What was the title of the first Tom and Jerry cartoon?

The first Tom and Jerry cartoon was titled Puss Gets the Boot.

Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on February 10, 1940, the short introduced the basic formula of a cat pursuing a mouse through escalating slapstick chaos. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directed the cartoon, with Rudolf Ising credited as its producer under MGM’s studio system.

The characters were not yet called Tom and Jerry. The cat was named Jasper, while the mouse was unnamed in the finished film; “Jinx” had been used during development. The familiar names were adopted later, beginning with The Midnight Snack in 1941.

Puss Gets the Boot was successful enough to earn an Academy Award nomination, helping persuade MGM to continue the series despite initial uncertainty. The title’s “boot” refers to the threat that Jasper will be thrown out if he keeps breaking household dishes while chasing the mouse.