Editing Tom and Jerry (section)

==Plot==
The series features comic fights between an iconic set of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a house mouse (Jerry). The plots of many shorts are often set in the backdrop of a house, centering on Tom (who is often enlisted by a human) trying to capture Jerry, and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck. However, on several occasions, they have displayed genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being. At other times, the pair set aside their rivalry in order to pursue a common goal, such as when a baby escapes the watch of a negligent babysitter, causing Tom and Jerry to pursue the baby and keep it away from danger, in the [[Short subject|shorts]] ''Busy Buddies'' and ''[[Tot Watchers]]'' respectively. Despite their endless attacks on one another, they have saved each other's lives every time they were truly in danger, except in ''[[The Two Mouseketeers]]'', which features an uncharacteristically morbid ending, and ''[[Blue Cat Blues]]'', where both sit on a railroad track at the end after being jilted by girlfriends. The cartoon irises out with the whistle of an oncoming steam train.

The cartoons are known for some of the most violent cartoon gags ever devised in theatrical animation: Tom may use axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry. Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent, with frequent success, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a [[waffle iron]] or a [[Mangle (machine)|mangle]], kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a [[mace (bludgeon)|mace]], club or [[mallet]], letting a tree or electric pole drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, tying him to a firework and setting it off, and so on.<ref name="DailyTeleL">{{cite news|title=Master cartoonist who created Tom and Jerry draws his last|last=Whitworth |first=Melissa |date=December 20, 2006|work=The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)|page=9}}</ref> While ''Tom and Jerry'' has often been criticized as excessively violent, there is no blood or gore in any scene.<ref name="Sennett">{{cite book|last=Hanna|first=William|author2=Joseph Barbera|author3=with Ted Sennett|title=The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity|year=1989|publisher=Viking Studio Books|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-670-82978-1|url=https://archive.org/details/artofhannabarber00teds}}</ref>{{rp|42}}<ref name="Smoodin">{{cite journal|last=Smoodin|first=Eric|title=Cartoon and Comic Classicism: High-Art Histories of Lowbrow Culture|journal=American Literary History|volume=4|issue=1 (Spring, 1992)}}</ref>{{rp|134}}

Music plays a very important part in the shorts, emphasizing the action, filling in for traditional sound effects, and lending emotion to the scenes. Musical director [[Scott Bradley (composer)|Scott Bradley]] created complex scores that combined elements of [[jazz]], classical, and pop music. Bradley often used contemporary pop songs and songs from other films, including MGM films like ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]''.

Even though Tom and Jerry almost never speak, the shorts also often had dialogue from other characters. Minor characters are not similarly limited, and the two lead characters speak English on rare occasions. For example, the character [[Mammy Two Shoes]] has lines in nearly every cartoon in which she appears. Most of the vocal effects used for Tom and Jerry are their high-pitched laughs and gasping screams.