Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren)

Tom And Jerry (Van Beuren)

Tom and Jerry are fictional characters that starred in a series of early sound cartoons produced by the Van Beuren Studios, and distributed by RKO Pictures. The series lasted from 1931 to 1933. When Official Films purchased the Van Beuren library in the 1950s, the characters were renamed Dick and Larry to avoid confusion with Tom and Jerry, the famous MGM cartoon series of the 40's and 50's. Today, animation historians refer to the characters as Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry. All cartoons are in public domain because of missing copyright notice.

Joseph Barbera began his career as an animator and storyman on this series. In 1940, Barbera co-created with William Hanna another duo of cartoon characters using the same names: a cat and mouse named Tom and Jerry.