Editing Tom and Jerry (section)

===Hanna-Barbera era (1940–1958)===
In August 1937, animator and storyman [[Joseph Barbera]] began to work at [[MGM]], then the largest studio in Hollywood.<ref name=APP94>{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/image/147698685/|title=Cartoon czars|first=Mark|last=Voger|date=22 May 1994|newspaper=Asbury Park Press|access-date=19 January 2019|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription|archive-date=October 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021103928/http://newspapers.com/image/147698685/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CST93/> He learned that co-owner [[Louis B. Mayer]] wished to boost the animation department by encouraging the artists to develop some new cartoon characters, following the lack of success with its earlier cartoon series based on the ''[[The Katzenjammer Kids|Captain and the Kids]]'' comic strip. Barbera then teamed with fellow Ising unit animator and director [[William Hanna]], who joined Harman-Ising Productions in 1930, and pitched new ideas, among them was the concept of two "equal characters who were always in conflict with each other".<ref name=CST93>{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/clip/27364718/tom_and_jerry_1993/|title=Tom and Jerry make their big screen comeback|first=William|last=Arnold|date=8 August 1993|newspaper=Caster Star-Tribune|access-date=18 January 2019|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702022114/https://newspapers.com/clip/27364718/tom_and_jerry_1993/|url-status=live}}</ref> An early thought involved a fox and a dog before they settled on a cat and mouse. The pair discussed their ideas with producer [[Fred Quimby]], then the head of the short film department who, despite a lack of interest in it, gave them the green-light to produce one cartoon short.<ref name=CST93/>

The first short, ''[[Puss Gets the Boot]]'', features a cat named Jasper and an unnamed mouse,<ref name=TO91>{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/image/258064434/|title=Low-Down – More than 20 things you'll need to know about... Tom & Jerry|page=79|newspaper=The Observer|date=22 September 1991|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921103515/https://newspapers.com/image/258064434/|url-status=live}}</ref> named Jinx in pre-production, and an African American housemaid named Mammy Two Shoes. [[Leonard Maltin]] described it as "very new and special [...] that was to change the course of MGM cartoon production" and established the successful ''Tom and Jerry'' formula of comical cat and mouse chases with slapstick gags.{{sfn|Beck|Maltin|1987|p=287}}<ref name=CST93/> It was released onto the theatre circuit on February 10, 1940. The pair, having been advised by management not to produce any more, focused on other cartoons including ''[[Gallopin' Gals]]'' (1940) and ''[[Officer Pooch]]'' (1941).<ref name=CST93/> Matters changed when Texas businesswoman Bessa Short sent a letter to MGM, asking whether more cat and mouse shorts would be produced, which helped convince management to commission a series.<ref name="LeonardMaltin"/><ref name=APP94/>

A studio contest held to rename both characters was won by animator John Carr, who suggested Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. Carr was awarded a first-place prize of $50, {{inflation|US|50|1940|fmt=eq}}.{{inflation/fn|US}}{{sfn|Barbera|1994|p=76}} It has been suggested, but not proven, that the names were derived from a 1932 story by [[Damon Runyon]], who took them from the name of a [[Tom and Jerry (drink)|popular Christmastime cocktail]], itself derived from the names of two characters in [[Tom and Jerry, or Life in London|an 1821 stage play]] by [[William Moncrieff]], an adaptation of 1821 Egan's book titled ''Life in London'' where the names originated, which was based on [[George Cruikshank]]'s, [[Isaac Robert Cruikshank]]'s, and Egan's own careers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cryer |first1=Max |title=Is It True?: The facts behind the things we have been told |date=March 2014 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |isbn=978-1-77559-151-1 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnjzAgAAQBAJ&q=%22tom%20and%20jerry%22%20%22john%20carr%22&pg=PA118 |language=en}}</ref> ''Puss Gets the Boot'' was a critical success, earning an [[Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film|Best Short Subject: Cartoons]] in 1941 despite the credits listing Ising and omitting Hanna and Barbera.{{sfn|Beck|Maltin|1987|p=287}}<ref name=CST93/>

After MGM gave the green-light for Hanna and Barbera to continue, the studio entered production on the second ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon, ''The Midnight Snack'' (1941).<ref name=TO91/> The pair continued to work on the series for the next fifteen years of their career.{{sfn|Beck|Maltin|1987|p=289}} The composer of the series, [[Scott Bradley (composer)|Scott Bradley]], made it difficult for the musicians to perform his score which often involved the [[twelve-tone technique]] developed by [[Arnold Schoenberg]].<ref name=TO91/> The series developed a quicker, more energetic and violent tone which was inspired by the work of MGM colleague [[Tex Avery]]. Hanna and Barbera made minor adjustments to Tom and Jerry's appearance so they would "age gracefully".<ref name=TO91/> Jerry lost weight and his long eyelashes, while Tom lost his jagged fur for a smoother appearance, had larger eyebrows, and received a white and gray face with a white mouth.<ref name=TO91/> He adopted a quadrupedal stance at first, like a real cat, to become increasingly and almost exclusively bipedal.

Hanna and Barbera produced 114 cartoons for MGM, thirteen of which were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject. Seven went on to win, breaking the winning streak held by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney's studio]] in the category. ''Tom and Jerry'' won more Academy Awards than any other character-based theatrical animated series. Barbera estimated the typical budget of $50,000 for each ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon which made the duo take "time to get it right".<ref name=CST93/> A typical cartoon took around six weeks to make.<ref name=TO91/>

As per standard practice for American animation production at the time, Barbera and Hanna did not work with a script beforehand.<ref name=APP94/> After coming up with a cartoon idea together, Barbera would flesh out the story by drawing a [[storyboard]] and provide character designs and [[Traditional animation#Design, timing, and layout|animation layouts]].<ref name="TJDocu">{{Cite AV media |title=How Bill And Joe Met Tom And Jerry |date=2004 |type=Documentary featurette |language=en}}</ref> Hanna did the animation timing - planning the music and temporal beats and accents the animation action would occur on - and assigned the animators their scenes and supervised their work.<ref name="TJDocu" /> Hanna provided incidental voice work, in particular Tom's numerous screams of pain.<ref name="TJDocu" /> Despite minimal creative input,<ref name="TJDocu" /> as head of the MGM cartoon studio, Quimby was credited as the producer of all cartoons until 1955.<ref name=TO91/>

The rise in television in the 1950s caused problems for the MGM animation studio, leading to budget cuts on ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons due to decreased revenue from theatrical screenings. In an attempt to combat this, MGM ordered that all subsequent shorts be produced in the widescreen [[CinemaScope]] format. The first, ''Pet Peeve'', was released in November 1954. The studio found that re-releases of older cartoons were earning as much as new ones, resulting in the executive decision to cease production on ''Tom and Jerry'' and later the animation studio on May 15, 1957.<ref name=APP94/> The final cartoon produced by Hanna and Barbera, ''[[Tot Watchers]]'', was released on August 1, 1958.<ref name=TO91/> The pair decided to leave and went on to focus on their own production company [[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Productions]], which went on to produce such popular animated television series including ''[[The Flintstones]]'', ''[[The Yogi Bear Show|Yogi Bear]]'', ''[[The Jetsons]]'' and ''[[Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!|Scooby-Doo]]''.<ref name=TO91/>

====Production formats====
Before 1954, all ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons were produced in the standard [[Academy ratio]] and format. In 1954 and 1955, some of the output was dually produced in dual versions: one Academy-ratio negative composed for a flat [[widescreen]] (1.75:1) format and one shot in the CinemaScope process. From 1955 until the close of the MGM cartoon studio a year later, all ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons were produced in CinemaScope. Some even had their soundtracks recorded in [[Perspecta|Perspecta directional audio]]. All of the Hanna and Barbera cartoons were shot as successive color exposure negatives in [[Technicolor]].