Thomas “Tom” Cat is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon short films, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. He is a bluish-gray anthropomorphic domestic short-haired 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 his current name was used.
History[]
Tom's name, "Tom Cat", is based on "tomcat", a word which refers to male cats. He is usually mute and rarely depicted 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, and 1953's Puppy Tale. 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 Jerry Mouse, for whom he sets traps, many of which backfire and cause damage to him rather than Jerry. His trademark scream (which, ironically, was originally done by Butch in Springtime for Thomas) was provided by creator William Hanna. Hanna's recordings of Tom screaming have been used as a stock sound effect for the other MGM Cartoon characters whenever they scream, including many of Tex Avery's shorts.
Tom has changed over the years upon his evolution, especially after the first cartoons. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal. However, over the years (since 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 later cartoons, the white fur is gone, but modern shows nowadays brought it back. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity.
Tom is usually defeated (or very rarely, killed, like in Mouse Trouble, where he explodes) in the end, although there are some stories where he outwits and defeats Jerry. Besides Jerry, he also has trouble with other characters. He also frequently contends with Spike Bulldog. Spike regularly appears, often assisting Jerry by beating up Tom. Although on some occasions, Tom beats him or he turns on Jerry (such as his debut appearance in Dog Trouble). 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.
Other Voices[]
- Kent Rogers - "Fraidy Cat", "Puss N' Toots"
- Jerry Mann - "The Zoot Cat", "The Million Dollar Cat", "Solid Serenade", "The Framed Cat" (all speaking)
- Billy Bletcher - "The Bodyguard" (speaking), "Solid Serenade" (laughing)
- Cal Howard - "Trap Happy" (speaking)
- Ira Woods - "Solid Serenade" (singing)
- Red Coffey - "Little Quacker", "The Duck Doctor", "That's My Mommy" (all quacking), "Just Ducky" (drowning)
- Ken Darby - "Texas Tom" (singing)
- Paul Frees - "Sleepy-Time Tom" (snoring)
- Pinto Colvig - "Little Runaway" (seal sounds)
- Fred Karbo - "Life with Tom" (laughing)
- Daws Butler - "Mucho Mouse" (speaking)
- Gene Deitch - "Buddies Thicker Than Water" (laughing)
- Chuck Jones - 1965-1967
- Abe Levitow - 1966-1967
- Don Messick - imitating the ghost's laugh and snickering in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "Castle Wiz"