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For other uses, see Tom.

Thomas "Tom" Cat, commonly referred to as Tom Cat, or more simply referred to as Tom, and originally known as Jasper is one of the two anti-heroic protagonists in Tom and Jerry, alongside Jerry Mouse, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Despite being referred as an anti-heroic, Tom is more often placed in the role of the antagonist, with Jerry often being the protagonist just as much.

Tom is a bluish-grey and white anthropomorphic domestic short haired tuxedo British cat who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the Boot. The cat was known as Jasper during his debut in the short; however, beginning with his next appearance in The Midnight Snack he was known as Tom or Thomas.

In the 2021 live action movie, Tom's full name was revealed to be Thomas D. Cat. In the fighting game MultiVersus, Tom's full name was given as Thomas Jasper Cat Sr.

Character Overview

Appearance

Tom is a grey and white anthropomorphic domestic short haired tuxedo British cat with white colors on his belly, mouth hands, feet & tail. His eyes have yellow & green colors with white found between his two eyes. Tom is possibly either a British shorthair or an Russian Grayish-Blue cat. There never seems to be a permanent consistent color of Tom; Depending on the cartoon his fur color can vary between different shades of blue, gray, or blue-gray.

In his earliest appearance, he looked more like an actual cat as he stood on fours more frequently and his design was overall more Disneylike, but by 1944 he was made more cartoony as he stood on twos and started resembling the Looney Tunes and Tex Avery characters.

Tom and Jerry Kids

In Tom and Jerry Kids, Tom Cat is a young anthropomorphic cat with bluish-gray fur, a light gray stomach, a light gray section of his face between the eyes, white hands and feet, a while tail point, a white muzzle with a black nose and whiskers, yellow eyes with black pupils, bushy eyebrows, a clump of hair, and wears a trademark red baseball cap with a blue stripe. In some appearances, he wears clothing during particular events. He and Jerry also appear in some segments based upon historical events, but that it's rather their imagination, since they live in a more modern world.

Although Tom usually wears only his baseball cap and normally doesn't wear clothes, he was seen wearing clothes in some episodes. His baseball cap is normally worn frontwards; but in Pump 'Em up Pals, he wore his baseball cap backwards while working out. He sometimes wears his trademark baseball cap with some of the clothes he wears. In Chase School, he was wearing an orange jacket with a white V-neck shirt with a yellow collar underneath, baggy blue jeans, and white loafers; although the tomcats in the crowd were only wearing the jackets, shirts, bowties, and caps. In Penthouse Mouse (not to be confused with the MGM short with the same title), he was wearing a pair of azure overalls. During his fourth and final attempt to catch Jerry in Catch That Mouse, he was wearing a white athletic shirt with shoulder straps and a pair of green shorts with a yellow stripe on each side. In I Dream of Cheezy, he wore a white keikogi with a white belt and an azure hachimaki while training at Sergeant Boffo's Ferocious Feline Mouse-Bashing School. In Beach Bummers, he wore a pair of red swimming trunks and a green swimming top with a blue stripe along with his swimsuit, but is usually topless when wearing a swimsuit in other episodes. In episode Cast Away Tom, he briefly wore a yellowish-orange jungle toga to imitate Jerry who was acting like Tarzan. For formal occasions, he wears a tuxedo with a bowtie and sometimes wears a top hat. In The Watchcat, he was wearing an auburn uniform consisting of a jacket with a tan satchel strap and belt with a gold prong, and a hat with tan band and gold badge and black brim, and went under the title of "watchcat" (a play on the word "watchdog," due to his species being a cat, although the word "watchdog" is a slang word for "guard"). In Cosmic Chaos that has a futuristic time setting, he is shown wearing a similar baseball cap that is a half red and half blue cap with a silver antenna in the rear, a red satchel strap clipped onto a blue belt with a red and green triangle pattern on the front, and a pair of blue and green rocket boots that blow out flame from the rear pipes during acceleration and shoot missiles from the bottoms.

Personality

Tom's personality has changed remarkably over the years, especially after the first episodes. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal and had normal cat intelligence. However, over the years (since the episode Dog Trouble), he has become almost completely bipedal and has superhuman level of intelligence. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity. Tom is usually defeated (or very rarely, killed) with Jerry getting the best of him in the end, although there are some stories where he outwits, defeats and gets the best of Jerry. Tom can also attempt to chase Jerry, put traps on him and attempt to kill him if hired to do so such as in the movie in 2021 which often fails since Jerry always refuses to leave the area and outsmarts him. Plus other than Jerry, humans cause trouble for Tom as well; Grownups, kids, and babies.

In Tom and Jerry Kids, during most of his appearances, he often attempts to catch Jerry, whom he claims is a pest, but is prone to getting injuries. He, sometimes, can be stupid, dumb, and annoying to people and Jerry. Although he doesn't talk, he has been shown to use the telephone on certain occasions. Humans cause trouble for Tom especially the grownups, kids, and babies.

History

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Tom is a young anthropomorphic cat (6-7 years old) who lives in the home of an unnamed married couple, along with their daughter and a baby. The house is located in Hemet, California. In this same house, there is a house mouse named Jerry, who becomes a source of various problems for the cat. As a result, Tom tries to catch the mouse. This leads to a variety of humorous situations portrayed in series. However, despite the displayed animosity, Tom and Jerry are actually friends who often spend friendly time together after the fights are over. It is implied that all their catching up is just fun for both of them.

During the events of series, they meet many characters such as: Fido, Clyde, Spike Bulldog, Tyke Bulldog, Urfo the Space Pup, Wild Mouse, Red (as Miss Vavoom), Droopy, Dripple, Slick McWolf, Calaboose Cal, Bernie Bird, Kyle and others.

A distinctive feature of the series is the regular stories about the ancestors (and once about the descendants) of Tom and Jerry who live in different time eras.

The Tom and Jerry Show (1975)

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Tom and Jerry original shorts

His name, "Tom Cat", is based on "tomcat", a word which refers to male cats. He is usually mute and rarely depicted speaking, with the exception of a few cartoons (such as 1943's The Lonesome Mouse, 1944's The Zoot Cat, 1947's Part Time Pal, 1953's Puppy Tale and 1992's Tom and Jerry: The Movie). His only notable vocal sounds outside of this are his various screams whenever he is subjected to panic or, more frequently, pain. He is continuously after Jerry Mouse, for whom he sets traps, many of which backfire and cause damage to him rather than Jerry. His trademark scream (which, ironically, was originally done by Butch in Springtime for Thomas) was provided by creator William Hanna. Hanna's recordings of Tom screaming have been used as a stock sound effect for the other MGM Cartoon characters whenever they scream, including many of Tex Avery's shorts.

Tom has changed over the years upon his evolution, especially after the first cartoons. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal. However, over the years (since Dog Trouble), he has become almost completely bipedal and has human intelligence. In 1945 shorts, he had twisted whiskers and his appearance kept changing. In the 1940s and early 1950s, he had white fur between his eyes. In later cartoons, the white fur is gone, but modern shows nowadays brought it back. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity.

Tom is usually defeated (or very rarely, killed, like in Mouse Trouble, where he explodes) in the end, although there are some stories where he outwits and defeats Jerry. Besides Jerry, he also has trouble with other characters. He also frequently contends with Spike Bulldog. Spike regularly appears, often assisting Jerry by beating up Tom. Although on some occasions, Tom beats him or he turns on Jerry (such as his debut appearance in Dog Trouble). Usually when Tom is chasing Jerry after a bit, Jerry turns the tables on Tom and beats him or uses an outside character such as Spike to beat Tom.

Tom has variously been portrayed as a house cat doing his job, and a victim of Jerry's blackmail attempts, sometimes within the same short. He is almost always called by his full name "Thomas" by Mammy Two Shoes. In Switchin' Kitten, Tom has a membership card as belonging to the "International Brotherhood of Cats".

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show

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Tom and Jerry: The Movie

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Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring

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Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars

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Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry

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Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers

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Tom and Jerry Tales

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Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

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Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes

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Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz

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Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz

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Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse

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Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure

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The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)

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Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers

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Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon

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Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest

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Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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Tom and Jerry Special Shorts

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Tom and Jerry (2021 film)

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Tom and Jerry in New York

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Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up!

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Tom and Jerry: Snowman's Land

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Tom and Jerry (2022)

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Tom and Jerry Singapore

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Other appearances

Tom and Jerry were originally meant to make a cameo in the 1988 film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, specifically in the "Acme's Funeral" deleted scene. This was scrapped after Disney and Amblim's failed attempt to get the rights from MGM for using their animated characters (albeit a Spike The Bulldog look-a-like still appeared in the film).

Tom and Jerry were both mentioned by Jake Peralta in the Brooklyn Nine Nine episode, "The Fugitive: Part 2".

Tom makes a cameo in Space Jam: A New Legacy, pictured on a poster for his and Jerry's 2021 live-action/animated film. The poster can be spotted in the Warner Bros. studio backlot.

Tom and Jerry appeared together in the 1945 Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical Anchors Aweigh where Tom briefly appears as a butler for Jerry, the latter who has a dance sequence with Gene Kelly, and also in another musical with the same studio Dangerous When Wet (1953), where, in a dream sequence, main character Katie Higgins does an underwater ballet with Tom and Jerry, as well as animated depictions of the different people in her life.

Tom appears in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers, he is the one of the two skillful fighters alongside Butch Cat. He is one of the two characters unlocked from the start of the game with Jerry being the second.

Filmography

Tom and Jerry original shorts

  • All the shorts

The Tom and Jerry Show (1975)

  • All the episodes

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show

  • All the Tom and Jerry segments

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

  • All the Tom and Jerry segments

Tom and Jerry Tales

The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)

  • All the episodes

Tom and Jerry Special Shorts

  • All the episodes

Tom and Jerry in New York

  • All the episodes

Tom and Jerry (2022)

  • All the episodes

Tom and Jerry Singapore

  • All the episodes

Films

  • All the films

Other appearances

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All voice actors

Goals

Gallery

Main article: Tom Cat/Gallery
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