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Thomas Jasper "Tom" Cat, Sr. is one of the two titular main protagonists (alongside Jerry Mouse) of the Tom and Jerry franchise. He is a blue/grey anthropomorphic cat who first appeared in the 1940 Oscar nominated short Puss Gets the Boot. Tom was originally known as "Jasper" during his debut in that short, however, beginning from his next appearance in The Midnight Snack and onward, he is known as "Tom" or "Thomas". His vocals were provided by the late Clarence Nash (1940–1941) and by the late William Hanna (1942–1958) in the Hanna-Barbera era. He is Jerry's arch-enemy and sometimes best friend.
In 1940, he was voiced by the late Clarence Nash, though his iconic screams and yells were provided by the late William Hanna. In the 1992 animated film Tom and Jerry: The Movie, he is one of the two titular protagonists and is voiced by Richard Kind, who also voices Larry the Anaconda from Disney's The Wild (2006) and Bing Bong from Disney/Pixar's Inside Out.
Appearance
Tom is a mute, Russian Grayish-Blue cat with green eyes and yellow in the whites of the eyes. Tom has a white torso and white hands and feet. The tip of his tail is also white. The rest of his body is gray.
Background
His full name "Tom Cat" is based on the phrase "tomcat" which refers to male felines. He is very rarely heard speaking with the exception of a few cartoons. Although occasionally, he would make yawning noises and "Ouch!" noises if he is hurt. As well as saying "Don't you believe it?" in a low, monotonous voice.
Personality
Tom is portrayed as a normal cat that continuously chases after Jerry, for whom he sets traps, many of which backfire and cause damage to himself rather than Jerry. Tom very rarely sets out to eat Jerry, but only to hurt or compete with him, going to great lengths in order to just strategically taunt Jerry (even as revenge), rather than the stereotype of a predatory cat and mouse pairing.
However, Tom is shown to also occasionally get along with Jerry, like bonding secretly with each other to the point of having an unusual friendship of sorts, even if it's sometimes simply over a mutual sentiment towards an unpleasant experience. Multiple times, the story will start with him having nothing personal against Jerry, and is merely chasing him out of fear of receiving abuse at the hands of his owner if he doesn't do his job as a cat.
Tom's personality changed remarkably over the years, especially after the early episodes. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal and had normal cat intelligence. However, over the years, he has become almost completely bipedal and has not just the typical high intelligence of a normal cat, but also paired with the high intelligence of a human, fusing together to the cat's end result of having very high intelligence. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity. Tom is usually beaten at the end, although there are some stories where he outwits, defeats, beats, and gets the best of Jerry.
Movies
Anchors Aweigh
Tom briefly appears as a butler for Jerry, who appeared as a ruler of a kingdom where music is banned because he believes that he lacks talent.
Dangerous When Wet
In the film, Tom and Jerry did an underwater ballet with the main character, Katie Higgins.
Tom and Jerry: The Movie
Tom is one of the two titular protagonists of the film Tom and Jerry: The Movie. Tom and Jerry started out as enemies, but upon meeting new friends Puggsy and Frankie, a dog and flea respectively, the two try and start a form of friendship, but it's a rocky start. Tom imprisons Jerry in a flower pot to get food and is confronted by a gang of alley cats, upon fleeing he and Jerry, still not the best of friends yet, meet a little orphan girl named Robyn Starling who ran away. They accompany her back to her home, escorted by an officer, and shortly after getting into a scuffle with the dog Ferdinand over food and finding out about Auntie Figg's evil plans, they are sent to a pound.
They escape along with the other animals and reunite with Robyn, all of whom eventually end up at a carnival on an island. After the carnival owner, Captain Kiddie, sees the reward for Robyn, he attempts to hold her hostage, but they escape to Robyn's hideout where her father would be. Her father finds and rescues them as the house begins to burn. At the end of the movie, they revert back to chasing and antagonizing each other heavily.
In a series of direct to video or DVD releases following the original movie, Tom often served as a protagonist along with Jerry (as usual to the Tom and Jerry franchise in general), though there were antagonistic tendencies between the two throughout just about every one of the movies.
Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring
Tom and Jerry start the film chasing each other in the home of a young wizard named Chip. Tom is assigned to guard the magic ring in his master's absence and he is warned that if anything happens to the ring, the cat will face eviction from the house.
Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars
Tom and Jerry end up chasing each other to the International Space Place where they unintentionally get on a rocket ship and end up on Mars. After Tom accidentally destroys the martian's city, the martians decide to invade Earth so Tom, Jerry and Peep (who is a martian herself) have to save Earth from the martians and invincatron.
Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry
After Tom and Jerry destroy the house and get evicted, they decide to participate in The Faboulous Super Race where they race around the world against many participants to win a mansion.
Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers
Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes
Tom and Jerry are allies on the case to help solve the crime in London when a beautiful singer named Miss Red is framed for the thefts of the diamonds, and prove her innocence while finding the real culprit.
Tom and Jerry and The Wizard of Oz
Tom and Jerry live on the farm in Kansas with Dorothy Gale, her dog Toto, her Aunty Em and her Uncle Henry. Tom attempts to eat a baby chick, but he is stopped by Jerry each time. After the duo, Dorothy, and Toto are magically transported to Oz, the two help Dorothy face her fears and defeat the Wicked Witch of the West to get back home.
Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and his Merry Mouse
The story begins with Tom Cat as a spy for Prince John and a Squire for Maid Marian. He is hired by the Sheriff of Nottingham to capture Jerry to fish out the spy in the castle. Later in the film, after Robin Hood's arrest, Tom realizes in horror that the Sheriff of Nottingham plans to have Maid Marian executed when she refuses to marry him, he immediately discards Prince John's symbol from his shirt and turns to Jerry Mouse for help.
When the cat and mouse duo set out to free Robin Hood and his Merry Men from the dungeon but in order to do so, they must obtain the key from the Wolf guards. Their task goes rather awry when the mace lands on Tom's tail, causing him to Yelp in pain and accidentally swallow the key, so Jerry travels all the way down into Tom's stomach and takes a path to the tail in order to retrieve the key.
Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure
Tom and Jerry live in Storybook Town, a theme park owned by a boy named Jack and his mother who are at the risk of losing their theme park.
Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon
The story begins with Tom as a kitten and Jerry as a newborn baby mouse who are raised by a girl named Athena. The cat and mouse recover a dragon egg stolen by a Siamese cat trio Tin, Pan and Alley; not knowing what to do, they decide to take it home and raise it as their own.
Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest
He and Jerry team up with Johnny Quest and his pal Hadji on a mission to rescue his dad Dr. Quest from Dr. Zin, who threatens to take over the world.
Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz
In the sequel to Tom and Jerry and The Wizard of Oz, Tom, Jerry, Dorothy, and Toto are brought back to Oz by the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and the Cowardly Lion to help them defeat the villainous Nome King.
Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
He and Jerry accompany Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe around Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.
Tom and Jerry (2021)
Coming soon!
Videogames
Tom & Jerry: The Movie (video game)
Coming soon!
Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics
Coming soon!
Tom and Jerry: Infurnal Escape
Coming soon!
Relationships
Jerry
Jerry is Tom's best friend and archenemy, and are pretty much a mix of friends, bitter rivals, friendly rivals, and frenemies. He is shown competing against Jerry frequently, but Jerry usually ends up getting the best of him, due to Jerry being cunning enough to foil Tom's attempts to outwit him, despite Tom's high intelligence and crafty personality, but Tom occasionally triumphs and Jerry is the loser. However, they both share a secret bond of friendship and can't enjoy their lives without one another, as they bond over a mutual sentiment towards an unpleasant experience, and their antagonistic tendencies with each other are often more playful than serious attacks. Multiple shorts will show the two getting along with minimal difficulty, and they are shown to work together to defeat the real villains who antagonize both of them.
Spike
Spike is Tom's neighbor dog who bullies him, as shown when he accidentally causes a feud with him or even when minding his own business, Spike will sadistically threaten and harass Tom, and even enslave him on several occasions. However, they are shown to be friends sometimes, when they protect each other from harm.
Butch
Butch is Tom's friend and rival. He is either teaming up with Tom to catch Jerry, or competing against each other for their love interest Toodles Galore.
Toodles
Toodles is Tom's girlfriend. She is shown to date Tom in several cartoons, however she is shown to be annoyed by Tom at times, such as when he eats her hot dog and drinks her soda at the beach, hits Tom with her purse whenever he gets attacked by the piranha, and attempts to impress her with something which ends up backfiring.
Tuffy
Tuffy is another one of Tom's enemies. Tom tries to catch him, but often fails repeatedly, due to Jerry saving him, or Tuffy outsmarting him in any way.
Quacker
Quacker is another one of Tom's enemies. Tom tries to catch him but often fails, due to Jerry saving him, or Quacker outsmarting Tom.
Tyke
Tyke is another one of Tom's enemies. He is Spike's son, and Spike will often harm Tom if he ever does anything that bothers his son.
Heroic Acts
- Teams up with Jerry to discipline and take on very naughty and devilish triplet kittens; Fluff, Muff and Puff in "Triplet Trouble".
- Protects the family baby from dangerous situations while Jeannie, the baby's negligent and irresponsible babysitter, was too busy talking on the phone with her friends to bother keeping an eye on the baby in "Busy Buddies" and "Tot Watchers".
- Rescues Miss Red from Professor Moriarty in "Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes".
- Joins Johnny Quest on a mission to rescue his father from Dr. Zin in "Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest".
- Protects baby dragon Puffy (who mistakes him for his mother) from Drizelda's evil henchcats Tin, Pan and Alley and manages to return him to his real mother in "Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon".
- Helps Dorothy Gale and her friends defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and find the Wizard of Oz.
- Rescues Dorothy's dog, Toto, from the clutches of Miss Gulch, with Jerry's help.
- Helps Dorothy and Toto return home to Kansas.
- Helps Jack save Storybook Town from a greedy billionaire named Mr. Bigley in "Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure".
- Saves Jerry Mouse on certain occasions (even on occasions when Jerry was at risk of dying, such as freezing to death).
- Helps save a girl named Robyn Starling from her wicked Aunt Figg in "Tom and Jerry: The Movie".
- Saves Quacker from suicide in "That's My Mommy."
- Many appearances consist of him bravely doing something or his job as a house cat to protect his or his owner's/master's property, including following his owner's/master's orders, from Jerry taking advantage of him and his job.
- In addition, many appearances also consist of him protecting his owners/masters themselves from harm, especially from Jerry.
- Attempts to keep and protect Jerry to himself from a hungry alley cat attempting to eat him in "Sufferin' Cats".
- Stands up for himself on many occasions.
- Often shows remorse for his mistakes while attempting to make it up when going too far on certain occasions (to the point of risking his life doing so).
- Helps his cousin George overcome his fear of mice in "Timid Tabby".
- Helps out Tuffy/Nibbles to make peace between cats and mice in "Little School Mouse".
- Helps Jerry remove his sorcerer owner's powerful magic ring stuck on his head (which he was supposed to guard) while protecting him from Butch Dog, Butch Cat, and numerous other enemies in "Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring".
- Gets rid of Spike and Tyke's hiccups in "Hic-cup Pup".
- Does his best to protect and nurture Tyke from any danger or consequences happening on certain occasions.
- Protects his girlfriend Toodles Galore from Butch Cat on numerous occasions.
- Attempts to keep his nephews out of violence and trouble in The Adventures of Tom comic "Kittens' Mittens".
- Teams up with Jerry to operate a detective agency and solve cases as detectives in "The Cat and Mouse Detectives" episode segments.
- Teams up with Jerry to protect and save a befriended Italian mouse named "Topo" from three bully dogs in "Neapolitan Mouse".
Audio Samples
Trivia
- Despite being one of the titular two main protagonists, he can sometimes be pretty villainous.
- He sometimes has a happy ending in some episodes, but when Spike has a happy ending, Jerry will have a happy ending as well.
- In the debut cartoon, Puss Gets the Boot, he was called Jasper instead of Tom.
- It is revealed that he has a younger sister (and a nephew) in one Tom and Jerry Tales episode, Babysitting Blues.
- In the Chuck Jones shorts, it is shown that Tom has a baritone voice and sings Italian Opera, including "The Cat Above and the Mouse Below," and "Cat and Dupli-Cat,"
- Judging from how Jerry easily outsmarts him and the destruction that both he and Jerry caused over the course of their appearance, Tom's main weakness while competing with Jerry was his tendency to act reckless. This was shown where every time he chases Jerry, he often hit/step on objects around him and damaged them in the process, albeit by accident, and also often, if not always, accidentally insults Spike, which made the bulldog often beat him to a pulp for this, as well as accidentally "messing" with his son Tyke.
- He is similar to Oggy from "Oggy and the Cockroaches", Scratchy from "The Itchy and Scratchy Show", Donald Duck from the Mickey Mouse franchise, and Squidward Tentacles from from "SpongeBob SquarePants":
- Tom, Oggy, and Squidward are creatures with blue appearances.
- Tom, Oggy, Scratchy, and Donald have smaller size rivals (Tom has Jerry, Oggy has the Cockroaches, Scratchy has Itchy, and Donald Duck has Chip and Dale), while having a love-hate relationship with them. They all attempt to get the best of them and abuse them.
- All five of them are annoyed and pestered by group of characters who tried to ruined their lives (Jerry, the Cockroaches, Itchy, Chip and Dale, SpongeBob and Patrick).
- All five of them fall in love. However, Oggy has successfully married Olivia, and Scratchy has been married ever since with a wife and son.
- Tom, Oggy, and Squidward have relatives that are identical to each other, as well as cousins: Oggy has Monica as his twin sister and has Jack as his cousin, while Tom has George as his cousin, let alone his identical cousin.
- All five of them appear in movies, but Squidward and Donald Duck play supporting roles.
- All five of them wish to live their lives in peace, while helping others (including their friends).
- Both Tom and Scratchy are usually silent, but speak on rare occasions (as Oggy is always silent).
- Tom, Oggy, and Squidward are abused by characters stronger than them (Tom has Spike, Oggy has Bob, and Squidward has Mr. Krabs).
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Yogi Bear Scooby-Doo Yogi's Gang Main Characters Superheroes Tom and Jerry The Flintstones Top Cat The Jetsons Jonny Quest Wacky Races Hong Kong Phooey Josie And The Pussycats Jabberjaw Speed Buggy The Smurfs The Snorks Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels Laff-a-Lympics Foofur 2 Stupid Dogs Other Groups See Also | ||
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Main Heroes Allies Crossovers Movies Blast Off to Mars A Nutcracker Tale Meet Sherlock Holmes The Wizard of Oz | ||
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Books Others Crossovers Movies The Wiz Return to Oz Journey Back to Oz Lion of Oz The Muppets' Wizard of Oz Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz Dorothy and the Witches of Oz Oz the Great and Powerful Legends of Oz: Dorothy Returns Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz Rainbow Wicked Wicked For Good The Wizard of the Emerald City Television Return to Oz (1964) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986) Oz Kids Strawberry Shortcake (2003-2007) Tin Man (2007) Once Upon a Time Lost in Oz Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz | ||
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