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Tom and Jerry is a series of theatrical animated cartoon films created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, centering on a never-ending rivalry between a cat ( Tom ) and a mouse ( Jerry ) whose chases and battles often involved comic violence ( despite this they sometimes become allies to defeat a ' greater enemy ' such as Spike the dog ).

Hanna and Barbera ultimately wrote, produced and directed 114 Tom and Jerry shorts at the MGM cartoon studio in Hollywood between 1940 and 1957, when the animation unit was closed.

The original series is notable for having won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film seven times, tying it with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies as the theatrical animated series with the most Oscars.

A longtime television staple, Tom and Jerry has a worldwide audience that consists of children, teenagers and adults, and has also been recognized as one of the most famous and longest-lived rivalries in American cinema.

In 2000, TIME named the series one of the greatest television shows of all time.