As far as the first picture goes, I was never really a fan of the Gene Deitch era. It's like a whole new direction as opposed to the Hanna Barbera/Chuck Jones era.
One thing that stanRAB out to me of Tom and Jerry as opposed to many cartoons (not counting silent era cartoons) is that there is very minimal dialogue and that the music is like the dialogue itself (Watch the episode Jerry and Jurabo, especially the scene where Tom confronts Jerry about the disappearance of his milk from the milk bowl).