Censorship of Tom and Jerry

Like several Golden Age cartoons, the original Tom and Jerry shorts contained various depictions of violence, racial stereotypes, self-harm, substance abuse, sexist imagery, and historical figures that have since caught heat with executives whenever the cartoons are broadcasted on television. As a result, many scenes have been edited or removed entirely from subsequent airings.

Hanna-Barbera era

Since June 2020, Cartoon Network and Boomerang pulled all shorts featuring the character Mammy Two Shoes from airing as this sign (§) marks the episode she appears.

Puss Gets The Boot (1940)§

• Current airings on television have Mammy Two Shoes' voice redubbed. In addition, the redubbed version changes the script "You're goin' out! O-W-T out!" so that she spells it correctly.

Fraidy Cat (1942)§

• Each of Mammy's appearances were removed on current airings.

Dog Trouble (1942)§

• TNT airings removed the scene of Mammy kicking the Bulldog out of the house.

Puss n' Toots (1942)§

• The scene where a record disc lands on Tom's head, making him look Chinese, followed by Jerry doing an oriental dance to the music, was removed on current airings. (Ironically enough, became a rather famous Internet Meme.)
• Some local stations edited the beginning to remove all scenes featuring Mammy.

The Lonesome Mouse (1943)§

• This cartoon has rarely aired on television due to a scene featuring Jerry using black paint to make a painting of Tom's head look like Adolf Hitler. When it does air, the scene in question is cut.

The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943)

• Airings on Cartoon Network between its launch in 1992 to mid 2001 edited the exploding teapot scene to remove Tom in blackface from the blast. Since late 2001, this cartoon airs unedited.

The Million Dollar Cat (1944)

• Rarely seen on British television and is exempt from the Complete Collector's Edition due to money problems.

Mouse Trouble (1944)

• Some local stations deleted the entire scene where Tom hides in a package addressed to Jerry, followed by Jerry sticking pins into it and sawing it in half, looking inside, and nervously displaying a sign reading "Is there a doctor in the house?"

The Mouse Comes To Dinner (1945)§

• Current airings delete the entire beginning with Mammy preparing dinner and Jerry sneaking around the table dressed as an Indian chief. It now abruptly begins with Tom coming out of the plant.
  • Prior to the recent edited version, Thea Vidale‘s redub aired on Cartoon Network in the 1990s.
• Some of the home video releases and broadcast airings cut out the scene where Tom lights up a white cigarette.

Mouse In Manhattan (1945)

• Jerry getting his head stuck in a bottle of shoe polish is shortened in current airings. In the original, he popped out in blackface. It accidentally aired uncensored a few times in the 2010s, however.

Flirty Birdy (1945)

• The eagle throwing Tom down a clothesline, and the latter ends up resembling an Indian chief afterwards, is cut from current airings.
• In Europe, two of the eagle’s lines are muted out (due to an audio error) and the clips showing Tom or Jerry blow the horn and that surprisingly arouses the eagle were changed in a similar responding but masculine cry since these result were deemed inappropriate.

The Milky Waif (1946)

• Current airings and nearly all DVD releases remove the entire scene where Jerry and Nibbles disguise themselves as a black woman and child to escape from Tom. It abruptly goes from Nibbles spitting milk in Tom's face to Tom slamming into a frying pan.
• Some locations outside North America removes Jerry’s massive roar near the end for being too intimidating.

Trap Happy (1946)

• Some local stations remove the scene of Butch accidentally chopping Tom's tail off with an axe.

Part Time Pal (1947)§

• Mammy's voice is redubbed in current airings. Additionally, her line "Well, slap my face if this ain't a mess!" was changed to "Well, I'll be darned! This is quite a mess!"
• For unknown reasons, Tom's drunken rendition of "One For The Money" before splashing Mammy with water is cut from current broadcasts as well.

A Mouse In The House (1947)§

• Withdrawn from Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to resulted racial abuse involving Mammy Two-Shoes getting spanked by Tom and Butch repeatedly at the end.
  • Prior to its withdrawal, the scene with Tom and Butch scorched from an explosion in the oven was cut and Mammy was redubbed.

Kitty Foiled (1948)

• The scene where Jerry and the canary disguise themselves as Indians to escape Tom was cut from current airings. MeTV airings however leave this scene intact.
• In UK and Asia Pacific airings the scene Cuckoo points the gun at Tom after the bear rug scene is cut.

The Truce Hurts (1948)

• Current airings removed the scene when the dark mud splashed on Spike, Tom, and Jerry, it made them have blackfaces.
• A version that aired on CBS in the 1960s reanimated that scene after when the mud splashed all over the 3 characters, they were completely covered in mud instead of making them look racial.

Old Rockin' Chair Tom (1948)§

• Mammy's voice is redubbed in current airings. Also, her line "Take care of poor ol' Uncle Tom." was simply shortened to "Take care of poor ol' Tom."

Professor Tom (1948)

• The scene Tom inhales a cigar and repeatedly blows the smoke into Jerry's mousehole is cut in Boomerang UK airings, due to the United Kingdom's ban on TV show characters smoking. The scene where Tom spanks Topsy for tripping him is also cut due to corporeal punishment is a criminal offense in many countries.

Mouse Cleaning (1948)§

• This cartoon rarely airs on television and has been banned from DVDs due to the ending involving a blackface Tom impersonating a black man (complete with stereotypical voice) to elude Mammy after the coal spill. When it did air, the scene suddenly went from the coal spill subsiding to Mammy yelling "THOMAS!!"
• A version that aired on CBS in the 1960s reanimated the scene so that Tom sneaks away quicker and doesn't say anything. Further, the coal coverage on Tom was edited to make the character look non-racial.

The Little Orphan (1949)§

• The candle burning up Tom's fur so that he becomes a blackface caricature, followed by a bottle of champagne being launched into his head, is edited on just about every airing. Current broadcasts and DVD masters simply remove the burning, then cut to Nibbles setting off the bottle, then cut to his and Jerry's reactions.
• CBS aired a version in the 1960s that kept the blackface, but reanimated the scene so that Tom keeps his Indian headdress to make the gag a bit cleaner.

Heavenly Puss (1949)

• Banned in Brazil and the Middle East due to Tom dreams of facing the damnation in Hell.

Jerry's Diary (1949)

• On current airings, the clip from "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" is edited to remove Tom in blackface from an exploding teapot.

Tennis Chumps (1949)

• Some local stations removed the exploding birdie turning Butch into a blackface ballerina. Oddly, channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang aired this uncut.

Saturday Evening Puss (1950)§

• Versions aired on television from the 1960s onwards reanimated Mammy into an unnamed white woman with a new voice provided by June Foray.
• The same version also mutes out Jerry's barely audible dialogue when he complains to Tom about the noise.

Texas Tom (1950)

• Sequences where Tom smokes the cigarette are removed from reruns of the UK versions of Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to the smoking ban.

Safety Second (1950)

• On current airings, the ending with Jerry blowing into a noisemaker, only for it to blow up due to a firecracker in it, fades out early to remove Jerry in blackface glaring at Nibbles.

Casanova Cat (1951)§

• This cartoon rarely airs on television and has been banned from DVDs due to the scene where Tom forces Jerry into performing a blackface tap dance for Toodles.

His Mouse Friday (1951)

• Rarely airs on television due to prominent black stereotyping. Edited versions exist on home media, which mute out the natives' and the blackface Jerry's dialogue, and zoomed in on Jerry at the end, so that the child native (with a much thicker lip) would not be seen.

The Two Mouseketeers (1952)

• Some local stations edited out the implied execution of Tom at the end.

Little Runaway (1952)

• The baby seal throwing Tom into a bird bath, which overturns the basin and lands on Tom to make him look like a Chinese caricature, is cut from current airings.

The Dog House (1952)

• Like The Yankee Doodle Mouse, Spike having his head in a doghouse which exploded causing Spike to him to have blackface is cut short. However, the scene remains to be shown uncensored a few times.

Two Little Indians (1953)

• Rarely airs on television due to prominent Native American stereotyping.

Life With Tom (1953)

• The clip from "The Little Orphan" was edited to remove Tom's blackface look after the candle burns his fur.

Busy Buddies (1956)

• Withheld from television broadcast until early 1998 due to its propaganda of satirizing child neglect and endangerment, including sequences of the baby crawling underwater and unseen cops shooting at the titular mute duo and the baby.
  • However, it was released on The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II Laserdisc box set in 1993, like several other collectable Laserdisc that would feature cartoons that have yet to be televised until further notice.
• Rarely seen on British television and is exempt from the Complete Collector's Edition for the same reasons regarding its propaganda.

Blue Cat Blues (1956)

• Rarely airs on television and is exempt from many home releases due to topical references to suicide, depression, and alcoholism.

Feedin' The Kiddie (1957)

• Like its original counterpart "The Little Orphan", the blackface scene was edited on television airings.

Tot Watchers (1958)

• Withheld from television broadcast until 1992 for satirizing child neglect.
• Banned in Morocco as politically incorrect, including Tom and Jerry being arrested for false judgment and the ignorance of child neglect.

Gene Deitch era

Down and Outing, High Steaks, and Sorry Safari (1961-1962)

• Rarely aired on modern television due to inhumanely insensitive subject matter involving the Deitch era owner and his verbal acts of animal abuse on Tom.

Calypso Cat (1962)

• Banned in the Middle East due to the alleged sexual innuendo.

Dicky Moe (1962)

• Prior to 2018, it was rarely seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to alleged sexually inappropriate language including the whale’s name "Dicky Moe".

Buddies Thicker Than Water (1962)

• Shortened in United Kingdom and France because of Tom and Jerry getting intoxicated by alcohol.

Carmen Get It! (1962)

• The singer playing Carmen's appearance was removed while it aired on Cartoon Network Maghreb and Spacetoon, likely due to the exposed cleavage of her enlarged breasts.
• In Cartoon Network, Morocco is frequently replaced by a limestone before they are in the palace, and the singer playing carmen's appearance was removed as in the Arabic World. These two scenes were left intact on Boomerang USA and MeTV.

Chuck Jones era

Jerry, Jerry, Quite Contrary (1966)

• Banned in the Netherlands due to some thematic issues relating to violence during sleep walking.

Jerry-Go-Round (1966)

• When this short aired on WKBD in the 1980s, the first 3 minutes was cut for time constraints, so the cartoon now begins with the ball popping and the elephant looking worried.

The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R. (1967)

• Rarely airs on television due to its use of strobe light effects that may induce epileptic seizures in some viewers.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

• Although there are no results of censorship for this movie, but its infamous teaser trailer remained unavailable outside Europe for its gothic advertising. However, half of the teaser is used for the theatrical trailer, but edited to make it more lighthearted for the North American marketing.

Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry

• In Asia, the scene where Tom flies at New York City and yanks off the dress of the Statue of Liberty was cut due to being sexually inappropriate involving him and Jerry eyeballing her exposed lingerie.

Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

• Some scenes are cut in Germany and the United Kingdom for being too violent.

The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)

In some countries where The Tom and Jerry Show (2014) is aired, said series was censored, especially in MENA cut scenes of how many kissing scenes in Big Top Tom, Turn About, and Frenemies.

Season 1

"Dinner is Swerved"

• The scene is cut as Tom kisses Jerry's lips and kisses a Toodler.

"Turn About"

• When Tom soon approaches Toodles to accept her, the scene is cut.

"Molecular Break Up"

• The episode was banned in Russia.

Season 2

"Big Top Tom"

• The scene is cut where Tom is happy for Jerry because of kissing and hugs.

"Reward If Lost"

• The scene where Tom's Angel appears.

"Out With The Old"

• A group of cats, as an evil and stronger Cat appears in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

"Unhappily Harried After"

• The episode was banned in the Arab countries and Middle East.

Season 3

"Frown and Country" / "Catching Some Z's" / "Frenemies" / "Everyone Into the Pool"

• These episodes were banned in the Arab countries and Middle East.

"Wrap Star"

• In Middle East, Almost every scene were cut in the following:
  • Scenes are cut when an Tom's Shoulder Angel and Tom's Shoulder Devil appear to be absent.

"Whack a Gopher"

• In Middle East, Almost every scene were cut in the following:
  • Jerry, Gopher and her family were cut.
  • The end of the episode was cut due to Jerry and Gopher's hug.

Tom and Jerry Special Shorts

On a Roll

• The two scenes in the Moroccan version was cut when Tom's face was missing from the thorny fish and when toy balls were inserted into Tom's eyes

The House That Cat Built

• Tom has thorns and cuts, and seeing him naked cuts across the scene.

Tom and Jerry in New York

The Great Donut Robbery

• The last 38 seconds of this episode are cut in Cartoon Network Asia due to the belief of both wasting money (see below) and stealing from law enforcement. The last quote, however, is seen in the commercial once. ("Hey! Come back here with our doughnuts! I mean, evidence!")