https.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry. History. "Tom and Jerry" was a commonplace phrase for youngsters indulging in riotous behaviour in 19th-centuryLondon... Hanna-Barbera era (19401958) ... He learned that co-owner Louis B ... Snyder. Deitch himself wrote most of the cartoons, with occasional assistance from Larz Bourne and Eli Bauer ... .