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TOM & JERRY

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Full Name: Tom & Jerry
Nationality: American
Organization: Various
Occupation Agent

Creator: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Time Span: 1966 - 2015

ABOUT THE SERIES

Tom and Jerry are (sometime) agents of various organizations.

According to the Tom and Jerry Wiki, Thomas "Tom" Cat is described as a blue/grey anthropomorphic domestic short-haired cat". He has been known to go by the name 'Jasper', at least initially but usually is referred to as Tom.

Jerry Mouse is said, by the same website, to be a "brown house mouse". He, too, is anthropomorphized. While Jerry usually operates alone, he is at times accompanied by a much younger ward, a small grey mouse named Tuffy (sometimes Nibbles) who was left on his doorstep.

Tom and Jerry have a very long history of antagonistic actions against each other quite literally amounting to cat-and-mouse conflicts. They have both shown themselves to be exceptionally clever and resourceful but going on size alone, with Tom being usually six to eight times the size of Jerry, the latter has typically been the better of the two at survival. When you throw in the fact that Jerry is seldom actually going after Tom, in any conflict easy money would be placed on Jerry.

The two have been given membership in this compendium because on several occasions, one or both have taken up assignments for different governmental intelligence organizations OR has walked the other side of the street and has posed a threat to society needing stopping (okay, that would Tom).

The first time came in 1966 when Jerry, designated at Mouse Agent 00 7/8, and ward Tuffy, Mouse Agent 000, are assigned the task of retrieving a "massive block of cheese" resembling a giant bar of gold. It is housed in a large refrigerator in the possession of Tom, then going by the last name of Goldclaw. In this case, Jerry is working for T.R.A.P. which stands for Tiny Radio Auxiliary Police. Jerry is shown sporting a blue fedora, driving a sporty convertible and using a powerful bubble-making ray gun.

The next year sat Jerry is working alone as The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. (no explanation on its full title). He is given the mission to, according to Wikipedia, "infiltrate the mansion of Tom [going by the last name of Thrush] and recover a refrigerator with a large amount of cheese. In this escapade we find Jerry equipped with a large number of cool gadgets and explosives, which he manages to conceal in his trenchcoat only to accidentally destroy them. Jerry again drives a really cool vehicle, this time a tiny dragster with the license plate of "Jerry-Akin 00 1/7".

Three years later, Tom is the lead operative who is working as an "Impossible Agent" complete with being told his next assignment by a self-destructing tape recording. His task is to stop the nefarious activity of a villain called The Spiderman (no relation to Peter Parker) who is minion-ed by Al Babooni. When things get tricky, he must seek the assistance of Jerry and young Tuffy who will become agents themselves.

A year will go by before we again see Tom working as a secret agent, this time using a super-cool motorcycle. His exact mission is unknown except that he will again call upon Jerry and Tuffy to lend assistance.

Then four decades go by and the still remarkably spry fellows are pulled into an escapade helping world-famous Jonny Quest and his pal Hadji, along with their dog Bandit. In this affair, evil Dr. Zin has learned that Jonny's dad, Dr. Benton Quest, has solved the world's energy problem and wants to steal it, using his own feline army.

There may be other, as yet unknown, instances where Tom and Jerry, separately or in tandem, figuratively don cloaks and pick up daggers. Of course, through the many years these two have been active, and there have been a whole lot of them, Tom and Jerry will have had a huge number of adventures, usually against each other but occasionally in a temporary partnership. There are far too many to think of cataloging here so only those known to be about spies are mentioned.

MOVIES

Number of Movies:2
First Appearance:1967
Last Appearance:2015

1 The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R. The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R.
Director: Abe Levitow
Writer: Bob Ogle
Actor: Mel Blanc as Tom
Released: 1967

According to IMDB, this 7-minute cartoon: "Secret agent Jerry-akin has to steal a giant refrigerator full of cheese, guarded by the evil Tom Thrush with a vast array of diabolical gadgets and traps. Of course, Jerry has a few tricks of his own."

2 Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest
Directors: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone
Writers: James Krieg, Heath Corson
Actors: Reese Hartwig as Jonny Quest, Arnie Pantoja as Hadji, Michael Hanks as Race Bannon
Released: 2015

According to IMDB, this 72-minute cartoon movie: "Two groups of classic cartoon characters come together in this fun-filled crossover with the popular action-adventure animated series Jonny Quest. Fans of all ages won't want to miss this heart-stopping adventure as tussling twosome Tom and Jerry join Jonny Quest and his pal Hadji and embark on a dangerous spy mission in order to save the world. It's just another day at the beach for the dueling Tom and Jerry ... until they bump into world-class junior spies Jonny Quest and Hadji and their canine companion, Bandit. When longtime Quest family nemesis Dr. Zin discovers that Jonny's father, Dr. Benton Quest, possesses a device that could solve the world's energy problems, Zin sends his evil cat army to steal it and capture Benton and his bodyguard, Race Bannon."

COMIC BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, AND MANGA

Number of Stories:3
First Appearance:1966
Last Appearance:1971

1 The Mouse From T.R.A.P. The Mouse From T.R.A.P.
Published by Western Publishing
Contributors: Bob Ogle (writer), Phil DeLara (artist)
Copyright: 1966

Printed in Tom and Jerry Giant Comic #1, October 1966.
Jerry (Mouse Agent 00 7/8) and Tuffy (Mouse Agent 000) are on a mission to recover a massive block of cheese that looks like a giant bar of gold and is in a large refrigerator. They must get the cheese block back from Tom (Goldclaw).


2 Inner Agent Inner Agent
Published by Western Publishing
Contributors: Vic Lockmen (writer), Phil DeLara (artist)
Copyright: 1970

Printed in Tom and Jerry #250, April 1970 with 6 pages.
Tom is an "Impossible Agent" that is joined by Jerry and Tuffy (mice) that go up against a villain known as The Spiderman.


3 Secret-Cat-Agent Secret-Cat-Agent
Published by Western Publishing
Contributors: Vic Lockmen (writer), Phil DeLara (artist)
Copyright: 1971

Printed in March of Comics #361, September 1971 and sold at Sears stores.
Tom is a secret agent with a tricked out motorcycle and most likely helped by Jerry and Tuffy through this mission.


REFERENCE BOOKS

Number of Books:2
First Appearance:1981
Last Appearance:2017

1 The Encyclopedia Of Animated Cartoon Series The Encyclopedia Of Animated Cartoon Series
Written by Jeff Lenburg
Copyright: 1981

A guide to cartoon series that were played in theaters and on television from the silent era to those with voices and music. Listed here because of the spies within.

2 Hero-A-Go-Go! Hero-A-Go-Go!
Written by Michael Eury
Copyright: 2017

This book is subtitled "Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters & Culture Of The Swinging Sixties." It mentions and gives details on a number of Spy Series within! Welcome to the Camp Age when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm and good guys beat bad guys with a pun and a punch. Celebrate the Camp Craze of the Swinging Sixties when just about everyone was a secret agent.

MY COMMENTS

Okay, when I was first presented with the question of membership in this compendium for Tom and Jerry, I admit I just stared at the email in, well, shock. It was offered as a possibility, along with most of the data shown above about movie cartoons and comics, by a very frequent contributor whose name will not be mentioned here for the sake of his reputation.

Being a serious compiler of spy series information, I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head in sad astonishment. For all of probably two seconds. Then I wiped it from my mind completely - for another minute or two. Then I grinned and thought, "oh yeah!"

The Mouse from T.R.A.P.? And then from H.U.N.G.E.R.? Tom as the "Impossible Agent"? And then Jonny Quest?

I mean, come on! This is the man who willingly entered Secret Squirrel as well as chimpanzee Lancelot Link!!! No way I would ignore Tom and Jerry in such matters.

Mostly these adventures were written and drawn to have fun with the characters involved in spoofs of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., James Bond, and Mission: Impossible and they were cute and amusing and totally inoffensive. And then the adventure with Jonny Quest, well, that to me is hitting a rung really high up the ladder of fame, although Tom and Jerry were extremely famous all on their own long before the Quest team got active.

The team of Hanna-Barbera really were geniuses.

GRADE

My Grade: B-

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