Even though we may outgrow them, some classics never die.Tom and Jerryhas been a part of popular culture ever since it was created in 1940 byHanna-Barbera. The franchise has had many iterations, but the cutest of them was released recently.Tom and Jerry Gokkofirst debuted on Japanese television in 2022, and it looked like it wouldn’t make it to this side of the world. In a surprise move, Warner Bros. Kids announced that the series is coming soon to Western audiences — and it will become available to stream for free onYouTube.
Warner Bros. KidsdescribesTom and Jerry Gokkoas the series that shows you “your favorite cartoon cat and mouse as you’ve never seen them before.” And they mean it: it’s impossibleto look at the dynamic duoand not immediately go “kawaii” with their new look. In Japan, short episodes are released monthly, and WB hasn’t announced the frequency with which new episodes will debut on YouTube. In the original, Tom is voiced byMegumi Aratakeand Jerry is voiced byAya Yonekura. English voice actors haven’t been announced for theU.S. dubat this point.
The short trailer indicates thatTom and Jerry Gokkoisn’t just cute as heck. The anime series also contains several references to classicTom and Jerryepisodes. They include the one in which Jerry eats a huge piece of cheese and his entire body changes form and the one where Tom chases Jerry through a mouse hole and gets out of it looking… different. Theanime seriesalso slightly changes the dynamics of the duo. In this version, Tom and Jerry are frenemies rather than full-blown adversaries, meaning thata lot of their fights have a playful toneand, more often than not, one of them gets too riled up with how things escalate.
‘Tom And Jerry’ Went Cute Before
This is not the first time thatWarner Bros.has toned down the violence ofTom and Jerryfor smaller kids.In the early 90s, the company releasedTom & Jerry Kids Show, which featured younger versions of the characters. The show ran for 90 episodes. InTom and Jerry Gokko, however, the characters get their softest look ever, with rounder edges and pastel colors that make the episodes feel mostly harmless, despite what the two protagonists do to each other.
Tom and Jerry Gokkohas already rolled out 52 episodes in Japan, but since they usually run 1 minute long, it’s possible that Warner Bros. Kids will release them all at once for fans tobinge them in a single sitting. For now, however, we have to wait for further confirmation of when the episodes will drop on thefree streaming platform.
Stick with Collider to find out more news aboutTom and Jerry Gokkoas soon as it is announced.
