Tom and Jerry, two of the most honored
cartoon characters in motion pictures, were created by William Hanna and Joseph
Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Their plot centered on a never-ending battle,
in other words, a chase between a housecat and a brown mouse. The Hanna- Barbera
duo had written and directed 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1957, at
the MGM cartoon studio in Hollywood. The pair won a total of 7 Oscar awards for
Best Animated Short Subject, more than any other character-based theatrical
animated series. The series has also been named as the ‘Greatest Television
Shows of All Time’ by TIME, in 2000. Tom and Jerry was also placed at the
66th position, in the ‘Top 100 Animated TV Shows’ by IGN, in January
2009. Read on to know interesting and amazing information on the history, origin
and background of Tom and Jerry.
Interesting &
Amazing Information On Origin & Background Of Tom & Jerry
Joseph Barbera, a storyman and character
designer, paired up with an experienced director, William Hanna to create a
cat-and-mouse cartoon. The first cartoon was titled ‘Puss Gets the Boot’ and it
released in theatres on February 10, 1940. Having lost to another MGM cartoon at
the Academy Awards, Hanna and Barbera held a contest to give the cat and mouse a
new name and look. Animator John Carr won the contest, with his suggestion of
Tom and Jerry. The series went into production and eventually, Hanna and Barbera
went on to direct only the cat-and-mouse cartoon, for the rest of their tenure
at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
The main protagonist, Tom was a blue-grey
longhair cat while Jerry, the second protagonist, was a small & brown, house
mouse. The physical appearances of both Tom and Jerry were evolved over the
years. The series developed into a quicker, more energetic tone. Though the
original theme of the series, cat chases mouse, remained the same, Hanna and
Barbera came up with numerous variations on this theme. The final shot of Hanna
and Barbera was ‘Tot Watchers’, which released on August 1, 1958, after the MGM
cartoon studio closed down in 1957. Later, Hanna and Barbera opened up their own
television studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions, in 1957 and went on to produce
various famous TV shows and movies.
In 1960, Czech-based animation director, Gene
Deitch from Rembrandt Films was contracted by MGM to produce new Tom and Jerry
shorts. A total of 13 shorts were released under this contract. These episodes
were not very favorably received by the general audience. In the early 1963,
Chuck Jones, who was fired from Warner Bros. Cartoons, started his own animation
studio and produced a total of 34 Tom and Jerry shorts. The main characters were
given a changed appearance, with Tom getting thicker eyebrows, a less complex
look, sharper ears and furrier cheeks. Jerry got larger eyes and ears, a lighter
brown color and a sweeter Porky Pig-like expression. The year 1965 saw the Hanna
and Barbera cartoon series airing on television, in heavily edited
form.
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