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Tom and Jerry, one of our “Top Ten Cartoons Of All Time” here at cartoonstation.com, was rated as such because, aside from its universal appeal across cultures and generations, the characters were easily adaptable to a wide variety of storylines. Although the show tends to be remembered most for the slapstick resulting from Tom and Jerry’s eternal battle for supremacy, there were many instances where the show succeeded in breaking out of this format.

In one of the early episodes, “That’s My Mommy,” a duckling in the process of hatching out of its egg falls away from its nest and assumes Tom is its mother. Tom is quick to take advantage of the situation and make a meal out of the duckling. Oblivious to Tom’s intentions, the duckling offers no resistance as Tom attempts to cook it. Fortunately, Jerry sees what is happening and rescues the duckling from certain doom.

From the duckling’s perspective, Jerry is kidnapping him from his mother. So he instinctively fights to escape from Jerry and return to Tom. Of course, this gives Tom another easy opportunity to enjoy a free meal. After this scenario is repeated a number of times, Jerry finally attempts to show the duckling that Tom is a cat, and not his mother. The duckling refuses to accept this, but after returning to Tom one last time, he sadly realizes that his “mother” wants to eat him.

As he is about to voluntarily jump into a pot of boiling water, he tells Tom that he still loves his “mommy”. Tom is overwhelmed with emotion and saves the duckling from boiling himself. In the final scene, Tom has assumed the role of the duckling’s mother and the duckling, speaking to the audience, points to Tom and says, “That’s my mommy!”

This episode, while being hilarious, cute, and touching all at once, is a unique departure from the standard cat-and-mouse game for a number of reasons. First, Tom is not portrayed as a villain per se; he is simply taking advantage of an easy situation. Second, he has no interest in dealing with Jerry, and Jerry likewise has no particular conflict with Tom; he is just compassionately concerned with saving a baby duck from being eaten. Finally, the episode gives both Tom and Jerry a bit of character development; Jerry becomes a comedic martyr and Tom overcomes his typical self-interest to a hilarious extent as he is won over by the duckling.

In the end, this episode is an example of how the series actually thrived through occasional departures from its own conventions.