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8 cute little facts about Nibbles
The cutest little cartoon mouse!
Nibbles is such a cutie pie! But for a character who appears in thirteen of the original theatrical Tom and Jerry shorts, we don't know a lot about the little guy! So, we investigated the adorable little rodent and found that amidst all his cuteness is a pretty special cartoon character.
Here's what we found:
Nibbles was originally named "Tuffy".
The mouse we now know as Nibbles first appeared in the Our Gang comics, which had a Tom and Jerry section, in 1942. But in the comics, his name was Tuffy, and he was Jerry's friend, not a little child.
Sometimes he's an orphan.
In his first cartoons, The Milky Waif and The Little Orphan, Nibbles is an orphan left on Jerry's doorstep with a note that he's always hungry! His orphanage is called Bide-a-Wee Mouse Home. Jerry is usually serving as his guardian or hosting him for a holiday.
Sometimes he's Jerry's nephew.
In Life With Tom, Jerry says Nibbles is his nephew...which is a weird change considering that the scene with Nibbles is a flashback to The Little Orphan, where Nibbles is not Jerry's nephew.
Sometime's he's Jerry's friend's kid.
In the three Mouseketeer cartoons, Nibbles is sent by his father to live with Jerry and be trained in the art of Mouseketeering.
Nibbles was voiced by a little French girl.
For the Mouseketeer series, Hanna-Barbera found Francoise Brun-Cottan, a five-year-old French girl, to voice Nibbles. In an interview with Noblemania, Brun-Cottan recalled that she had to stand on a stool to reach the microphone, and she said, "It was mainly a lot of fun. Hanging around the lot was a lot of fun. Missing school was fun."
Nibbles is an Oscar winner!
What can we say, the Academy recognizes talent! Nibbles has appeared in two Academy Award-winning cartoons: The Little Orphan and The Two Mouseketeers. Another cartoon starring Nibbles, Touché, Pussy Cat!, was also nominated.
Nibbles was meant to be a foil to Tom and Jerry.
There have been a lot of one-off characters in the Tom and Jerry universe, and besides Spike and Tyke, Nibbles is the only one who's stuck around. Tom and Jerry are, respectfully, cunning, vicious, and maniacal in their mutual animosity. Adding in a sweet and naive little baby mouse resets the flow of the fight; he forces Jerry to pause and defend Nibbles, and he's the only character in the entire cartoon series who ever tries to be nice to Tom. Even if Nibbles was meant to be a cutie, he definitely evolved over time to be as mischievous as Tom and Jerry!
Nibbles always delivers the final blow.
In every cartoon he is in, Nibbles is the one who ends the fight, particularly in the Mouseketeer series, where Tom is least expecting the Mouseketeer-in-Training to have any combat skills.
