgow School of Art Research Repository](https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/9175/1/Ren%20Garden%20PhD%20Thesis.pdf)
9. [First Versions: Tom and Jerry (cartoon)](https://www.firstversions.com/2019/12/tom-and-jerry-cartoon.html)
10. [Understanding Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology (1940–1958), Shapes](https://shapes.inc/characters/tom-cat-from-tom-and-jerry-the-golden-era-anthology-1940-1958-explained)
11. [トムとジェリー 公式サイト, Warner Bros. Japan](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/tomandjerry/)
12. [Controversial or Comfortable: What Is the Secret to Acceptable Violence in Animation? (Rebecca Rose Stanton), Animation Studies 2.0](https://blog.animationstudies.org/controversial-or-comfortable-what-is-the-secret-to-acceptable-violence-in-animation/)
13. [Violente Komik in Cartoons am Beispiel von Tom and Jerry (Kristina Höch), Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung](https://ojs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/gkjf/index.php/jahrbuch/article/view/127)
14. [Ohio State University thesis on animation violence, OhioLINK ETD](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=ohiou1532695541735552&disposition=inline)
15. [William Hanna e Joseph Barbera, Cinemateca Brasileira](https://static.ccbb.com.br/site-prod/2021/07/Moviese.pdf)
16. ["I'll Get You Tom and Jerry And That Little Dog, Too", University of the Arts London Research Online](https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/18699/3/I%27ll%20Get%20You%20Tom%20and%20Jerry%20And%20That%20Little%20Dog%2C%20Too.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Collective, character, and franchise filmographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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