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 similar character design as Butch, but with an orange color (although his coloring occasionally varies from film-to-film).
Character Overview[]
Personality[]
Lightning is known as laid-back, impatient, gluttonous, hard-working, tenacious, manipulative, negative, arrogant, 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 he makes them proud 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, and 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, but his chin is notably smoother and rounded. Although always portrayed as an orange cat, Lightning's color tone and character design vary 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 appearance from the classic cartoons.
History[]
Tom and Jerry original shorts[]
Lightning has fairly made many appearances throughout the cartoons in major or supporting roles. He had a main role in debut apperance in Old Rockin' Chair Tom, he also made a major role in Mucho Mouse. In others he appeared to be a supporting character who appears along his pals in cartoons such as Saturday Evening Puss and Smarty Cat, sometimes he was a minor character. He had a leading role in Scat Cats. His last apperance in the Hanna-Barbera was Mucho Mouse.
Lightning often appears alongside his friends Tom, Butch, Topsy or Meathead in social gatherings, or sometimes he appears by himself where he is a housecat.
After the golden age era ended, unlike other classic characters.He had to made an appearance during 1960s era. 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, in his original design from Old Rockin' Chair Tom, also appears in the live action film where he is voiced by Joey Wells.
Tom and Jerry Tales[]
In Tom and Jerry Tales. Lightning himself is absent although the series uses the combination of him and Meathead (like Saturday Evening Puss) in the series. The orange cat seen in the series resembles Meathead than Lightning, as evident features of Meathead, the only trait from Lightning is the orange color.
The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)[]
Lightning reappears in The Tom and Jerry Show (2014) as a minor character, where he is often seen with other cats, or an house cat with an owner. Unlike the shorts, he doesn't appear alongside with Butch nor Meathead. He has only appeared in only five episodes between Season 2-3.
Tom and Jerry in New York[]
Starting with the second season of Tom and Jerry in New York. In the series he retains his orignal personality and appearance. He made an his first major role (since Catty-Cornered) in Relativity, where he is given first major voice (since Mucho Mouse). 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)
Season 4[]
- Gym Rat (cameo)
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 designs 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 one of the characters that has appeared in the Chuck Jones-era (alongside Toodles Galore, Spike Bulldog, and Goldie).
- Like his character design, his voice has drastically varied between his appearances;
- In “Mucho Mouse” he has a Spanish accent.
- In the Spike and Tyke cartoon "Scat Cats", his voice is an imitation of Art Carney's character Ned Morton from Cavalcade of Stars, The Jackie Gleason Show and The Honeymooners. He was voiced by Daws Butler (best known as the voice of Yogi Bear, whose voice is also based on Ed Norton).
- 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 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.
- In "Sleepy Time Tom", the two singing brown cats with Butch may be mistaken as Meathead and Lightning, for they are addressed as "Light Brown Cat" & "Dark Brown Cat" in credits.
Gallery[]
Main Article: Lightning Cat/Gallery
