10 Best Tom & Jerry Episodes, According To IMDB

Tom & Jerry are arguably the most famous cat and mouse duo of all time. They first appeared in theaters over 80 years ago, and even to this day, they continue to fight each other on screen. Most recently, they even starred together again in a special live-action/animated Tom & Jerry movie that saw them battling together in Manhattan.

There have been over 160 animated shorts starring this famous pairing over the decades, but according to IMDb, ten shorts stand tall above the rest, spotlighted for their amusing adventures and animated antics.

10 Cue Ball Cat (1950)

Inevitably many Tom & Jerry shorts begin with Tom waking a sleeping Jerry in some manner. In Cue Ball Cat, released in 1950, Tom is shooting some pool alone in a pool hall and manages to not only wake Jerry but get him crushed in the ball return as he slept peacefully inside one of the pockets.

It’s another fine example of a cartoon using the surrounding setting as a way in which to include plenty of visual gags and violent cabaret.

9 Trap Happy (1946) – 8.0

Tom appears to have finally had enough in the 1946 short Trap Happy. It begins with plenty of violent action, which sees Jerry get the best of Tom once more. Knowing that he can’t simply do this alone he gets in touch with Butch, a local mouse exterminating cat to help him finally catch Jerry.

He makes short work of catching the mouse but soon loses him again as Jerry gets the upper hand. The duo of feline pals work together to draw Jerry out of his hole but fail every time. By the end of the short, following the battering he receives, Butch decides to switch his profession to cat exterminator and chases Tom instead.

8 Old Rockin’ Chair Tom (1948) – 8.0

The popular short Old Rockin’ Chair Tom begins with Jerry scaring Mrs. Two Shoes, who is seen trembling as she stands on top of a chair. Tom does what he can to catch the mouse, but as usual, fails miserably. This leads to Tom’s forced retirement, believed to be too old now to be running around catching mice. Enter Lightning, the quick as a flash replacement cat, who makes short work of apprehending Jerry and booting him out of the house.

This time around Tom & Jerry have a common enemy and decide to work together to bring down Lightning. They use their violent tendencies to make it look like Lightning is no good for the job until the time that Tom is called back to action. The duo pretends to fight each other so it appears that Tom has rid the home of Jerry once and for all. However, the sneaky pair share a well-earned pie at the end.

7 The Truce Hurts (1948) – 8.0

In The TruceHurts, we see Spike Bulldog finally asking the question of why they are all fighting. “Cats can love dogs, can’t they? And mice can get along with cats, can’t they?” The trio decides to call a truce and sign a treaty deciding that enough is enough.

They spend the rest of the short trying to help and protect each other, even though most of the time each situation they find themselves in is not quite as friendly as it might appear. The truce inevitably becomes ripped up and forgotten about very quickly after an argument about how a juicy steak should be split equally between the three of them.

6 Sleepy-Time Tom (1951) – 8.0

Sleepy-Time Tom finds an extremely tired pussycat trying his very best to stay awake to catch Jerry. Tom has spent the night out partying with his fellow cat friends only to arrive home and receive angry words from his owner Mrs. Two Shoes. She is adamant that Tom stays awake and does what he should have been doing whilst he was out enjoying himself – getting rid of that mouse!

Tom does everything he can to stay awake: drinking lots of coffee, shaking his head, and even lowering himself to paint fake eyes on his closed eyelids to give the impression he’s awake and alert. Jerry tricks Tom into sleep and he ends up being thrown out of the house.

5 The Night Before Christmas (1941) – 8.0

The Night Before Christmas was one of the very early Tom & Jerry shorts, and the battling duo continued their shenanigans throughout this seasonal special.

Jerry spends Christmas Eve filled with joy which is swiftly spoilt by the presence of Tom. After much running and fighting between the pair, Jerry finds himself outside in the cold, freezing to death. However, thanks to Tom’s yuletide conscious he eventually brings him inside and gifts him some cheese, ready for them to spend an enjoyable Christmas together.

4 Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl (1950) – 8.0

Tom inexplicably finds himself in charge of an entire feline orchestra at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl amphitheater in Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl. He appears on stage as the conductor of the overture of Johann Strauss’ famous Die Fledermaus Operetta. However, this cat-conductor soon finds himself battling against a jealous Jerry intent on taking over conducting responsibilities.

The pair hilariously scuffle on stage, and it’s a battle that ultimately ends, unsurprisingly, with Jerry taking the applause. Even though he does share some of the accolades with a now very tired and beaten down Tom.

3 Solid Serenade (1946) – 8.2

Tom attempts to sneak a double bass into a garden in Solid Serenade, being watched by Spike, who is asleep. He tricks him into getting tied up so that he can get near the house to serenade Toodles Galore, a white female cat that Tom has taken a romantic shine to.

As he sings and plucks the double bass he wakes a sleeping Jerry, who is not too happy with being disturbed. Jerry gets his own back by unleashing Spike. Tom just about manages to keep up his romantic advances as he avoids Spike’s ongoing attacks. With a little help from his mouse-eared alliance, Spike finally catches Tom and uses him as an instrument.

2 Heavenly Puss (1949) – 8.2

Heavenly Puss takes a very different route, which sees Tom meet his demise early on in the cartoon short. Tom gets crushed by a piano and finds himself heading up a long golden escalator towards the gates of Heaven to board the Heavenly Express train. However, to jump on he must make amends with Jerry and get him to sign a Certificate of forgiveness.

It’s an unusually ghoulish episode with a few shocking moments that aren’t expected to show up in a cartoon. Thankfully it does end the episode with what should be seen as a more positive life message.

1 The Cat Concerto (1947) – 8.2

The highest-rated Tom & Jerry cartoon on the IMDB is the 1947 Oscar-winning short The Cat Concerto. In the short, we follow Tom who, for reasons unknown, has managed to land himself a center-stage role as a tuxedo-laden piano soloist. Whilst performing Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 he awakens a sleeping Jerry who is trying to rest inside the piano.

What proceeds is a typical back and forth battle between the cat and mouse who both manage to not spoil the concert itself. Throughout all the pain he received and efforts to kill off Jerry, Tom still manages to complete the song hitting every note as he goes. Bravo!

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