Matthew Sussman created Meowth's voice inspired by old gangster characters and Jerry Lewis ... but he's just this little cat.

The cat wasn’t yet named Tom. The mouse wasn’t yet named Jerry. And the cat-and-mouse chase storyline wasn’t intended to be followed by a series of cartoons featuring the both of ’em.

But Tom has to pretend to hate Jerry in order to protect so Tom’s owner doesn’t replace him with a cat that actually wants to ...