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Tom Cat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Cat
Tom and Jerry character
Tom's design in the Hanna-Barbera shorts.
First appearance
Created by
Designed by
Voiced by
Developed by
William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
In-universe information
Full nameThomas Jasper Cat Sr.[1]
SpeciesCat
GenderMale
FamilyUnnamed father
Unnamed mother
Tim (twin brother)
RelativesGeorge (cousin)
Catsby (cousin)
Unnamed grandfather
NationalityAmerican
Breed
Bicolor British cat

Thomas "Tom” Jasper Cat Sr. is an American cartoon character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being Jerry Mouse) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, he is a grey-blue and white anthropomorphic (but usually silent) domestic short haired tuxedo British cat who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the Boot.[2] The cat was initially known as "Jasper" during his debut in the short,[3] but beginning with The Midnight Snack he was known as "Tom" or "Thomas".

History

[edit]

Tom and Jerry cartoons

[edit]

Tom's full name, "Tom Cat", is based on "tomcat", a word which refers to male cats. He is usually mute and speaks only rarely, though he frequently screams in pain when his plans to catch Jerry Mouse backfire. His trademark scream was provided by creator William Hanna.[4] Hanna's recordings of Tom screaming were later used as a stock sound effect for other MGM cartoon characters such as Tex Avery's Butch Bulldog and multiple one shot characters.[5][6]

Tom has changed over the years, especially after the first cartoons. He first walked on four legs, but after the cartoon Dog Trouble, he started walking on two. 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, 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 on some occasions, Tom beats Spike or Spike turns on Jerry, like his debut appearance in Dog Trouble).

Tom has variously been portrayed as a house cat doing his job, and a victim of Jerry's blackmail attempts, sometimes within the same short. He is almost always called by his full name "Thomas" by Mammy Two Shoes.[7]

Anchors Aweigh and Dangerous When Wet

[edit]

Tom and Jerry showed up together in the 1945 Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical Anchors Aweigh where Tom briefly appears as a butler for King Jerry, the latter who has a dance sequence with Gene Kelly, and also in another musical with the same studio Dangerous When Wet (1953), where, in a dream sequence, main character Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) does an underwater ballet with Tom and Jerry, as well as animated depictions of the different people in her life.[8][9]

Tom & Jerry (2021)

[edit]

The 2021 movie was the first time when live-action human actors interact with Tom and Jerry who, along with various other iconic characters of the show and all other animals, are 2D animated cartoons. Both characters are called by their actual first names by the end of the film and their full names are given during the end credits, "Tom" being Thomas D. Cat.[10]

Voice actors

[edit]

Here are several of his voiceover actors:

Voiced by in unofficial material:

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.[28] 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 Gene Deitch took over as director after the MGM cartoon studio shut down in 1957, he and Allen Swift did vocal effects for Tom throughout that time period. When Chuck Jones took over during 1963–1967, Mel Blanc (best known for voicing Bugs Bunny 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 the 2021 live-action animated film Tom & Jerry, 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.[1] 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 Japan's Tom and Jerry shorts, Tom was voiced by Megumi Aratake.

[edit]

Tom's screams have been used as stock sound effects in various media, such as the 1981 James Bond 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.[citation needed]

Tom and Jerry were planned to make cameo appearances in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral" from the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.[29]

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.

Xilam's Oggy and the Cockroaches is inspired by Tom and Jerry, with its cat character Oggy being portrayed as the hapless victim of three sadistic cockroaches.[30][31][32][33]

Tom and Jerry made a cameo appearance in the 1992 animated TV special The Rosey and Buddy Show.[34]

The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei likened the rivalry between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to Tom and Jerry, with the United States in the role of Tom.[35]

Time Magazine noted that late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat admired Tom and Jerry because, in his view, the mouse always outwits the cat—mirroring how Palestinians, seen as the underdog, persist despite adversity.[36][37]

In 2025, Tom, alongside Jerry, was featured as a playable pilot in Bullet Hell game ACECRAFT.[38][39]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ 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, 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
  1. 1 2 "MultiVersus Roster". MultiVersus.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  2. ↑ Markstein, Don. "Tom and Jerry". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ Mark Christopher Carnes (2002), American National Biography, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-522202-9
  4. 1 2 3 Preston, Cheryl E. (2022). "William Hannah was the voice of Tom Cat's signature screams on Tom and Jerry". Geeks. Archived from the original on August 25, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  5. ↑ Scott, Keith (February 10, 2020). ""Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company". Cartoon Research. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ Scott, Keith (December 7, 2020). "VERY…. Vol. 2??? WELL, IMAGINE THAT!". Cartoon Research. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  7. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (June 25, 1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900–1960. Scarecrow Pressure. pp. 57, 61, 67. ISBN 9780810832503. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ Barbera, Joe (1994). My Life in 'Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century. Turner Publishinglocation=Atlanta, GA. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-1-57036-042-8.
  9. ↑ Spies, Kamden (July 7, 2026). "An In-Depth Look at MGM's "Dangerous When Wet"". Cartoon Research. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  10. ↑ Tom and Jerry, End Credits (February 26, 2021)
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alexander, Vincent (February 10, 2026). "16 Times Tom And Jerry Actually Spoke". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  13. ↑ Baxter, Devon (December 6, 2017). ""Tom and Jerry in "The Zoot Cat" (1944)"". Cartoon Research. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  14. ↑ Baxter, Devon (December 20, 2017). ""Tom and Jerry in "Solid Serenade" (1946)"". Cartoon Research. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Deitch, Gene (June 1, 2015). ""Tom and Jerry – The Gene Deitch Collection"". Cartoon Research. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  16. ↑ Florea, Gwen; Phinney, Glenda (October 20, 2000). Barbie Talks!: An Expose of the First Talking Barbie Doll. Florea-Phinney. p. 58. ISBN 059513341X. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  17. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Vintage 1965 Talking Pull String Tom and Jerry Hand Puppet by Mattel". February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ "Tom and Jerry in Fists of Furry". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  19. ↑ VIS Entertainment (2002). Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers instruction manual. NewKidCo.
  20. ↑ Brandt, Spike (December 13, 2023). "Yes. I even had a special metal bucket that I would yell into for the records. Years earlier, at a gallery event I saw Bill Hanna do the Tom yell, live. He was about 80 years old at the time and you could still tell it was Tom". Twitter. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Rich Danhakl on Tom and Jerry Sound Design". Twitter. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on October 7, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2026. Rich Danhakl: The director and producers [Darrell Van Citters and Ashley Postelwaite] wanted The Tom and Jerry Show's sound design to be as close to the original shorts as possible. It was a challenge because a lot of those classic Turner sounds were recorded in the 1940s-1950s and just don't sound all that great when played out of modern speakers/devices. I recreated a lot of them at my studio to sound as close to the originals as I could get them. A lot of the screams are actually me (my neighbors loved me for that).
  22. ↑ "Erick Bolivar TV & Film Singing Demo". YouTube. August 2, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  23. ↑ "The Tom and Jerry Show - Season 5: "Tom Quixote"". Internet Archive. June 20, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  24. ↑ Tang, Kaiji (March 26, 2021). "Got permission to tell this funny story. I did the scratch track for this movie as Tom. Thought it was one and done. Come to find out, they put me in Additional Voices cause a lot of our track made it in! That's me you're hearing falling off buildings and tearing up hotel rooms". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  25. ↑ "don't you know baby". Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021 – via YouTube.
  26. ↑ Dickman, Andrew (February 20, 2021). "That and the inhale HWAUUGGH!!!". Twitter. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Voice of Tom in Mad". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  28. ↑ Sfetcu, Nicolae (2014). About cats. Nicolae Sfetcu. p. 289. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  29. ↑ Davis, Lauren (May 12, 2014). "See The Toons Who Would Have Appeared in Roger Rabbit's Deleted Funeral". io9. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  30. ↑ Mohan, Varsha (May 7, 2016). "Remembering Oggy and the Cockroaches". Indian Express. ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  31. ↑ Madelaine, Nicholas (October 4, 2018). "« Oggy et les cafards », le « Tom et Jerry » français, fête ses 20 ans". Les Echos (in French). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  32. ↑ Madelaine, Nicholas (October 5, 2018). "« Oggy et les cafards », le « Tom et Jerry » français, fête ses 20 ans". Les Echos (in French). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Oggy et les Cafards : Retour sur une incroyable réussite à la française". CNC (in French). December 12, 2018. ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on September 17, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  34. ↑ Bollettieri, Spencer (November 25, 2024). "15 Bizarre Celebrity Cartoons You've Never Heard Of". CBR. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  35. ↑ Bezhan, Frud. "U.S. Plays Cat, and Iran the Mouse in 'Tom and Jerry' Comparison". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  36. ↑ Beyer, Lisa (November 22, 2004). "The Eternal Agitator". Time.
  37. ↑ "Arafat loved watching 'Tom and Jerry'". Emirates 247. Gaza. November 21, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  38. ↑ Acecraft - Official Tom and Jerry Crossover Gameplay Trailer - IGN. August 28, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2026 – via www.ign.com.
  39. ↑ Comments, Gavin Sheehan | (September 1, 2025). "Tom & Jerry Have Been Added As Characters To Acecraft: Sky Hero". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
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