Nibbles "Tuffy" Mouse (also known as Tuffy Mouse) is a character from the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. He is the little grey, diaper-wearing orphan mouse whose cartoon debut came in the 1946 short The Milky Waif. Nibbles was later featured in the 1949 award-winning short The Little Orphan. Nibbles is wearing a diaper is due to the fact that he is portrayed as a young mouse.
Origin and Development
Nibbles' first actual appearance came in the 1942 comic book Our Gang Comics #1, where despite his diaper, he was presented as a peer of Jerry rather than a younger individual. In the comics, the grey mouse's name was given as Tuffy Mouse from the start. In the comics, Nibbles remained a peer of Jerry with no relatives. But in 1953, the animation writers decided to change his on-screen relationship to Jerry. He became Jerry's nephew in Life with Tom.
Nibbles always seems to deliver the final blow. In The Little Orphan, Nibbles shoots a wine bottle at Tom. in Touche, Pussy Cat! he cuts open a barrel with champagne in it and washes Tom away (he gets drunk in the process) and in The Two Mouseketeers, Nibbles fills a cannon with food and shoots it at Tom.
Nibbles was more often a speaking character than Jerry. In the "Mouseketeer" subseries, he spoke mostly in French, resorting to English whenever a slapstick humor depended on it. The only exception to this was Robin Hoodwinked where he talked purely in Æld English and had a different, rougher voice. Nibbles looked somewhat more mature in Robin Hoodwinked as well, despite the fact that he still wore his diaper. The Mouseketeer shorts almost always featured sequences in which Nibbles got drunk. In his last appearance in Robin Hoodwinked, he is also shown to be drunk as the cartoon comes to a close.
In the Tom and Jerry Tales episode Cat Nebula, Nibbles appeared as Jerry's sidekick and had a younger voice. Strangely, he spoke in a feminine French accent in the non-mouseketeer Tales shorts Cat Show Catastrophe and Cat of Prey. In Babysitting Blues, Nibbles was actually portrayed as a real baby who was at an age where a human baby couldn't crawl, though it is unknown if this was really Nibbles or another nephew of Jerry.
Weaknesses
Nibbles has a fond taste for food, which can be a weakness as sometimes he forgets about escaping from foes and starts to search for his food.
In "The Two Mouseketeers," Nibbles makes a sandwich while singing "Alouette," which causes him to get caught by Monsieur Pussycat (Tom).
Appearances
Original Shorts
- The Milky Waif
- The Little Orphan
- Safety Second
- The Two Mouseketeers
- Two Little Indians
- Life with Tom (flashback)
- Little School Mouse
- Mice Follies
- Touché, Pussy Cat!
- Tom and Chérie
- Feedin' the Kiddie
- Royal Cat Nap
- Robin Hoodwinked
Films
- Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring
- Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale
- Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes
- Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz
- Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure
- Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up
The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
Tom and Jerry Tales
Season 1
Season 2
The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)
Season 1
- Haunted Mouse
- What a Pain!
- Turn About
- Tuffy Love
- Domestic Kingdom
- Just Plane Nuts
- Pets Not Welcome
- Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
- Road Trippin'
- Bone Dry
- Hunger Strikes
- Say Cheese
Season 2
- Picture Imperfect
- Slinging in the Rain
- The Paper Airplane Chase
- Say Uncle
- Here Comes the Bribe
- Tuffy's Big Adventure
- Dandy Do-Gooders
- Tom-Fu
- Tom and Jerry-Geddon
- Cat Match Fever
Season 3
- When You Leash Expect It
- Home Away From Home
- Lame Duck
- Lost Marbles
- Tuff Shooting
- Costume Party Smarty
- Stolen Heart
- The Invisible Cat
- Frenemies
- Hockey Jockeys
- Hyde and Shriek
- All Cat Jazz
- Wrap Star
- Charm School Dropouts
- Driven Crazy
- Cuckoo Clock
- Plant Food
- Game Changer
- Kiss and Makeup
- Suitable For Framing (does not speak)
- Knighty Knight Knight
- Ballad Of The Catnip Kid
- Mirror Image
Season 4
- Gym Rat
- Mouse Party
- The Devil You Know
- Counting Sheep
- Balloonatics
- My Buddy Guard
- Hangin' Tough
- Shadow of a Doubt (does not speak)
- Into the Woods
- Oh, Brother
- Mind Your Royal Manners
- The Butterfly Effect
- Hush Puppy
- The Masked Mouse
- How to Be a Dog
- Donut Daze (does not speak)
- A Kick in the Tail
- Broom for Improvement
- Tap Cat
- The ol' Switcheroo
- Bones of Contention
- Slam Dunk
Season 5
- Not So Grand Canyon
- I Dream of Jerry
- Piñata Yadda Yadda
- Mr. Nobody
- Top Dog
- Rikki Tikki Tabby
- The Not So Ugly Duckling (picture cameo)
Tom and Jerry in New York
- Here Kite-y Kite-y (does not speak)
- Torpedon't (does not speak)
- The Spa's the Limit (does not speak)
- Snow Day (does not speak)
- Flamingo A-Go-Go (does not speak)
"Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers" Video Game
Nibbles appears as a Challenger. He is the one of the five all-round type fighters alongside Jerry, Quacker, Tyke and Robot Cat of the eleven characters.
Notes
- The character has been depicted in various classic cartoons and TV episodes as more talkative than Jerry.
- Nibbles is the only major animal character in the Tom and Jerry series of shorts that is depicted in clothing (a cloth diaper).
- In the Tom and Jerry Show (2014) there are German triplets that are identical to him, and they also replace him during the "Nightmare" parts of the show.
- In French version, Nibbles was renamed "Mitsou".
- The first appearance of Tuffy was in Our Gang #1 Dell Comics 1942. He was created by Oskar Lebeck and Gaylord Du Bois, designed by them specifically for the comics. (page 34 Reflections on The Eyrie; by Gaylord Du Bois. Eyrie Publications, Essex, N.Y. 1984.)
Gallery
Main article: Nibbles Mouse/Gallery
