History Franchise / TomAndJerry

[[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 "[[UncannyValley 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 held 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 19th Century ''Life in London'' stories 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 to 1946). The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.

The characters gained their permanent names after an in-house contest held 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 19th Century ''Life in London'' stories 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, with seven of its shorts winning UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, including four in a row from 1943 to 1946. The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.

After MGM's animation unit closed in 1957, Hanna and Barbera started their [[Creator/HannaBarbera TV animation studio]]. No new ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons were produced until MGM revived the series in 1961, contracting it to a Czechoslovakian-based production company supervised by American-born director Creator/GeneDeitch. Creator/ChuckJones took over from Deitch two years later, returning production to Hollywood and directing new ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts for MGM until 1967.

The characters gained their permanent names after an in-house contest held 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 19th Century ''Life in London'' stories 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, with seven of its shorts winning [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]], including four in a row from 1943 to 1946. The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/The Tom and Jerry Show|2014}}'' (2014-2021)

* ''{{VideoGame/Multiversus}}'' (2022): Tom and Jerry are playable as TheDividual.

* ''WesternAnimation/QuietPlease'' (1945): Oscar winner.

[[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 starring Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz and Creator/MichaelPena. However, Tom and Jerry themselves have been confirmed to be [[RogerRabbitEffect modeled after their original appearances]], to the relief of those dreading a "[[UncannyValley realistic]]" CGI makeover. As a tie-in, the team behind the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' have created two brand-new ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts exclusively for Creator/HBOMax.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] Creator/{{Van Beuren|Studios}}'s ''[[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/1930s-tom-jerry/ Tom & Jerry]]'' cartoons (which were renamed ''Dick & Larry'' in later home movie rereleases to avoid confusing them with the cat and mouse). Or, for that matter, the musical duo that went by the name "Tom and Jerry" for 7 years before switching to [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel their real names]]; and despite what their names might tell you, neither Tom or Jerry are British and German respectively.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] Creator/{{Van Beuren|Studios}}'s ''[[http://www.cartoonresearch.com/tomjerry/ Tom & Jerry]]'' cartoons (which were renamed ''Dick & Larry'' in later home movie rereleases to avoid confusing them with the cat and mouse). Or, for that matter, the musical duo that went by the name "Tom and Jerry" for 7 years before switching to [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel their real names]]; and despite what their names might tell you, neither Tom or Jerry are British and German respectively.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] ''[[http://www.cartoonresearch.com/tomjerry/ Van Beuren's]]'' [[Creator/VanBeurenStudios Tom & Jerry]] cartoons (which were renamed ''Dick & Larry'' in later home movie rereleases to avoid confusing them with the cat and mouse). Or, for that matter, the musical duo that went by the name "Tom and Jerry" for 7 years before switching to [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel their real names]]; and despite what their names might tell you, neither Tom or Jerry are British and German respectively.

On September 25, 1965, Creator/{{CBS}} introduced ''Tom and Jerry'' to television, broadcasting an AnimatedAnthology on Saturday mornings featuring the original '40s and '50s MGM shorts; this series ran until 1972. Throughout the rest of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, vintage ''T&J'' cartoons often ran in syndication, usually alongside ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'', ''WesternAnimation/BarneyBear'', Creator/TexAvery's [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons MGM shorts]], and MGM's other [[WesternAnimation/MGMOneshotCartoons one-shots]], usually with the duo taking top billing and the others simply listed as "and Friends".

After MGM's animation unit closed in 1957, Hanna and Barbera started their [[Creator/HannaBarbera TV animation studio]]. No new ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons were produced until MGM revived the series in 1961, contracting it to a Czechoslovakian-based production company supervised by American-born director Creator/GeneDeitch. Creator/ChuckJones took over from Deitch two years later, bringing production of the series back to Hollywood and directing new ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts for MGM until 1967.

Thomas Cat and Jerry Mouse, 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 named ''Jinx'' by the animators (according to Bill Hanna's autobiography but nowhere else) 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]]

The characters acquired their permanent names after an in-house contest held 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 19th Century ''Life in London'' stories 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, with seven of its shorts winning [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]], including four in a row from 1943 to 1946. The only other theatrical animated series to win as many Oscars was [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]]'s ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''.

** ''Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse'' (2012)

** ''Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon'' (2014)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCatConcerto'' (1946): Oscar winner.

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

[[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 films 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 starring Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz and Creator/MichaelPena. However, Tom and Jerry themselves have been confirmed to be [[RogerRabbitEffect modeled after their original appearances]], to the relief of those dreading a "[[UncannyValley realistic]]" CGI makeover. As a tie-in, the team behind the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' have created two brand-new ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts exclusively for Creator/HBOMax.

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'' (1992): Theatrical film.

* ''Film/TomAndJerry2021'': Theatrical film.

!!Tropes found across the franchise:

* ''WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues'' (1956): [[Unexpectedly DarkEpisode A surprisingly sad short]] and probably the only one [[DownerEnding with a truly tragic ending]].