10 Bizarre Origins Of Your Favourite Cartoon Characters

2. Tom And Jerry Are Inspired By World Wars

It's difficult to image these two characters as anything but Tom and Jerry, but they haven't always gone by those names. In 1940, they went by the names of Jasper and Jinx; and the seemingly light-hearted cat and mouse story was actually supposed to boost civilian moral during WWII. Around the same time Joseph Barbera and William Hanna worked together on the cartoon, the Battle of Britain was beginning, when German soldiers attacked the convoy off the coast of Dover. Despite America not officially being at war at this time, there was much support for the British "Tommys" among Americans. So when an in-studio competition arose to re-name the cat and mouse duo, it was a (seemingly) massive coincidence that these two names were pulled out the hat: "Jerry" being the nickname given to Germans in the Second World War and "Tommy" being slang for a soldier in the British Army. What are the chances?