Old cartoons go really dark sometimes! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at shocking, bleak, or downright morbid scenes featuring the iconic cat and mouse duo, Tom & Jerry. This list will tackle some sensitive topics, so we’re issuing a content warning as well as a spoiler warning.
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00:00 "Poor Tom. In a few minutes it'll all be over."
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at shocking, bleak, or downright morbid scenes featuring the iconic cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry.
00:14 This list will tackle some sensitive topics, so we're issuing a content warning as well as a spoiler warning.
00:20 "The next step was... the gutter."
00:24 Number 10. Toodles the Bad Mother.
00:27 "Love me, love my mouse."
00:30 Tom tries to give Jerry as a gift to his new lady friend, Toodles.
00:37 The only problem is that Toodles starts treating Jerry like a baby rather than a snack.
00:42 The rest of the short plays out as normal, Jerry playing the sympathy card and getting Tom in trouble hilariously.
00:53 Near the end, however, things take a disturbing turn when Toodles suddenly changes her mind and tries to eat Jerry after all.
00:59 Toodles won't be winning any Mother of the Year awards anytime soon.
01:03 Her evil grin as she tries to devour her baby is truly disturbing.
01:08 At least Tom got the girl in the end. Maybe they were meant for each other.
01:12 Number 9. Tom and the Witch, the Flying Sorceress.
01:20 "Hehehehehehe, whoopee!"
01:23 Tom is intrigued by a job offer for a traveling companion for an elderly lady.
01:28 But when Tom goes to apply, he realizes the catch.
01:32 The elderly lady is actually a witch looking for a broomstick riding partner.
01:37 She makes him sleep in a coffin and has a grave pre-dug for him in case he has any work-related accidents.
01:43 Tom borrows the witch's broom for a little joyride, which only provokes the witch's wrath further.
01:49 As she orders the broom to torment Tom to no end.
01:52 Thankfully it was all a dream. Or was it?
02:02 This goes to show that you really need to be careful when looking at jobs in the newspaper.
02:06 You might not make it out alive.
02:08 Number 8. The Mad Scientist, Switch and Kitten.
02:15 "Meow!" "Heeheeheeheehee!"
02:19 Between 1961 and 1962, director Gene Deitch helmed several Tom and Jerry shorts.
02:25 His style of directing became rather infamous for its use of limited animation and more absurd tones.
02:30 As demonstrated in his debut short, Switch and Kitten.
02:33 This time around, Tom ends up trapped in a laboratory where a mad scientist has been experimenting on animals, swapping their brains.
02:44 The experiments are disturbing enough, but the foreboding atmosphere, wonky animation and eerie sound effects,
02:51 such as the scientist's laughter, make the whole thing even more unsettling.
02:55 You sympathize with Tom's frightened expression because the whole thing feels like a nightmare.
03:01 Topped off with Jerry doing a disturbing homage to the MGM lion.
03:05 Number 7. Magic Trick Gone Wrong, Mouse Trouble.
03:13 In another failed attempt to catch Jerry, Tom hides in a box right outside the mouse hole, disguised as a gift for his rodent nemesis.
03:21 Rightfully suspicious, Jerry proceeds to shove several pins through the box and even saws it in half.
03:27 He peeks inside and his face says it all as he holds up a note asking, "Is there a doctor in the house?"
03:35 Thankfully, Tom is alive and patched up by the next scene.
03:39 But whatever was in that box must have been pretty horrific to make Jerry wince like that.
03:43 Now and then, even our bickering twosome have to take a step back and ask themselves, "When is too much, too much?"
03:52 Number 6. Tom's Horrible Master, Berius.
03:57 During the Gene Deitch era, there was one character that became universally loathed by Tom and Jerry fans.
04:07 Tom's owner.
04:08 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
04:10 He is a short-tempered man who takes his anger out on Tom in the most gruesome ways possible.
04:16 Even for the famously violent franchise, the way he sadistically enjoys mistreating Tom is just unnerving.
04:23 At least when Jerry roughhouses with Tom, we get a laugh over how cartoony the hits are.
04:28 However, the limited animation during this era makes the owner's discipline feel more disturbing and off-putting.
04:34 Thankfully, Tom's brutish owner didn't appear in many shorts and has been completely phased out.
04:39 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
04:44 Number 5. Unsettling Payback, Advance and Be Mechanized.
04:49 On a distant planet, Tom and Jerry are at it again.
04:52 Jerry trying to grab some cheese and Tom trying to stop him at every turn.
04:56 Only this time, the duo has their own robotic lackeys to do their respective jobs for them so they don't have to lift a finger.
05:03 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
05:09 Before long, their machines are fed up with doing their master's dirty work and brainwash Tom and Jerry into mindless drones,
05:16 programmed to fight each other forevermore.
05:19 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
05:21 We're not sure what's more disturbing.
05:23 The fact that the robots were sentient all along or how they stripped Tom and Jerry of their identities.
05:28 Though in a twisted way, they kind of deserved it for mistreating their machines.
05:32 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
05:36 Number 4. Quacker's Bad Day, Downhearted Duckling.
05:40 [QUACKING]
05:43 After reading The Ugly Duckling, Quacker becomes convinced that he's even uglier.
05:48 Jerry does everything he can to cheer his downhearted friend, but Quacker is inconsolable.
05:53 So much so that he's willing to let Tom eat him.
05:56 [QUACKING]
06:00 It's heartbreaking seeing the poor duckling so depressed, but seeing Tom fail at eating him keeps things from getting too grim.
06:07 We're glad to say the story ends happily for Quacker,
06:09 as a nice girl duckling manages to lift his spirits and snap him out of his self-loathing.
06:14 Sometimes, having someone who cares for you is enough to get you through anything,
06:18 especially your self-confidence issues.
06:21 [QUACKING]
06:26 Number 3. Tom's Eternal Fate, Heavenly Puss.
06:29 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
06:32 After a horrifying piano accident, Tom's number has finally come up and he's on his way to heaven.
06:37 However, he can't get into heaven unless he can get Jerry to forgive him for his many years of persecuting the little mouse.
06:43 Unfortunately, even after Jerry takes pity and helps him, it's too late,
06:48 and Tom is left to roast in the underworld for all eternity.
06:52 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
06:57 Or so we think.
06:58 Thankfully, it was all just a dream and Tom is alive and well to chase Jerry another day.
07:03 Though hopefully he'll learn to appreciate Jerry a little more.
07:06 Honestly, it could have been worse, Tom.
07:08 You could have been those poor kittens in the bag.
07:10 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
07:13 Number 2. C'est la guerre, The Two Mouseketeers.
07:16 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
07:21 Jerry and Nibbles are two hungry Mouseketeers aiming to snag a bite from a banquet.
07:25 However, Tom is guarding the banquet as if his life depended on it, which it does.
07:30 If he fails, it's the guillotine for him.
07:33 Unfortunately for Tom, the Two Mouseketeers outsmart him in the end,
07:37 and as they march with their pilfered feast, they see a brief shot of the guillotine coming down.
07:42 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
07:47 Thankfully, we don't see the actual execution, but knowing Tom's fate is grim enough.
07:52 Sure, the Two Mouseketeers show some remorse, but then just shrug it off and march on,
07:57 celebrating their victory over the Pussycat...
07:59 for the very last time.
08:01 [TOM'S OWNER'S HORN]
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08:20 Number 1 - A Bleak Ending - Blue Cat Blues
08:24 "Poor Tom. In a few minutes, it'll all be over."
08:30 Tom finally hits rock bottom.
08:32 He falls head over heels for a gold digger and goes so far as to waste his life savings trying to impress her.
08:38 To no avail. With nothing left to lose,
08:41 he resorts to drowning his sorrows before finally waiting for an oncoming train to end his misery.
08:46 "That's the story. The story of a cat with a broken heart."
08:51 Not too long after, Jerry has his own girl issues and joins Tom in waiting for their demise in the final shot.
08:58 Even when Tom and Jerry push the boundaries now and then,
09:01 this was a surprisingly grim short and arguably their most controversial.
09:06 The fact that it ended on a cliffhanger left us biting our nails anxiously even more.
09:11 [Music]
09:17 What do you think was Tom and Jerry's bleakest hour? Let us know in the comments.
09:22 [Kissing]
09:24 "What some people won't do."
09:27 Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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09:36 [Music]
09:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]