So, I watched my nephews tonight, and they insisted on watching one of their new favorite cartoon shows: Tom and Jerry. Anyway, as we watched it, the question came to me: Was there a reason to make the cat blue?
I thought Tom was gray.
I’d hazard the guess it was to place an empasis on the fact that he’s a cartoon? Either that or, he’s meant to be one of those blue grey cat breeds, but that doesn’t explain the white paws, belly and tail tip.
I think he is greyish blue in some of the older ones, but from the seventies on he was definitely more blue.
Aha! According to Wikipedia his fur color at times is close to a Russian blue’s fur, though as I said that doesn’t explain his white patches. I suppose they just chose a shade of “grey” they liked, and then made his fur more blue once more people referred to him that way? If you scroll to the bottom of the Wikipedia article you will see how blue his fur has gone now.
I think it was the obvious communist-hysteria subtext. Tom is clearly meant to be Russian.
Thank you. Now it won’t follow me around bugging my brain anymore.
He looks gray to me in that picture. Even in the Karateguard cartoon himself he appears to be gray. I never thought about Tom being blue.
Wait, this looks gray? Not even close on my monitor - he’s just as blue as the text of the link below him. The dog with the sledgehammer has gray arms, though.
He still looks grey to me, a steel blue type grey. The dog is more of a brown grey or taupe. I’ve never thought of Tom as blue.
Bwuh? I guess perspective is everything, 'cos he looks as blue as the sky to me.
I just have to say that I read this as “I thought Tom was GAY,” which made me rethink all the old cartoons I saw.
NOo the sky is aqua in that link. 
It’s probably a matter of context influencing perception. Tom and Jerry is set in a “realistic” setting and cats aren’t normally blue so I see him as grey. If I saw the same color out of context, I’d probably say blue or, at least, grey-blue.
I agree with tremorviolet…I’ve always seen that color as being in the nature of a gunmetal grey.
in the last picture, he is technically blue, but not blue enough for me to go, “holy cow, a blue cat!” It’s still evident that he’s a grey cat in the same way you know elephants are really grey even when someone colors them blue or cherries are red even when they’re drawn hot pink.
Some cartoon cats really are blue, however.
If you were a cat who’s been routinely outwitted, trounced and humiliated by a mouse since the 1940’s, you’d be blue too.
When did cartoons go to color? If Tom and Jerry were first seen around that time, the artists would have been reluctant to have a star character with no color in him.
Cartoons were produced in “Glorious Technocolor” as far back as the early 40s. (Think of Bugs Bunny and Co.) Remember, they were originally produced as lead ins to main film - a distraction that today we suffer as previews and 7 minute commercials.
Besides - Blue is a pretty color.
The first Technicolor cartoon was Walt Disney’s Flowers and Trees in the late 1930s. By 1940, most studios were doing cartoons in Technicolor (except Warner Bros. “Looney Tunes” series, which would remain in black and white until 1942. However, “Merrie Melodies” were in color at the time.) Indeed, Tom and Jerry’s first cartoon, 1940’s Puss Gets the Boot, was a color cartoon.
Bugs Bunny debuted in 1940 in a color cartoon, and he’s grey and white. Although he does have a pink nose.