Hector the Cat eight of his nine lives due to "ignorance of road safety practices". This was followed by a short instructional film. In subsequent years other characters were introduced in calendars, instructional films, and comic books including Millie, his girlfriend (1973), Uncle Tom (1974), Hector and Millie's three kittens (1975) and his space friend Ding Dong (1982). A study in 1978 found that, although children enjoyed the characters and stories, the material had a number of inadequacies. It stressed that road safety research findings and child development theory would need to be considered for any future development. The character is currently used
Tom Cat Tom Cat Thomas "Tom" Cat is a fictional character and one of the title characters (the other being Jerry Mouse) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of "Tom and Jerry" theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Tom is a grey and white anthropomorphic domestic short haired Tuxedo cat who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short "Puss Gets the Boot" Tom was originally known as "Jasper" during his debut in that short; however, beginning with his next appearance in "The Midnight Snack" he is known as "Tom" or "Thomas". His name, "Tom Cat", is based on "tomcat",