Tom and Jerry. Puss Gets the Boot

Puss Gets the Boot is a 1940 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the first short in what would become the Tom and Jerry cartoon series.[1] It was directed by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and Rudolf Ising, and produced by Rudolf Ising and Fred Quimby. It was based on the Aesop's Fable, The Cat and the Mice. As was the practice of MGM shorts at the time, only Rudolf Ising is credited. It was released to theaters on February 10, 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In this first short, the cat is named Jasper, and appears to be a mangy, battle-hardened street cat, more malicious than the character that Tom would develop into over time. The unnamed mouse (known as Jinx) was similar to the ultimate Jerry character, just a bit skinnier. The basic premise was the one that would become familiar to audiences; in The Art of Hanna-Barbera, Ted Sennett sums it up as "cat stalks and chases mouse in a frenzy of mayhem and slapstick violence.[2] The studio heads were unimpressed, but audiences loved the film, and it was nominated for an Academy Award.[2]