Tom & Jerry Kids (also known as Tom & Jerry Kids Show) is an American animated children's comedy television series, co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment Co., starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry as toddlers (kitten and mouse). The show premiered in 1990 and continued airing until 1993. It began airing as the first program of the FOX 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 incarnations such as Filmation's The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show although somewhat milder than Hanna and Barbera's version.
It's the first Tom & Jerry TV series MGM wasn't involved in because Turner Entertainment bought most of the pre-1986 movies, TV series and cartoons from MGM in 1986.
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.
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 2007 when the show was removed from the Cartoon Network schedule and instead moved over to its sibling network Boomerang.
Episodes
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 plots and gags are recycled from old Tom and Jerry cartoons, 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 from 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, the before-unnamed villainous wolf from Avery shorts 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. Their "detective" segments were later spun-off into Droopy, Master Detective.
Blast-Off Buzzard[]
Season 4 features 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. Only two episodes were made.
Episodes[]
Main article: Tom & Jerry episode list
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
First aired
Last aired
1
13
September 8, 1990
December 1, 1990
2
13
September 14, 1991
December 7, 1991
3
26
September 12, 1992
December 13, 1992
4
13
September 11, 1993
December 4, 1993
Voice cast[]
Principal voices[]
Charlie Adler – Dripple, Lightning Bolt the Super Squirrel, Crazylegs, Rap Rat (in "Rap Rat is Where It's At"), Urfo's Mother (in "Urfo Returns")
William Callaway – Slowpoke Antonio
Patrick Fraley – Kyle the Cat, Yolker (in "Super Droop and Dripple Boy Meet the Yolker"), Zebra (in "Love Me, Love My Zebra"), Tyrone the Tiny (in "Barbecue Bust-Up")
Teresa Ganzel – Miss Vavoom, Lt. Lucy (in "Mess Hall Mouser"), White Tabby (in "Tom Thumped")
Dick Gautier – Spike
Phil Hartman – Calaboose Cal, Hot Dog Vendor (in "Pound Hound") Inspector De Paws (in "Pound Hound")
Don Messick – Droopy, Bat Mouse (in "Bat Mouse"), Narrator (in "Scourge of the Sky")
Frank Welker – Tom, Jerry, McWolf, Wild Mouse, Urfo, Moncy, Bat Cat (in "Bat Mouse"), Ants (in "This is No Picnic"), Caveman (in "Prehistoric Pals"), Chino the Kitten (in "Who Are You Kitten"), Commander (in "Scourge of the Sky"), Jester (in "When Knights Were Cold"), Male Mouse Students (in "Chase School"), Martian Mouse (in "Martian Mouse"), Museum Manager (in "The Watchcat"), Narrator (in "Wild Mouse II"), Salesmouse (in "S.O.S. Ninja"), Stinky Jr. (in "Fallen Archers," "Order in the Volley Ball Court"), Urfo Catcher (in "Urfo Returns"), Zap Men (in "Maze Monster Zap Men")
Jim Cummings – Alligator (in "Gator, Baiter"), Redbeard (in "Pussycat Pirate"), Dwayne the Dragon (in "Surely, You Jouse"), Tundo the Elephant (in "Two Stepping Tom"), P.T. Pompbottom (in "King Wildmouse – 10th Wonder of the World")
Tim Curry – Sheriff of Rottingham (in "Jerry Hood and His Merry Meeces"), Ye Old Fog Bank President (in "Droop and Deliver")
Kath Soucie – Sugar Bell (in "Sugar Belle Loves Tom, Sometimes"), Snookie (in "Scrub-a-Dub Tom"), Babysitter (in "Tom, the Babysitter"), Toliver (in "Toliver's Twist")
Sally Struthers – Jerry's Mother (in "Jerry's Mother")
Barbara Stuart –
Marcelo Tubert –
Janet Waldo –
B.J. Ward –
Jimmy Weldon –
Jane Wiedlin –
Lee Wilkof –
April Winchell – Mermaid (in "High Seas Hijinks")
Joanne Worley –
Home media[]
In 1991, 12 episodes were put on two VHS cassettes in the United States, although only a few million copies were made. 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 as 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 One, 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.
