TOM AND JERRY

TOM AND JERRY

The series features comic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a 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. 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

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 which both starred Judy Garland in a leading role. 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.

Some episodes of tom and jerry:

Tennis chumps

Tom emerges from a locker room at a tennis court, but Burch emerges from the locker next door, slamming his door into Tom. After that, Tom appears in form of an Egyptian hierogliphic. Jerry then emerges, but Tom forces him to carry his tennis equipment. Tom then launches Jerry against a locker room wall and into a drinking fountain, much to Jerry's annoyance.

A match between Tom and Butch then begins. Tom serves, but Butch's return shot causes Tom's racket to catch on fire. Tom then serves three balls to Butch, but Butch splits his racket into three and returns all three into Tom's mouth. Tom then pulls the net to force a drop shot, but Butch hits the ball through the ground, forcing Tom to stretch his arm to the end of the court to make the return. Butch then makes many returns at the net, bouncing the ball off Tom's face, before returning with a backspin shot. Tom tries to chase after the ball, but runs into a post and is wrapped into the net.

Jerry then hands Tom a bomb much to Tom's delight. Tom serves it to Butch and it explodes just before Butch goes to return it. Jerry then hands Butch a heavy ball with a hole inside it, much to Butch's delight. Butch serves it to Tom, and the ball smashes into Tom as Tom goes to return it, making Tom break into pieces, much to Jerry's amusement.

Tom then hurls tennis balls at Jerry until Jerry swallows one, and Tom and Butch use him as a tennis ball until Jerry escapes by flicking the racket's string into Tom's face and evades Tom by bouncing away. Tom throws his racquet to catch him, but Jerry jumps over the net and Butch swallows it. Butch then hits the ball out of Jerry and he and Tom trap Jerry on the net, but Jerry jumps on Butch's head, making Tom miss and hit Butch.

Jerry then shares a tennis rally with Butch. Butch whacks Tom when the ball gets stuck in his mouth and runs through a chain link, and Jerry has to move the sideline after the ball hits the net. Tom tries to get involved again, but Butch stops him and the rally continues until Jerry sends the ball rocketing into the sky. Butch and Tom both run to hit it, but crash into each other and become conjoined. Butch and Tom then agree to work together.

Little Quacker

On a farm, a mama duck goes out for a swim, leaving behind an egg in her nest. But Tom craftily reaches into the nest and takes the egg for cooking. He then rushes back to his kitchen and places a frying pan over the hob. However, when Tom breaks the egg open, instead of getting the albumen and yolk, the only thing he gets is a duckling, Quacker. Not to be put off, Tom decides he will cook a roasted duck instead. But to do so, he acquires Quacker's 'cooperation'.

Tom feeds Quacker on plenty of bread to fatten and stuff him up, and while the duckling is not looking, the cat gets hold of a meat cleaver and attempts to chop Quacker up, but invariably misses. The duckling escapes into Jerry's mouse hole and into his bed, shaking in terror (the shape under Jerry's sheet resembles a ringing bell). Jerry uncovers Quacker, who informs the mouse of what Tom has tried to do to him. Quacker then hides back under Jerry's bed and shakes in terror once again.

Jerry emerges from his mouse hole cautiously, but Tom is quick and cuts him down with his meat cleaver... almost. Quacker, believing that Jerry has been beheaded, pulls at the mouse's legs, only for the camera to pull away, showing that Tom has only managed to catch Jerry by the whiskers. Jerry is set free and gets his revenge on Tom by placing the cat's tail outside of the hole, such that Tom, who doesn't know it might happen, ends up chopping his own tail. He screams in pain and retaliates by chasing the mouse and the duckling.

The chase continues outside, where Tom's efforts to chop away at Jerry and Quacker only result in him being flattened by falling buildings or falling posts. Later on, while Quacker and Jerry search for his mama, Tom uses a duck call to lure in the duckling, but Jerry is clued up as to what the cat is doing, and quickly substitutes his duck caller for a stick of dynamite which blows up in his face. He then chases them to a large tree with a single barrel hunting rifle. He thrusts the rifle in, only for the barrel to bend towards his backside, which he accidentally fires at. Jerry and Quacker flee, but they ram into a tire and hide in it. Tom grabs a sledgehammer from the ground and tries to smack them, but the sledgehammer ends up bounced by the tire, causing it to smack his face and the cat places the mace on the ground until slumps down. Jerry and Quacker escape as Tom awakens from the trance, grabs a lawnmower and charges after them.

Quacker's mother walks around the farm, calling for him. Tom chases after Jerry and Quacker with the lawnmower, but ultimately ends up running over the duckling's mother's front feathers, revealing her undergarments. She covers them with a look of shock and embarrassment on her eyes. Both the mother and son are reunited, but Tom grabs Quacker from the mama duck and she grabs her baby back. After Quacker tells his mama what had happened and who was the cause of this, she demands to know what Tom thinks he's doing to her baby, saying, "He did?" But Tom's only answer is scornful mimicry of her quacking (It is presumed by some that it is his way of replying, "I did, so what!"). This enrages the mama duck to immediately calls her husband ("HENRY!"), who shows up. He proves to be tattooed like a sailor and strong as an ox, much to Tom's confusion. The mama duck tells him what Tom did to their son and how she was minding her own business when he ran over her with the lawnmower, ending indignantly with "And he got smart, too!". Henry is now infuried as glares at him and says "He did?". An intimidated Tom flees for his life and the enormous duck gives chase. Too panicked to look where he is going, Tom slams face first into a tree, at which Henry seizes the lawnmower and runs it continuously up and down on the cat's back as punishment for trying to eat Quacker.

The final scene has Mama Duck and Quacker swimming in the pond, with her towing Jerry Mouse on a little raft. Jerry uses the duck caller to attempt sound like mama and baby. The two friends then face each other and smile.

The cats chase after Jerry, but Jerry activates an automatic tennis ball server, causing balls to launch at Butch and Tom, pushing them back into the net. The net then bursts, sending Butch and Tom rocketing through the air until they land in a tree, tangled in the net. Then Jerry has put on a fancy jacket. He writes his name on the tennis trophy cup and celebrates his victory