Tom & Jerry Kids

Tom & Jerry Kids
Genre	Slapstick comedy Absurd humor
Directed by	Don Lusk Paul Sommer Carl Urbano Oscar Dufau (Season 1) Robert Alvarez (Season 1 & 3–4) Jay Sarbry (Season 3–4) Ray Patterson (supervising director)
Voices of	Charlie Adler William Callaway Teresa Ganzel Richard Gautier Phil Hartman Don Messick Frank Welker Patric Zimmerman
Theme music composer	Tom Worrall
Composers	Tom Worrall Gary Lionelli (Season 2–4)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	65 (whole) 195 (segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera Paul Sabella (Season 1 only) Jack Petrik (co-executive producer)
Producers	Don Jurwich Joseph Barbera (Season 2–4) Kay Wright (co-producer, Season 3–4)
Editors	Gil Iverson Tim Iverson Pat Foley (Season 1) Tom Gleason (Season 3–4)
Running time	21 minutes (7 mins per short)
Production companies	Hanna-Barbera Turner Entertainment Co.
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08) – December 4, 1993 (1993-12-04)

Tom & Jerry Kids is an American animated television series, co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment, starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry as children (kitten and mouse). The show premiered in 1990 and continued airing until 1994. It began airing as the first program of the FOX's children's block, Fox Kids on September 8, 1990.

The series is somewhat similar to the "older" version of the original theatricals, partly akin to being produced by creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, founders of H-B. In terms of violence level, they are far closer to the original cartoons than previous television adaptions such as Filmation's The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show although somewhat milder than Hanna and Barbera's version.

Part of it is similar to Pink Panther and Pals and Garfield and Friends. Droopy and Dripple went on to star in their own short-lived spin-off Droopy, Master Detective.

History

The series was a co-production of Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment Co. (which had bought the Tom and Jerry franchise from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1986). Parent company Turner Broadcasting System would buy the Hanna-Barbera studios in late 1991 starting with the third season. Perhaps the most notable differences from the classic shorts are the pair's appearances (and ages). Tom & Jerry Kids was one of the last Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera before shifting focus toward producing shows specifically for Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network airings

In 1994, FOX canceled the series, but it soon began airing in reruns on Cartoon Network (which Turner launched to showcase its large animation library, including the original Tom and Jerry) in 1995, and ended in 2006 when the show was removed from the Cartoon Network schedule and instead moved over to its sibling network Boomerang, where it was re-aired until 2014. Cartoon Network in the UK also did reruns in 1995 but ended in 2002 due to the networks changing to its Casillas era. It was soon moved to Boomerang the following month. Cartoon Network Too removed the show from their lineup in 2009. In certain countries, the Tom & Jerry Kids shorts have aired separately on Boomerang. Separate shorts for Droopy & Dripple and Spike & Tyke have also aired in their own half-hour shows.

Segments

Tom and Jerry Kids

The Tom and Jerry Kids cartoons are based on the classic shorts, Tom and Jerry. It stars the kitten and mouseling. They remain silent like their adult selves, and both of them are attempting to outwit each other, exactly like in the original shorts. Some of the cartoons are recycled from old Tom and Jerry episodes, but the violence is toned down for younger viewers.

Spike and Tyke

The Spike and Tyke segments are based on the characters, Spike and Tyke from the original Tom and Jerry series. Strangely, Spike is still an adult and Tyke is slightly older in this series. Spike still loves his son, Tyke, more than anything and enjoys spending time with him. Tyke also now has the ability to talk and has grown smarter and more intelligent. Spike's toughness is only used on occasions, as these segments mostly revolve around his love for his son and on teaching family values.

Droopy and Dripple

The Droopy and Dripple segments feature characters form the classic Tex Avery shorts starring Droopy. Droopy has a different job every episode and his son Dripple (a tinier, identical version of him) always follows him as his assistant. The two will usually end up clashing with McWolf, a villainous wolf that, envious of their success, will use any dirty trick against them to win, but inevitably fails. The beautiful Miss Vavoom (Red in Avery shorts) is another possible source of conflict between the two, as both of them have a crush on her and she, or a kiss from her, is often the prize of some sort of competition.

Blast-Off Buzzard

Season 4 feature a new adaption of the Blast-Off Buzzard segment from the CB Bears where the characters actually talk. In these segments, Blast-Off Buzzard leads his gang of Buzzards as they try to catch Crazylegs.

Episodes

Main article: List of Tom & Jerry Kids episodes

Cast

• Frank Welker - Tom, Jerry, McWolf, Wildmouse, Bat Cat
• Dick Gautier - Spike
• Patric Zimmerman - Tyke
• Don Messick - Droopy, Bat Mouse
• Charlie Adler - Dripple, Crazylegs
• William Callaway - Slowpoke Antonio
• Patrick Fraley - Kyle the Cat, Yolker
• Teresa Ganzel - Miss Vavoom
• Phil Hartman - Calaboose Cal

Home media releases

In 1991, 12 episodes were put on two VHS cassettes in the United States, although only a few million copies were made, and these two cassettes are hard to find. Eleven VHS cassettes were released in the United Kingdom. The series was released on DVD in Germany by Kinowelt Home Entertainment on 11 July 2008, as the first official DVD release. In 2010, the episode Flippin' Fido was included in the Deluxe Anniversary Collection DVD set.

On April 30, 2013, Warner Home Video released the first season of the show on DVD for the first time. In the United Kingdom, Season One was released into 2 separate DVDs on 12 August 2013, under the titles Baby Tom and Jerry, as part of WB's Big Faces range. like the US release of Season, Baby Tom includes the first seven half-hour episodes, while Baby Jerry includes the remaining 6 episodes.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The Complete Season 1	13	April 30, 2013

Awards

This show was given a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1992 for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition.

Comic book

In Mexico, Editorial Vid made a comic book based on Tom & Jerry Kids in 1990. It is worth noting that Tom and Jerry (the original adult versions) have their own comic book here, and the Tom & Jerry Kids comic book is followed by Tom and Jerry.

See also

• List of Tom & Jerry Kids episodes
• List of characters in Tom & Jerry Kids
• List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera

External links

• Tom & Jerry Kids at IMDb
• Tom & Jerry Kids Show at TV.com