Tom and Jerry

Thomas "Tom" Cat and Jerry Mouse are fictional characters and the main protagonists in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon short films, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Tom is a blue/grey anthropomorphic domestic short-haired cat and Jerry is a brown anthropomorphic house mouse. They first appeared in the 1940 animated short Puss Gets the Boot. Tom and Jerry were originally known as "Jasper" and "Jinx" during their debut in that short (Barbera claimed the mouse went unnamed in his first appearance), however, beginning from their next appearance in The Midnight Snack and onwards, Tom and Jerry were refer to by their names.

Overall

 * 1) Their popularity became the birthplace of the world's most groundbreaking future cartoon stars.
 * 2) They got their own shows ever since the 70s because of their memorability in the 20th century.
 * 3) They provided countless memes because of moments of their buffoonery, charm, and expressions by several animation frames in the original shorts.
 * 4) Their friendship/rivalry became one of the most iconic relationships in cartoon history.
 * 5) They are two of the most iconic cartoon characters of all time

Tom Cat

 * 1) His slapstick-prone, clownish antics because of how inefficient he is with chasing Jerry is always fun to watch and his comedy timing with slapstick was always done hilariously.
 * 2) * In later adaptions, when his comedy timing was done right, they were always fun to watch.
 * 3) Because of his clownish buffoonery, he was responsible for one of the many influences for Buffoonish Tomcats in Western Animation next to Sylvester.
 * 4) Like Goofy; Whenever Tom was shown to be comically klutzy in the original shorts to the Chuck Jones' shorts, for example, he always does this hilariously and humorously.
 * 5) He has provided tons of memorable scenes in the original shorts whenever he was suddenly voiced for comical effect or for an orchestrated scene like where he was flirting with Toodles Galore for example.
 * 6) * When Tom was given any lines of dialogue in the theatrical shorts, they were always done comedically.
 * 7) Just like Goofy again, all of Tom's yells are incredibly timeless, memorable, and hilarious to listen to. This one being a prime example.
 * 8) While a very buffoonish cat for comedic purposes, he is mostly very intelligent, clever, and, determined, whether his ideas and plans work or not. In fact, numerous of them even lead to him getting the best of Jerry.
 * 9) When Tom was given responsibilities to help his friends (e.g Spike telling Tom to look after his son), and he tries his best to help others, if clumsily done most of the time.
 * 10) Like Donald Duck; whenever Tom does make mistakes, he serves as a constant reminder for all of us to be brave, keep searching, hold family close, and never give up no matter how great the odds are against you; in which shows when trying to do his best in old shorts where he was quite unlucky.
 * 11) And like Homer: His mean-spirited behavior and klutzy demeanor can be hilarious.
 * 12) Tom was also shown to be likable towards others like his relatives such as Cousin George, and, does have a very likable sibling rivalry-esque relationship with Jerry.
 * 13) Tom himself has brought lots of charm in the original shorts whenever it isn't based only focused on only slapstick, brought rather on comedy itself and the show wouldn't be as memorable if it wasn't for him.

Jerry Mouse

 * 1) He is Tom's (friendly and bitter) rival, and his plans to get the best of him are either sneaky and/or clever.
 * 2) Because of this, this makes him quite intelligent for a small mouse like him when he is against a big cat.
 * 3) He may seem incredibly lucky and flawless with his rivalry with Tom, but he has moments of showing how comically flawed he can be to find him likable as well.
 * 4) Cute and nice character design that got better over the years.

Overall

 * 1) They have been shoe-horned in Warner Bros' subpar to worst films. (although, there are some exceptions)
 * 2) They were featured in bad Tom & Jerry shorts where they don't focus on the universally loved skits, especially the infamous "Blue Cat Blues"; which was a episode about Tom's depression.

Tom Cat

 * 1) He has been flanderized into a complete and utter Punching Bag in the worst episodes and/or seasons of Tom and Jerry such as the Gene Deitch era for example.
 * 2) In the 2014 Tom & Jerry series, he can usually suffer for no good reason when around Spike for example.

Jerry Mouse

 * 1) He sometimes comes off as a Karma Houdini, especially in the Gene Deitch shorts. Speaking of which, he was badly flanderized in the Gene Deitch era, becoming very unlikable. Thankfully, he redeemed himself after the Gene Deitch era ended.
 * 2) He can sometimes have too much fun surviving, especially in later adaptations such as the the 2014 series or even the 2021 movie.

Trivia

 * 1) This cat-and-mouse duo made a guest appearance in the film mh:greatestmovies:Anchors Aweigh where Jerry is portrayed as the lonesome king in a story created by Joseph Brady just to entertain the children, he even speaks in this movie as well. Tom also appears as the "king's" servant offering him cheese to cheer him up, though he never spoke.