Lightning Cat is a ginger orange cat who first appeared in the 1948 short Old Rockin' Chair Tom as Tom's rival.
Lightning is named as such because in his first short, he practically moved at the speed of lightning. In later cartoons, Lightning often appeared as one of Tom's alley cat friend/foes. Lightning has the same character design as Butch, but with an orange color (although his coloring occasionally varies from film-to-film).
An orange cat resembling Lightning appears in the Gene Deitch short Switchin' Kitten. In the Chuck Jones short Catty-Cornered (his final appearance), Lightning is portrayed with more of an orange-yellow color than before, with the additional changes of a black tail and ears. Lightning also appears in the live action film where he is voiced by Joey Wells.
Character Overview[]
Personality[]
Lightning is known as laid-back, impatient, gluttonous, hard-working, tenacious, manipulative, negative, ingenious, no-nonsense and fast. He always likes to hangs out with pals like Tom, Butch, and other cats.
Lightning often likes to impress his owners until they are proud of the cat by showing his hardworking tendency of doing his job as a efficient mouser and proven to his title. He often aids his owners by his mannerisms and reliable.
Appearance[]
Lightning has orange fur, white paws, green eyes. In at least two of his appearances, his tail is shown to be tied in a bandage similar to Meathead. In most of his appearances, he physically resembles Butch Cat, although his character design varies within appearances. He was seen with a lighter face in his later appearances in the classic era in cartoons starting in Mucho Mouse. He is given a Siamese-like appearance in Catty-Cornered with light tan fur and black ears and tail.
In The Tom and Jerry Show (2014), he has blue eyes instead of green ones. Starting with Tom and Jerry in New York, he retains his green eyes and apperance from the classic cartoons.
History[]
Tom and Jerry original shorts[]
He has made many appearances throughout the cartoons in many supporting roles. He debut apperance in Old Rockin' Chair Tom, he also made a main role in Mucho Mouse, in others he appeared to be a supporting character in cartoons such as Saturday Evening Puss and Smarty Cat and many times he has been a minor character. He had a leading role in Scat Cats. His last apperance in the Hanna-Barbera was Mucho Mouse.
After the golden age era ended, unlike other classic characters, He had to made a few appearances during 1960s era, with him appearing in Catty-Cornered, (where he appears as the cat next door neighboor). Even though his appearance is unregonizeable, his personality is similar, thus beliving the siamese cat was Lightning.
The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)[]
Lightning would reappear in The Tom and Jerry Show (2014) as a minor background character, where he is often seen as alley cat with other cats, or an house cat with an owner, but however not very often seen with Butch nor Meathead, and has only appeared in only five episodes before disappearing.
Tom and Jerry in New York[]
Starting with the second season of Tom and Jerry in New York, he makes an return with his old personality, and classic design. He made an his first major role (since Catty-Cornered) in Relativity, where he is given first major voice (since Mucho Mouse), plus he is given his personality, his well known characteristics such as his speed is acknowledged in Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up!.
Filmography[]
Tom and Jerry original shorts[]
- Old Rockin' Chair Tom
- Saturday Evening Puss
- Jerry's Cousin (cameo)
- Sleepy-Time Tom
- Smarty Cat
- Muscle Beach Tom (cameo)
- Mucho Mouse
- Catty-Cornered
Spike and Tyke[]
The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)[]
Season 2[]
- Missing in Traction
- Pinch Hitter (cameo)
- Brain Food (as Ernie)
- Going, Going, Gone Viral (cameo)
Season 3[]
- Vegged Out (seen in tablet)
Tom and Jerry in New York[]
Season 2[]
- Stunt Double Trouble (cameo)
- Relativity
- Pied Piper of Harlem (cameo)
- Planet of the Mice (does not speak)
Film Appearances[]
- Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale
- Tom and Jerry (2021 film)
- Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up (does not speak)
- Tom and Jerry: Snowman's Land
Trivia[]
- Lightning resembles Meathead in Saturday Evening Puss, though the two are not the same and have appeared side-by-side in a few cartoons.
- They have been confused in desgins with features with the cat being orange having some of Meathead's features rather than his distinct features.
- However, in many of his later appearances, as of The Tom and Jerry Show, Lightning shares a very identical design to Butch.
- Other than Tom and Jerry themselves, he is the only character that has appeared in the Chuck Jones-era (alongside Toodles Galore, Spike Bulldog, and Goldie)
- His voice in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "Missing in Traction" is very similar to that of the late Jerry Stiller, while his current voice as of Tom and Jerry in New York resembles that of Bear, the titular character from the Jim Henson puppet television series Bear in the Big Blue House.
- In “Mucho Mouse” he has a Spanish accent.
- In Old Rocking Chair Tom, his speed actually created a trail of lighting when he ran, but this has never been shown again after that short.
Gallery[]
