Tom and Jerry - Episode 3 - The Night Before Christmas (1941)
"The Night Before Christmas" (fragment), is a 1941 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 3rd Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby and animated by Jack Zander, George Gordon, Irven Spence and Bill Littlejohn.
As was the practice in original issues of MGM animated shorts at the time, only Hanna and Barbera are credited. It was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. It was released to theaters on December 6, 1941 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, one day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, making it the last Tom and Jerry pre-war cartoon.
Interesting facts:
This is one of the 23 series in which Tom and Jerry both win.
This is the most viewed series (8.6 million viewers).
This is the first series in which no Mammy Two Shoes.
In this series, Tom the first time showed sympathy.
The premiere of the series was the day before the of attack on Pearl Harbor.