Tom and Jerry is an American animated series of short films created in 1940, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It centers on a rivalry between its two title characters, Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, and manyrecurring characters, based around slapstick comedy.
In its original run, Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1940 to 1957. During this time, they won seven Academy Awards for Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. After the MGM cartoon studio closed in 1957, MGM revived the series with Gene Deitch directing an additional 13 Tom and Jerry shorts forRembrandt Films from 1960 to 1962. Tom and Jerry then became the highest-grossing animated short film series of that time, overtaking Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones then produced another 34 shorts with Sib-Tower 12 Productions between 1963 and 1967. Two more shorts were produced, The Mansion Cat in 2001 and The Karate Guard in 2005, for a total of 163 shorts. Various shorts have been released for home media since the 1990s.
A number of spin-offs have been made, including the television series The Tom and Jerry Show (1975–77), The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (1980–82), Tom & Jerry Kids (1990–94), Tom and Jerry Tales (2006–08), and The Tom and Jerry Show (2014–present). The first feature-length film based on the series, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, was released in 1992, and multiple direct-to-video films have been produced since 2002.
Numerous Tom and Jerry shorts have been subject to controversy, mainly over racial stereotypes which involves the portrayal of the recurring black character Mammy Two Shoes and characters appearing in blackface. Other controversial themes include cannibalism and the glamorization of smoking.
The series features comedic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and mouse (Jerry). The plots of each short usually center on Tom's numerous attempts to capture Jerry and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck. However, there are also several instances within the cartoons where they display genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being. At other times, the pair set aside their rivalry in order to pursue a common goal, such as when a baby escaped the watch of a negligent babysitter, causing Tom and Jerry to pursue the baby and keep it away from danger.
The cartoons are known for some of the most violent cartoon gags ever devised in theatrical animation such as Tom using everything from axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry. On the other hand, Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent due to their frequent success, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron or a mangle, kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, causing trees or electric poles to drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, tying him to a firework and setting it off, and so on.[1] Because of this, Tom and Jerry has often been criticized as excessively violent. Despite the frequent violence, there is no blood or gore in any scene.[2]:42[3]:134
Music plays a very important part in the shorts, emphasizing the action, filling in for traditional sound effects, and lending emotion to the scenes. Musical director Scott Bradley created complex scores that combined elements of jazz, classical, and pop music; Bradley often reprised contemporary pop songs, as well as songs from MGM films, including The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me In St. Louis. Generally, there is little dialogue as Tom and Jerry almost never speak; however, minor characters are not similarly limited, and the two lead characters are able to speak English on rare occasions and are thus not mute. For example, the character Mammy Two Shoes has lines in nearly every cartoon in which she appears. Most of the vocal effects used for Tom and Jerry are their high-pitched laughs and gasping screams.
Before 1954, all Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced in the standard Academy ratio and format; in 1954 and 1955, some of the output was dually produced in dual versions: one Academy-ratio negative composed for a flat widescreen (1.75:1) format and one shot in the CinemaScope process. From 1955 until the close of the MGM cartoon studio a year later, all Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced in CinemaScope, some even had their soundtracks recorded in Perspecta directional audio. All of the Hanna and Barbera cartoons were shot as successive color exposure negatives and printed by Technicolor; the 1960s entries were done in Metrocolor. The 1960s entrees also returned to the standard Academy ratio and format, too. The 2005 short The Karate Guard was also filmed in the standard Academy ratio and format, too.
《猫和老鼠》（Tom and Jerry，台灣電視公司於1970年代播出時曾經將其译作“妙妙妙”，華納家庭娛樂在臺湾發行的DVD译作“湯姆貓與傑米鼠”，中国大陆各电视台於1980年代播出时曾經將其译作“托姆和小杰瑞”）是由汤姆猫和杰利老鼠搭档出演的一部成功的短篇动画剧集。
该系列动画的编剧和导演分别由威廉·汉纳和約瑟·巴貝拉（后以汉纳-巴伯拉制片公司闻名）担任。从1940年到1958年，直到米高梅公司的动画部门被关闭，该系列动画都是由该公司所出品。米高梅于1960年将《猫和老鼠》的制作外包给了东欧的伦布兰特电影公司（由吉恩·代彻所领导），但因內容不受歡迎，因此只播出了13集。1963年，《猫和老鼠》又返回了米高梅，由查克·琼斯的 Sib-Tower 12出品担纲制作；该系列动画一直播放到了1967年。后来《猫和老鼠》又重新回到了螢幕，分别由翰纳-巴貝拉（1975年－1977年，1990年－1993年）和飞美逊工作室（1980年－1982年）制作。到了2004年，華納兄弟娱乐公司亦做了現代版的湯姆與傑利（湯姆傑利小故事），以三個小故事為一集。該片在中國深受歡迎，也被改編出了多個方言版本
每一集短片一般都从汤姆为抓到杰利的失败尝试开始，随之而来的是对物品造成的各式各样的破坏。但是在某些短片中他们却完全可以融洽地相处（至少开始是这样），他们互相追逐也许由以下的一些原因造成：
- 猫的正常食欲。
- 猫的责任（有时如果汤姆抓不到老鼠，它会被主人赶出，成为流浪猫）。
- 能享受到折磨对方的快乐。
- 复仇（大部分都是这样）。
- 误会（特别是在那些一开始他们相互矛盾或友好的戏中）。
- 当他们想要同样东西（通常是食物）时爆发的冲突 。
- 让杰利不碍事的强烈需要。
汤姆很少战胜过杰利。一般只有在杰利超越某些底线时，汤姆才得以击败杰利；杰利的狡猾则源于自卫本能的需要。但是，它们有时也会联合起来，如一方营救另一方，或对抗共同的敌人。《猫和老鼠》系列短片风靡世界与那些充满破坏效果的过瘾场面有很多关系，如杰利把汤姆切成了两半，汤姆用尽了包括斧头、手枪、来福枪、炸药甚至毒药来试图干掉杰利，杰利把猫的尾巴塞进了鬆餅烘烤模里面等等。
音乐在本短片里强调了动作及传达适当的情感，因此扮演了非常重要的角色。音乐导演斯科特·布拉德利创造出的多元音乐通常融合了古典音乐、爵士乐和流行音乐；布拉德利经常采用当代的流行歌曲，有时也改编米高梅公司的电影原声诸如《绿野仙踪》（1939年）和《青春乐》。
1953年以前，所有的《猫和老鼠》动画均以学院比例格式制作；在1954年到1955年间，一部分动画同时制作了学院格式和宽银幕CinemaScope格式两个版本。从1956年到米高梅关闭动画部门的第二年间，所有的《猫和老鼠》动画均以 CinemaScope 格式制作；一部分动画甚至采用了立体声效果。60年代，吉恩·代彻和查克·琼斯制作的短片均采用学院格式，但是亦包含有为兼容学院宽银幕格式而制作的动画画面。所有的翰纳-巴巴拉版动画均以三色带Technicolor格式制作；60年代的动画以Metrocolor方式制作
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