Puss Gets The Boot

Puss Gets the Boot  is an MGM Oneshot Cartoon, and is the first Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in 1939 and released to theaters on February 10, 1940 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was produced by Rudolf Ising (who had virtually nothing to do with the entire production) and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, their first collaboration (which would turn into a partnership lasting for more than half a century), with musical supervision by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Carl Urbano, Tony Pabian, Jack Zander, Pete Burness and Bob Allen.

The only screen credit on this film was "a Rudolf Ising Production." The short is notable for featuring the first appearances of the characters who would later be christened "Tom and Jerry" and would go on to appear in over 110 more short cartoons, seven of which won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject. As such, Puss Gets the Boot gave the animated duo their first Oscar nomination, though the short lost out to another Rudolf Ising MGM cartoon,  The Milky Way. In the short, Tom's name is Jasper and Jerry is not given a name, but was known among the animators via model sheets as "Jinx". The plot set up the basic formula for Tom and Jerry cartoons for years to come, and as such, established many of the tropes commonly found in their shorts.

The short begins with the mouse later known as Jerry being tormented by the cat later known as Tom. Jinx struggles to stay alive, being chased by Jasper until he unwittingly knocks over a houseplant, raising the ire of Mammy Two-Shoes, his owner. She delivers Jasper an ultimatum; if he knocks down one more thing, she'll throw him out. Jinx uses this ultimatum to his advantage, and manages to turn the tables on Jasper by threatening to knock fragile things over for the rest of the short. This culminates with Jinx making Jasper break every plate in the house, and causing him to get kicked out