Tom and Jerry is a long-running American slapstick cartoon about Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse, first created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1940. Its chases, traps and exaggerated reactions made its panicked screams instantly recognisable, and editors later lifted that style of cartoon shouting for short online clips. The sound spread through meme edits, fail compilations and reaction videos, where a single scream can stand in for an entire disaster. It remains popular because the characters are globally familiar and the joke needs no explanation.