10 best Tom & Jerry cartoons
 

During their theatrical animated careers with MGM (1940-1966), Tom & Jerry was nominated for fifteen Academy Awards and won seven of them. The following is the usual completely unscientific and arbitrary list of what I think are the ten best Tom & Jerry cartoons:

1. Million Dollar Cat (1944). Tom inherits $1 million but stands to forfeit it all if he harms anything--even a mouse. Jerry uses this to yank Tom's chain throughout the cartoon until the end when Tom gets even (Says Tom, with a voice by Bill Hanna himself: "Gee...I'm t'rowin' away a million dollars...BUT I'M HAPPY!!!!") Hilarious character animation of Tom.

2. Tom And Cherie (1955, in CinemaScope). Mouse Musketeer-in-training Nibbles is sent to deliver love notes to Jerry's girlfriend, and has to contend with Tom. Splendid set pieces (especially of Nibbles getting a peek at one of the notes), and an irresistible voice of Nibbles (furnished by a 6-year-old little French girl).

3. Cat Concerto (1946). The year's Oscar winner and the first of two consecutive cartoons with a mouse disrupting a recital of Franz Liszt's second rhapsody. As inept as Tom is at catching Jerry, he proves himself to be a very accomplished pianist.

4. Little School Mouse (1954). An essential role reversal with Jerry trying to teach Nibbles how to outwit cats and getting the bejeezus knocked out of him in the process.

5. The Night Before Christmas (1941). Oscar nominee; atypical T&J battle until Tom kicks Jerry out into the snow and then repents after hearing the cold winds howl. The chemistry of Tom and Jerry takes full hold here with a beautiful ending.

6. Heavenly Puss (1949). Tom apparently buys the farm, but he can't get into Heaven unless he can get Jerry to sign a certificate of forgiveness. Outstandingly laid out, written and animated.

7. The Zoot Cat (1944). In order to impress a girl cat, Tom designs a zoot suit. No longer screened on Cartoon Network because of its characters' depictions of black couture and slang and Tom smoking a cigar (Boomerang still shows it), it's still nevertheless a very funny cartoon.

8. Johann Mouse (1953). Oscar winner again shows off Tom's prowess at the eighty-eights; Jerry is moved to dance when Johann Strauss plays. When Strauss takes a sabbatical, Tom takes up piano to lure Jerry out and catch him, unaware that they've attracted an audience. Jakob Gimpel, who did the piano work for Cat Concerto (as well as the Bugs Bunny film Rhapsody Rabbit) provides Tom's performance.

9. The Missing Mouse (1953). A white lab mouse has swallowed explosives, according to radio reports. Jerry goes white and makes Tom age a few years in the process.

10. Duel Personality (1966). The best of the Chuck Jones T&J cartoons; Jerry challenges Tom to a duel, and each successive event is a draw. The two beat each other senseless with their own weapons.

I've never been a fan of Tom & Jerry. But then again, I've never seen any of the cartoons from before the 70's. I'm sure the golden oldies are heads and tails above the T&J stuff now.

Tom and Jerry are one of my Big Favorites,

My two favorites from the top ten list are:
Cat Concerto and Johann Mouse

My other three favorites were:
the one where Jerrys Western Cousin comes by and keeps breaking his guitar string.
The one where they were in the Rotating space station that was swiss cheese by the end.
The Episode where Jerry was a secret agent Mouse, (it had kind of a Get Smart Intro and like all Tom and Jerry Great Music)

Monty :-[

I think that one was called The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.

Most likely that sounds familiar.

Monty :-[

It was indeed The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R. (a play on the name of the TV show The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which was, like T&J, made by MGM.)

The other two were Jerry's Cousin and Advance And Be Mechanized.

My favorite Tom & Jerry's tend to be either more violent or more musical than your 10 best:

• Mouse Trouble (1944), which goes so far as to scalp Tom and then have him wear a toupee for the rest of the cartoon (favorite quote: "come up and see me sometime").
• Mouse in Manhattan (1945), a solo effort by Jerry, beautifully scored.
• Tee for Two (1945), with Tom using Jerry as his golf tee. The scene when a swarm of bees dives into Tom's mouth has to be seen to be believed.
• Solid Serenade (1946), for the musical sequence as Tom serenades his girlfriend ("Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby").
• Texas Tom (1950), for the scene where Tom lip-syncs to a record to impress a girl and Jerry starts messing with the speed.
• Fit to be Tied (1952), where Jerry saves Butch the dog and is given a bell so Butch can pummel Tom any time he causes trouble.
• The Missing Mouse of course is classic. "Don't you believe it!"
• Pet Peeve (1954), where Tom and Spike the dog are competing to see who will be allowed to stay in the house by catching Jerry--the ending is just about perfect.
• Timid Tabby (1957), one of the very few times where Tom wins at the end

As for the Chuck Jones Tom & Jerry's, I like The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R., and also Duel Personality (1966), where Tom and Jerry pull out bigger and bigger weapons to attack each other, eventually concluding they're better off as friends. A good cartoon to put at the end of the list.

Mouse In Manhattan was a beauty all right. Forgot about that one.

A sidenote on the Chuck Jones T&J cartoons--MGM didn't like them and neither did Jones. He said he didn't understand Tom & Jerry as well as the Warner characters he worked on and passed off his version as "The Road Runner and Coyote in cat-and-mouse drag."

Quickly: what do these Tom & Jerry cartoons have in common?
The Zoot Cat
Mouse Trouble
The Mouse That Came To Dinner
Million Dollar Cat
Solid Serenade
Blue Cat Blues
Mucho Mouse
The Cat Above And The Mouse Below

I like Million Dollar Cat and Penthouse Mouse, That's My Mommie! ,Touche, Pussy Cat!, Neapolitan Mouse
, Happy Go Ducky The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit

The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit was part of those awful cartoons made in Czechoslovakia by Gene Deitch (who created the TV cartoon Tom Terrific, a dear childhood favorite of mine).