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I prefer them to be called Tom and Jerry. This cartoon was made way back in 1940 and features the very first appearance of the troublesome twosome. Though they look rather different.

I guess Hannah-Barbera didn't know, at the time, what a massive franchise they had in their hands. Puss gets the Boot almost seems like a one-off short. Granted, Tom and Jerry never really did anything else than chase, and that's exactly what they do here.

It also features the Tom's owner (or owners slave), the highly racist and so un-PC black woman with the stripey socks. This would never be allowed today unless in satire. How glorious the early 20th century was.

In this first cartoon about the cat and the mouse the cat is called Jasper. Why he is called Tom in the other cartoons is kind of explained in this short. The cat is teasing the mouse and the mouse seeks his revenge. After the cat breaks something he gets a warning. One more thing and he must go out of the house. The mouse is very willing to help the cat leave by trying to break things. Very funny and some great moments this is a great start for a very popular series of cartoons.

This short, nominated for an Oscar it should have won in 1940, is the first Tom and Jerry, for all that the cat's name is "Jasper". The Tom and Jerry cartoons generally break down into one of four eras: the early ones, when Rudolf Ising was involved, then the ones that Hanna and Barbera did with Fred Quimby producing, then the ones Chuck Jones did and finally the Gene Deitch efforts. Each had a different look and feel to them that make them instantly recognizable and unmistakable as to who did them. But the most remarkable transformation in appearance and style was the change between the early ones and the ones in the later 1940s. In every way, it's quite a change. This is the best of the early ones. Most recommended.

Jasper the cat breaks a vase when chasing the brown mouse (who would later be called Jerry -- according to Patrick Brion's 'Tom & Jerry: The Definitive Guide To Their Animated Adventures' he had no name at this time -- Tom and Jerry were apparently the results of an inter-company competition). The noise attracts the black maid of the house, who tells Jasper that if anything else got broken he would be out of the house ('O-U-W-T! Out!'). Guess what the mouse subsequently tries to do? This was the first of the Tom & Jerry cartoons, despite the difference in names. Although it seems a little slow-paced and long now, it did set the standard, and got further recognition of its brilliance when it was nominated for an Academy Award. It still has its charm, and is worth seeing if only to see the cartoon that started it all. Didn't Jasper/Tom look different back in 1940, eh?

This is a historic cartoon in that it's the first ever Tom and Jerry. Actually, it's not even called that because Tom is "Jasper" in this one, and he looks different. His face is bigger and fuzzier. Actually, his whole body is furrier.

When you are used to seeing these Looney Tunes cartoons from mostly the late '40s through the 1950s and then you see the beginning years, like in Bugs Bunny's case, it's strange to see how they look. We get comfortable and used to seeing our "friends" a certain way, so I always prefer that over these early renditions of a character. I've said the same about Bugs and Daffy Duck.

Audio-wise, too, this is different in that Tom, when injured, makes screeching noises like an actual cat, which is not the norm for him.

However, the joke in this cartoon is one that they would use over and over, no matter who was doing the writing or animating: the cat being told "if this happens one more time, you're outta here..." and Jerry hearing that and planning to make sure that happens. In this debut cartoon the threat by the maid and the threat is that if "Jasper" breaks one more object in the house, he's toast.

For audiences in 1940, I'm sure this was very entertaining but for those of us who have seen at least 40-50 Tom and Jerry episodes, this is nothing we haven't seen done before and done much better. Overall: not bad but nothing special except for historical value.