Tom and Jerry's First Chase Begins February 1940

# February 10, 1940: The Day Tom and Jerry First Chased Into Cinema History

On February 10, 1940, a cat and mouse forever changed the landscape of animated comedy when **"Puss Gets the Boot"** premiered in theaters. This seemingly innocuous cartoon short marked the debut of the most famous feuding duo in animation history: Tom and Jerry (though they weren't called that yet – the cat was "Jasper" and the mouse was "Jinx" in this first outing).

Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at MGM's animation unit, this seven-minute masterpiece of mayhem introduced audiences to a revolutionary concept in cartoon violence: nearly dialogue-free physical comedy that relied entirely on expressive animation, impeccable timing, and creative destruction. The premise was deceptively simple – a house cat tries to catch a mouse while avoiding the wrath of his owner, Mammy Two Shoes (shown only from the waist down). But the execution was anything but simple.

What made this debut so significant was its departure from the dialogue-heavy cartoons that dominated the era. While Disney had Mickey Mouse and Warner Bros. had their wisecracking Looney Tunes characters, Hanna and Barbera created something different: a purely visual ballet of chaos. The cartoon was essentially a silent film with sound effects and music, proving that animation could still thrive on the physical comedy principles of Chaplin and Keaton.

The short was an immediate hit with audiences, though MGM executives were initially lukewarm about it. Producer Fred Quimby submitted "Puss Gets the Boot" for Academy Award consideration, and it earned a nomination for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) – losing to another MGM cartoon, "The Milky Way." But the Oscar nomination was enough to convince the studio that this cat-and-mouse formula had legs (and claws, and teeth).

The overwhelming audience response led MGM to order more cartoons featuring the duo, though they requested a name change. A studio-wide contest eventually settled on "Tom" and "Jerry," and the rest became animation legend. The series would go on to win seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film – more than any other character-based theatrical animated series.

The craftsmanship displayed even in this first cartoon set the template for over 160 theatrical shorts produced over the next three decades. The elastic, exaggerated animation style, the ingenious methods of destruction, and the oddly sympathetic portrayal of both predator and prey created a dynamic that kids and adults alike found irresistible.

"Puss Gets the Boot" also established the essential DNA of Tom and Jerry: the escalating violence that somehow never results in real harm, Tom's eternal optimism despite constant failure, Jerry's scrappy resourcefulness, and the underlying suggestion that these two enemies might actually need each other. The cartoon's success proved that audiences would embrace characters with minimal dialogue but maximum personality – a lesson that would influence animation for generations.

Today, that first cartoon stands as a testament to the power of pure visual storytelling and impeccable comic timing, reminding us that sometimes the best stories are the simplest ones: a cat chases a mouse, chaos ensues, and cinema magic is born.


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