78 years of Tom and Jerry: How this cat and mouse game played out over the years

They’ve been part of the backdrop to our lives for so long that it’s easy to forget that – in cat and mouse years anyway – Tom and Jerry’s running conflict must qualify as one of the longest double acts on record. Last month, the pair celebrated their 78th anniversary with the news that they are teaming up in a new animated movie with, of all people, Willy Wonka and his Chocolate factory.
Their career goes back to the MGM cartoon department where animators Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera first met in around 1937.

In 1939, after working on a number of ultimately unsuccessful cartoons, Hanna and Barbera decided to collaborate on a new animated series for the studio. Hanna was an impressive and fast-working storyboard artist, while Barbera had an expert eye for direction. Their pitch – about the conflict between a cat and a mouse – was put in front of their unconvinced boss, Fred Quimby.
Quimby begrudgingly greenlit the project. The result was Puss Gets the Boot (1940) featuring the duo under the stage names Jasper Cat and Jinx Mouse.

The cartoon features the playful rivalry between cat and mouse we would all grow to love – although there is a sinister undertone to the piece, especially in the rendering of Tom. But the real star of the show is the distinctive musical score. The short animation featured no dialogue from the main characters so this score was key to the storytelling success of the animation.

The original musical director of the series was Scott Bradley. Bradley used the skills of the MGM cartoon orchestra, which consisted of between 16 and 45 musicians. The score was written before any animation work was completed, although the “beats” of the animation were planned out by Hanna and Barbera in advance of putting pencil to paper.

The animation style cut no corners, although the character designs were not yet set in stone. Jasper (Tom) was more rough around the edges (he looks in severe need of a grooming). This first effort sets out the premise of Jinx getting one over on Jasper – with the poor cat taking the rap for the wanton destruction left in their wake. The film was a success, and a second episode appeared: The Midnight Snack (1941).