Gene Kelly had a novel idea for his seventh film, the 1945 production Anchor's Aweigh. He wanted to dance with an animated character. As luck would have it a partnership of animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who had arrived at MGM around the same time as Kelly, had created the cat and mouse duo Tom and Jerry. In 1944, when Kelly was looking for a dancing partner, the Tom and Jerry series was riding high having just received back to back Academy Award wins for Animated Short Film. Jerry therefore was an obvious next choice. Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse made cinematic history as the first dance partnership between a live person and an animated character. This is also pretty much the only time you will hear Jerry Mouse speak and sing.