# Blue cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512 "2006-03-08T06:35:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/1 "2006-03-08T06:35:35Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/2 "2006-03-08T06:53:48Z")
I thought Tom was gray. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/3 "2006-03-08T06:55:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/4 "2006-03-08T06:59:06Z")
I think he is greyish blue in some of the older ones, but from the seventies on he was definitely more blue. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/5 "2006-03-08T07:07:01Z")
Aha! According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry_%28MGM%29) his fur color at times is close to a [Russian blue’s](http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/russian.html) 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. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/6 "2006-03-08T07:06:03Z")
I think it was the obvious communist-hysteria subtext. Tom is clearly meant to be Russian. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/7 "2006-03-09T01:58:31Z")
Thank you. Now it won’t follow me around bugging my brain anymore. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/8 "2006-03-09T04:18:12Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > If you scroll to the bottom of the Wikipedia article you will see how blue his fur has gone now. 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. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/9 "2006-03-09T04:34:09Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tom_and_Jerry_Karateguard.jpg) 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. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/10 "2006-03-09T04:39:36Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Wait, [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tom_and_Jerry_Karateguard.jpg) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/11 "2006-03-09T04:43:45Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/12 "2006-03-09T04:50:16Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I thought Tom was gray. 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. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/13 "2006-03-09T04:53:37Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Bwuh? I guess perspective is everything, 'cos he looks as blue as the sky to me. 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. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/14 "2006-03-09T04:54:19Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > 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. I agree with **tremorviolet** …I’ve always seen that color as being in the nature of a gunmetal grey. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/15 "2006-03-09T05:47:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/16 "2006-03-09T11:49:21Z")
Some [cartoon cats](http://www.tvannuals.co.uk/dougl_73.htm) really are blue, however. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/17 "2006-03-09T12:14:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/18 "2006-03-09T20:44:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/19 "2006-03-09T21:31:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-cats/347512/20 "2006-03-09T23:33:14Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Cartoons were produced in “Glorious Technocolor” as far back as the early 40s. (Think of Bugs Bunny and Co.) 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. > [@AskNott](#): > > 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. Bugs Bunny debuted in 1940 in a color cartoon, and he’s grey and white. Although he does have a pink nose.