Did Warner Bros make Tom and Jerry?

From jasper and Jinx to Tom and Jerry

One of the most beloved rivalries in history is back! Wamer Bros, has released the first trailer of the upcoming “Tom & Jerry” film. It is the first movie to feature the legendary cat and mouse duo in almost three decades, and the setting is at a wedding in New York!

The film will be an eye-popping blend of classic animation and live action. While Tom and Jerry will retain their cartoon avatars, the rest of the world around them will be in live-action mode. In director Tim Story’s “Tom & Jerry”, the eternal frenemies will have to do the unthinkable… work together to save the day.

The cat and mouse duo was dreamt up by creators William(Bill) Hanna and Joseph (Joe) Barbera, who worked with MGM’s animation department. The studio was desperate while their competitors were coming up with hit characters like Porky Pig and Mickey Mouse.

Both the animators began brainstorming. Barbera wanted to create a simple cat and mouse cartoon, with conflict and chase, even though it had been done countless times before. So, Jasper and Jinx, who later became Tom and Jerry, were born.

The first episode featuring Jasper and Jinx Titled “Puss Gets the Boot” released in 1940 and won the studio and Oscar nomination for best animated short. But Hanna and barbera were not given any credit for it.

Scripting success

Buoyed by the success of “Puss gets the Boot”, the creators continued to develop the cat-and-mouse these on their own, even though their supervisor Fred Quimby didn’t want any more cat and mouse cartoons. And, the result was “Tom and Jerry”. The characters first appeared in 1941’s ‘The Midnight Snack.”

Modelled after the “Puss Gets the Boot” characters with minor alterations, the series followed Jerry, the rodent who continually outwitted his feline foe, Tom. Having grown up watching silent films starring Charlie Chaplin, the creators knew their cartoons could be funny without dialogue. Music composed by Scott Bradley underscored the action and Tom’s trademark human-like scream was voiced by Hanna himself

Two decades later, their department at MGM was closed down in 1957 when the studio realised they could make money simply through re-runs of the shorts already created by Hanna and Barbera.

So the duo went on to set up their own production company, creating legendary characters such as Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear and hit shows like ‘The Flintstones”, “Top Cat”, “Scooby Doo”, “The Smurfs” and even “Charlotte’s Web”.

A new direction

Meanwhile, the production of “Tom and Jerry” was taken over by Chuck Jones, best known for his work on Looney Tunes at Warner Brothers. Jones gave Tom a new avatar with thicker eyebrows and a twisted face resembling the Grinch, one of Dr. Seuss’s characters.

 

Picture Credit : Google