History Franchise / TomAndJerry

Undoubtedly one of the most iconic animated duos in history, Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse are the stars of a [[LongRunner long-running]] series of short theatrical cartoons produced by [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, were the first characters created by [[Creator/HannaBarbera William Hanna and Joseph Barbera]]. In the duo's first short, "WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot" (1940), the cat's name was Jasper and the mouse, though left unnamed onscreen, was dubbed Jinx by the animators (according to Bill Hanna's autobiography, at least) and Pee-Wee in a studio press release from the era.[[note]]Hanna and Barbera would later use the name Mr. Jinks for the cat in their T&J {{Expy}} short series, ''WesternAnimation/PixieDixieAndMrJinks''.[[/note]]

Creator/WarnerBros acquired the rights to ''Tom and Jerry'' after purchasing Turner Broadcasting System, which in 1986 had purchased MGM's entire pre-1986 library. Interestingly, since then it seems like Warner has been treating ''Tom and Jerry'' better than their own ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' (probably due, in part, to the commercial bombing of ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction''). Until 2017, ''Tom and Jerry'' was the only classic cartoon series to air consistently on Creator/CartoonNetwork. ''Tom and Jerry'' has also been the only classic cartoon to air consistently on Creator/{{Boomerang}}, with the shorts airing since the channel's launch and they continue to do to this very day. Since acquiring the rights to ''Tom and Jerry'', Warner has produced several direct-to-video movies -- and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTales'' -- which, for the most part, stay true to the classic ''T&J'' form. After which came the 2014's version of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow2014 The Tom and Jerry Show]]'', which is made in UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash but otherwise continues the usual format of the series.

* ''WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot'' (1940): The debut of the characters, and the short that establishes the series formula. Also the first of several [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-nominated shorts in the series.

[[caption-width-right:350:Their smiles in this picture [[CoversAlwaysLie do not reflect the characters' usual relationship]].]]

The characters gained their permanent names after an in-house contest staged by MGM, with animator John Carr submitting the winning entry. Carr may have been inspired by the names of the two young tearaways in the 1821 novel ''Life in London'' by Pierce Egan, or perhaps by the eggnog-like beverage known as "Tom and Jerry" (itself named after Egan's characters), or possibly even by the earlier, human animated duo created by Creator/VanBeurenStudios (for which Barbera worked at the dawn of his career) in the '30s. In any event, the ''Tom and Jerry'' series went on to become one of the most popular and successful of all time, earning 13 nominations for the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedShortFilm and seven wins (including four in a row from 1943–46). The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Their smiles in this picture [[CoversAlwaysLie do not reflect the characters' actual relationship]].[[note]](Well, [[VitriolicBestBuds mostly]].)[[/note]]]]

Undoubtedly one of the most iconic animated duos in history, Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse are the stars of a [[LongRunner long-running]] series of short theatrical cartoons produced by [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, were the first characters created by [[Creator/HannaBarbera William Hanna and Joseph Barbera]]. In the duo's first short, "WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot" (1940), the cat's name was Jasper and the mouse, though left unnamed onscreen, was supposedly dubbed Jinx by the animators (according to Bill Hanna's autobiography, anyhow) and called Pee-Wee in a press release from the era.[[note]]Hanna and Barbera would later use the name Mr. Jinks for the cat in their T&J {{Expy}} short series, ''WesternAnimation/PixieDixieAndMrJinks''.[[/note]]

A new Asian-developed Tom and Jerry series animated by Aum Animation Studios was publicly shown in Creator/CartoonNetwork Australia's [[https://archive.org/details/cartoon-network-australia-new-in-2023-promos-2022-v2 "New in 2023" promo,]] set to air on Cartoon Network Asia & Australia, as well as HBO Go, Asia's variant of Creator/HBOMax. Its pilot episode, [[https://youtu.be/2qTOtzrPMnI "What's that Smell?"]] was released on August 7, 2023 in Asia and Australia.

[[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie A feature length Tom and Jerry film]] was released in 1992. There have also been some direct-to-video feature length Tom and Jerry {{film}}s released since which are much closer to the premise. For a recap of that part of the filmography, see the WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryDirectToVideoFilmSeries. [[Film/TomAndJerry2021 Another theatrical film]] was released in 2021, this one a mix of live-action and animation directed by Creator/TimStory and with Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz and Creator/MichaelPena as the main (human) stars; for this movie, Tom and Jerry were [[RogerRabbitEffect modeled after their original appearances]], to the relief of those dreading a "[[UnintentionalUncannyValley realistic]]" CGI makeover. As a tie-in, the team behind the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' created two brand-new ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts exclusively for Creator/HBOMax.

The characters gained their permanent names after an in-house contest staged by MGM, with animator John Carr submitting the winning entry. Carr may have been inspired by the names of the two young tearaways in the 1821 novel ''Life in London'' by Pierce Egan, or perhaps by the eggnog-like beverage known as "Tom and Jerry" (itself named after Egan's characters), or possibly even by the earlier, human animated duo created by Creator/VanBeurenStudios (for which Barbera worked at the dawn of his career) in the '30s. In any event, the ''Tom and Jerry'' series went on to become one of the most popular and successful of all time, earning 13 nominations for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedShortFilm and seven wins (including four in a row from 1943–46). The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.