Awesome / Tom and Jerry

A perfect example of Beware the Nice Ones.

When you have a popular animated cartoon franchise that ran for about 80 years, you know that a cartoon is not without a quite awesome and badass moments, especially for a franchise that's literally older than television.

---

• Whenever Tom and Jerry team up against a greater foe typically qualifies as a CMOA, because when they do, said foe is in for a vicious defeat; there are several sterling examples of why it's not a good idea to piss both Tom and Jerry off.
  • In 1942's "Dog Trouble", a proto-version of Spike alternates between terrorising Tom and Jerry until they end up in the same safe haven atop a cuckoo clock. Jerry spots a basket of knitting yarn, and while Tom distracts Spike, he winds the yarn around every piece of furniture and breakable item in the living room. After doing so, he provokes Spike into running headlong into the tangled web, demolishing every last thing in said room. After seeing the resulting sight to behold◊, an irate Mammy Two-Shoes throws an indignant Spike out of the house.
  • In 1952's "Triplet Trouble", after the eponymous feline hellions have wrought havoc on both of them (while presenting angelic exteriors to Mammy Two-Shoes), Tom and Jerry exact revenge in style. Jerry first provokes the kittens by drinking their purloined cream and spitting it back in their faces, then leads them straight to Tom, perched on a hostess trolley... on which he takes to the air like a bomber pilot, hurling pies and watermelons at the kittens before scooping them up and dropping them onto a spinning clothesline. Jerry spanks each kitten with a carpet beater while Tom ties paper wings to their backs, so that when Mammy returns with a bottle of cream, she finds the "little angels" still spinning on the clothesline, each sporting a bright red backside. The set-up is great as each has gotten laughs seeing the other being tormented by the trio until they're on the receiving end. It comes to a terrific shot of the two thrown out a window, glaring inside and then sharing a look. You can see them both thinking "I don't like you, you don't like me, but we both hate those punks even more, so..."
  • This seems to happen a lot in the made-for-video movies, but the greatest example is "Tom and Jerry Meet the Wizard of Oz". Early in the film, Miss Gulch takes Toto away from Dorothy while Tom and Jerry were incredibly saddened by the sight of this, and what do they do about it... they fixed a makeshift bike and went after Miss Gulch and managed to save Toto. Then as the film progresses, the two try to protect Dorothy from the Wicked Witch of the West and manage to get the very bucket of water that melts her.
• It doesn't just have to be when they team up to defeat an enemy, either. Any time they team up counts as a CMOA or a CMOH. In 1958's "Tot Watchers", Tom and Jerry work together to bring a baby safely home (because the Dumb Blonde babysitter is too busy chatting on the phone to notice the baby wandering straight into various dangerous situations).
• It can also be particularly gratifying when Tom wins on occasion. When he does win, it tends to be because he really deserved to (but once or twice, it's just letting the villain win).
  • In 1944's "The Million Dollar Cat", Tom inherits a vast amount of money, but the inheritance comes with a clause that he will lose all the money if he ever harms a single animal, "Even a mouse". Jerry decides to take full advantage of this, from stealing Tom's money, eating the extravagant food right off of Tom's plate, and even causing grievous bodily harm to the poor housecat, all because he knows Tom can't retaliate. Eventually Tom snaps and, after tearing up the contract and stuffing it into Jerry's mouth, proceeds to beat the crap out of the little rodent, because there are some things more important than money... like the happiness you gain from taking revenge on the little bastard that made your life miserable.
    Tom: Gee, I'm throwin' away a million dollars... BUT I'M HAPPY! YAA-HOOO!
  • In the 1953 short "Mouse for Sale", after Jerry charms Tom's owner, Joan, as "Jerry the Dancing Mouse" despite Tom's repeated attempts to prove that Jerry is not the rare white mouse Joan believes, Tom turns the tables on Jerry by painting himself white and winning Joan over as "Tom the Dancing Cat", ending the cartoon with a performance that involves repeatedly stomping on Jerry.
  • In "Timid Tabby" from 1957, Tom and his cousin, George, get revenge for Jerry tormenting the intensely mouse-phobic George by teaming up to drive him to believe he's gone mad, sending him running to a house for mice who've had nervous breakdowns. (As a bonus, George's fear of mice is cured.)
  • In 1958's "The Vanishing Duck", Jerry and Quacker use vanishing cream to literally turn themselves invisible and mess around with Tom. Tom discovers the cream himself and decides to employ some Laser-Guided Karma; in the form of chasing the duo while invisible and smacking away at them with a coal shovel.
  • From 1965's "The Year of the Mouse". If you're a jerkass mouse who keeps trying to make a poor cat believe he's trying to kill himself while he's sleeping, and if he traps you in a bottle with its cap tied to a gun's trigger (set to fire if it moves), then it's pretty much what you deserve.
  • The Chuck Jones-era "Love Me, Love My Mouse" from 1966, in which, after Tom has to deal constantly with getting framed for mischief after Jerry pretends to be helpless in front of Toots, Toots's feline instincts awaken upon kissing Jerry tenderly, much to the latter's sheer chagrin. Even Tom, despite even being on bandages and plasters, cheers for his girlfriend and watches as Toots chases after Jerry out into the sunset. Bonus points for the subversion of how in some particular shorts from Hanna-Barbera-era, Jerry gets to usually kiss or woo the main girl Tom (along his rivals) was going after, without such logic applied.
• The canary saving Jerry from being run over by Tom in "Kitty Foiled".
• In "Professor Tom", when Tom starts spanking his student for letting Jerry get away, Jerry responds to this by breaking Tom's tailbone.
• In something of a role reversal episode, "The Little School Mouse" has Jerry trying to teach Nibbles how to outsmart Tom, who sees through him and defeats him each time. Nibbles tries merely politely asking Tom to assist in his tasks, and succeeds.
  • One particular moment of worth is when Jerry panics as Nibbles, instead of grabbing a whisker from Tom, opts to drags Tom to Jerry by the whiskers.
  • Nibbles easily makes friends with Tom. By the end, Nibbles is the teacher and is teaching Tom and Jerry how to be friends. So nice guys finish last eh?
• In "The Milky Waif," Jerry goes full-on Papa Wolf on Tom after Tom spanks Nibbles with a fly swatter. It even provides the image on the top of this page. Jerry's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown is cathartic to watch as Tom gets knocked senseless by Jerry's fury.
  • Can't overlook how just before Jerry beats Tom up, he gives the mother of all roars and scares Tom so much he turns yellow!
• Every time Tom plays musical instruments, especially piano. In "Johann Mouse", Tom learning how to play piano (in six simple steps), and he instantly becomes an accomplished pianist; even the Emperor summoned him to perform at the palace. If that wasn't enough, Tom proceeds to play the piano with his toes while trying to catch Jerry. Most musicians would kill to be half as good as Tom.
  • Heck, any other time Tom's musical talents shine through.
• Tom's ridiculously, awesomely, overdone introduction to the lady in "Texas Tom". HOWDY.
• In "Hatch Up Your Troubles", Jerry and a baby woodpecker are running from Tom and are cornered. Tom hurls a wooden hoe handle like a spear. The baby woodpecker then shears the hoe down to a nub while it's still in midair.
  • Later on, the woodpecker uses Awesomeness by Analysis to clobber Tom with a telephone pole.
• Jerry and the baby duck rescuing Tom from drowning in "Just Ducky." Tom has just attempted to eat both of them, but they save his life anyway. Bonus points for the baby duck conquering his fear of swimming to dive in and rescue Tom.
• In "The Flying Cat", Tom finds himself in the undignified position of hanging from his ankles by a girdle from a second story window. After he picks himself off the ground, he decides to take advantage of it by using the girdle as a wingsuit to fly. And he gets it on his first try, too! (Until he faceplants into the mailbox, anyway.)
• "Fit To Be Tied" has one for Tom. Jerry has been granted protection by Spike against Tom, and soon exploits the arrangement to essentially make Tom his butler. After a leash law is issued, however, Tom nonchalantly walks up to Spike, now tied to his kennel and, just by feeling the leash in his hands, estimates its exact length, draws a line on the ground, stands behind it, and whacks Spike, his jaws just out of reach from mauling him. He then returns and beats the crap out of a now unprotected Jerry.
  • Spike does get a moment of this trope later however, when he rubs out the line on the ground and draws a new one closer to his kennel. When Tom returns to taunt him further, Spike jumps him.
• The climax to "Tom and Jerry at the Hollywood Bowl" where, after Tom had spent the episode preventing Jerry from conducting the orchestra, Jerry saws holes beneath the orchestra members, causing them to fall through the floor. As more and more of the orchestra vanishes, Tom stops conducting and begins playing all of the instruments by himself! Jerry finally gets conduct the concert as Tom frantically plays multiple instruments at once until the concert finally ends and he collapses. The crowd gives a standing ovation and even Jerry, who spent most of the episode being bullied by Tom, asks them to give Tom a hand because, let's face it, he deserves it.
• Whenever Tom gets into a difficult position (usually involving Jerry exploiting Spike's "protection"), he manages to improvise. Particular examples include:
  • "The Bodyguard". Whenever Jerry is ambushed, all he needs is to call Spike by whistling. Tom manages to treat Jerry with a bubble gum mixed with paste. By the time Jerry finally "unglues" his mouth, it's already too late.
  • "Quiet Please!" has Spike barely getting any nap due to the cat & mouse's loud antics. Given how he threatens to skin the former alive, the latter takes advantage of the noise. After a close call, Tom goes as far as to sing the nursery rhyme to Spike, and then force the bulldog to gulp the knock-out drops. That worked out too well... until Spike eventually woke up.

---