Changes: Jerry Mouse

Revision as of 16:08, 6 March 2022

Gerald "Jerry" Jinx Mouse (originally known as Jinx Mouse) is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists in Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, he is a brown house mouse, who first appeared as an unnamed mouse in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the Boot. Hanna gave the mouse's original name as Jinx, while Barbera claimed the mouse went unnamed in his first appearance.

Characteristics

Personality

Jerry is usually described as an excited, carefree and cheeky mouse, he in several episodes is shown to be cold as he seeks to have fun no matter who he harms, which to Tom's anger his sense of fun is sadistic, but he also has other targets although Tom is the main one among them, but this last characteristic seems to have a limit as in the episode "The Lonesome Mouse" he regrets having set up Tom to be kicked out of the house.

Although Jerry is usually seen being chased by Tom, he takes the opportunity to attack when he has the advantage of the situation, an example of this is in the episode "Baby Puss" where when he sees Tom drinking milk from a bottle he decides to attract the other cats on the street so that they start making fun of him (important to point out that the end of the episode is bad for Jerry).

Even with this personality, Jerry is benevolent and kind as in the episode "The Little Orphan" where he agrees to take care of Nibbles, taking risks to get food for him, and in some cases Jerry trusts Tom to face a bigger threat.

Appearance

Jerry is a brown mouse, varying the color tone depending on the cartoon, large ears on his head, a proportionally sized tail, 4 whiskers in the nose region and a small tuft on his head facing forward.

Weaknesses

Tom Cat

In a number of episodes, Jerry gains an advantage against Tom the Cat. Tom can also overcome Jerry at times, but Jerry nearly always gets his vengeance on Tom. However, in other situations, Tom wins the episode while Jerry loses, implying that Jerry is vulnerable to Tom.

The Three Kittens

Jerry gets overwhelmed by the three kittens in the episode "Triplet Trouble." Those three are far more effective at keeping Jerry at bay than Tom, but in the end, Tom and Jerry join forces to put a stop to the triplets' antics.

Abilities and Powers

Strength

He is shown to pick up larger items than his size and use it against Tom or any other enemies. When he kicks the fish episode "Cat Fishing," he also shows that he can fight.

History

Tom and Jerry cartoons

The name "Jerry" was chosen by MGM animator John Carr, who submitted "Tom and Jerry" as potential names for the duo after an important Loew's Inc.. distributor in Texas asked for follow-ups to Puss Gets the Boot. While the idea of a cat-and-mouse duo was considered shopworn by the 1940s, Hanna and Barbera decided to expand upon the standard expected cat and mouse relationship. Instead of being a "cowering victim" of Tom Cat's short-tempered aggression, he took delight in besting, and even torturing, his feline frenemy (even if Tom is just following orders or is even just minding his own business and is antagonized by Jerry). Hanna and Barbera considered Tom and Jerry "the best of enemies", whose rivalry hid an unspoken amount of mutual respect, but in Tom and Jerry 1975, they were purely friends/best friends/buddies.

In later Tom and Jerry cartoons, Jerry acquired a young ward: a small grey mouse called "Tuffy" or "Nibbles" depending upon the cartoon, who was left on Jerry's doorstep as a foundling baby in the 1946 short The Milky Waif. Jerry and Tuffy were also featured together in a sub-series of Tom and Jerry cartoons set in 17th century France which featured the characters as musketeers. The first of these shorts, The Two Mouseketeers, won the 1951 Academy Award for the Best Short Subject: Cartoons.

Hanna and Barbera served as writer/directors of the Tom and Jerry cartoons until 1956, when they also became the producers. Fourteen Tom and Jerry cartoons between 1940 and 1954 were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, with seven of the shorts winning that award. MGM shut down its animation department in 1957, but new Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced by Gene Deitch and later Chuck Jones during the 1960s. Jerry would also appear in later Tom and Jerry productions made for television, a series of direct-to-video features, and Tom and Jerry: The Movie, a 1992 theatrical film. Later productions eschewed much of the violence the 1940s and 1950s shorts were known for, and in several of the television shows Jerry was given a red bow tie and a kinder disposition.

Anchors Aweigh

On his own, Jerry Mouse appears in a fantasy sequence in the 1945 Gene Kelly MGM musical film Anchors Aweigh. Jerry appears as the ruler of a kingdom where music is banned because he feels he lacks talent, and Kelly persuades the mouse into performing a song-and-dance number with him. Kelly and MGM had originally wanted Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse as Kelly's dance partner for the sequence, but Disney was unwilling to license the character.

Hanna and Barbera achieved the effect of Kelly dancing with Jerry by rotoscoping: live-action plates of Kelly dancing alone were shot first, and the action traced frame by frame so that Jerry's movements would match. The success of the animated segment of Anchors Aweigh, which was noted as "stealing the show" in contemporary trade reviews, led to two more live-action/animated projects for Hanna and Barbera and MGM: an underwater ballet sequence featuring both Tom and Jerry in Esther William's 1953 film Dangerous When Wet, and the "Sinbad the Sailor" sequence of Kelly's 1956 film Invitation to the Dance.

Tom & Jerry Kids

Main article: Jerry Mouse (Tom and Jerry Kids)

In 1990, this version of Jerry wears a red bowtie from the 70's series, and has a tuft of hair on his head. He often taunts Tom (as a kitten) any chance he gets. Sometimes, in a few episodes, he is friends with Tom.

Voice actors

Jerry is primarily mute in most incarnations of Tom and Jerry, but on occasion, he did have a voice.

William Hanna: 1943 short: The Lonesome Mouse
Sara Berner: speaking and singing voice for Jerry in Anchors Aweigh
Lillian Randolph (voice of Mammy Two Shoes): 1946 short: The Milky Waif as Jerry and Nibbles disguise themselves as black people to fool Tom (see Censorship for information).
Allen Swift: Vocal effects in the Gene Deitch era (1961–1962) shorts
Mel Blanc: Vocal effects in the Chuck Jones era (1963–1967) shorts
June Foray: 1965 shorts: Of Feline Bondage, Duel Personality
John Stephenson: Tom & Jerry Kids
Frank Welker: The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, Tom & Jerry Kids, Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring
Dana Hill: Tom and Jerry: The Movie
Samuel Vincent: Tom and Jerry Tales

Profile

Name: Jerry Mouse
Gender: Male
Species: Mouse
Family/Kin: Nibbles (cousin), Muscles Mouse (cousin), Dinky (Nephew)
Likes: Cheese, escaping Tom
Dislikes: Getting injured, being retaliated
Friends: Tom Cat (most of the time; best friend/archrival), other mice, Spike, Tyke, Quacker
Enemies: Tom (sometimes; archrival/best friend), Butch, Meathead, Topsy, and any cat includes Butch’s Alley Cat Gang, even dangerous herbivorous and carnivorous animals such as leopards, snakes, rhinos, porcupines, wild boars, tarantulas, vampire bats, Komodo dragons, stray dogs and other non-mouse dangerous animals of carnivores and herbivores.

War of the Whiskers

Jerry appears in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers, he is the one of the five all-round fighters alongside Nibbles, Quacker, Tyke and Robot Cat.

Gallery

Main article: Jerry Mouse/Gallery

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 === Personality  ===
-Jerry is usually described as an excited, carefree and cheeky mouse, he in several episodes is shown to be cold as he seeks to have fun no matter who he harms, which to Tom's anger his sense of fun is sadistic, but he also has other targets although Tom is the main one among them, but this last characteristic seems to have a limit as in the episode "The Lonesome Mouse" he regrets having set up Tom to be kicked out of the house.
+Jerry is usually described as an excited, carefree and cheeky mouse, he in several episodes is shown to be cold as he seeks to have fun no matter who he harms, which to Tom's anger his sense of fun is sadistic, but he also has other targets although Tom is the main one among them, but this last characteristic seems to have a limit as in the episode [[The Lonesome Mouse|"The Lonesome Mouse"]] he regrets having set up Tom to be kicked out of the house.
-Although Jerry is usually seen being chased by Tom, he takes the opportunity to attack when he has the advantage of the situation, an example of this is in the episode "Baby Puss" where when he sees Tom drinking milk from a bottle he decides to attract the other cats on the street so that they start making fun of him (important to point out that the end of the episode is bad for Jerry).
+Although Jerry is usually seen being chased by Tom, he takes the opportunity to attack when he has the advantage of the situation, an example of this is in the episode [[Baby Puss|"Baby Puss"]] where when he sees Tom drinking milk from a bottle he decides to attract the other cats on the street so that they start making fun of him (important to point out that the end of the episode is bad for Jerry).
-Even with this personality, Jerry is benevolent and kind as in the episode "The Little Orphan" where he agrees to take care of Nimbles, taking risks to get food for him, and in some cases Jerry trusts Tom to face a bigger threat.
+Even with this personality, Jerry is benevolent and kind as in the episode "The Little Orphan" where he agrees to take care of [[Nibbles Mouse|Nibbles]], taking risks to get food for him, and in some cases Jerry trusts Tom to face a bigger threat.
 === Appearance ===