Tom und Jerry: Der Film

Okay, lots of people hate this movie because it goes against just about everything Tom and Jerry stands for. There's a lack of random fighting, the two enjoy each-other's company WAY too much and the plot really has nothing to do with Tom and Jerry in the slightest.

However, does it stand out on its own? If this didn't have "Tom and Jerry" in the title and starred a different cat and mouse duo, would people like it better? As a matter of fact, it could. It's a typical everyday family film in the eyes of one who isn't a hardcore Tom and Jerry fanatic. The songs aren't quite as bad as people say they are, though cheesy nonetheless, and the jokes feel a little dry if you've been watching Tom and Jerry all your life, but it passes.

The plot's alright, but nothing special. It's mostly about a little girl trying to find her father while also trying to escape from a bunch of people who want her for money, and for some odd reason, Tom and Jerry just HAPPEN to get involved. You all saw it coming, right? Again, for the songs, even the villain songs aren't really anything special. However, they're not nearly as bad as people say they are. I actually like the song "Friends to the end" even if it was the song that turned Tom and Jerry into... *Cough* "Really good friends" and in the Nostalgia Critic's eyes "Destroyed them". However, they're not the kinds of songs you want to listen to all the time. If you did, you'd probably hate them.

All in all, as a Tom and Jerry film, it fails. It has little to no relevance to the old cartoons and didn't even seem to be about them more than half the time. However, as a stand-alone title, it's kind of like Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. If you can ignore the fact that it's supposed to be Tom and Jerry, you can at least enjoy it to some extent. Not a great film, but a good one. C+

After being rendered homeless when their animosity results in their owners inadvertently leaving them behind, Tom and Jerry are left to wander the streets without food or shelter. After the two reluctantly form an alliance of convenience despite their animosity, they come across a runaway named Robyn Starling who is under the neglect and abuse of her "Aunt" FIgg and corrupt lawyer Mr. Lickboot. The two team up to help reunite Robyn with her missing father.

Tom and Jerry are often considered the pinnacle of the works of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, despite their legacy often being overshadowed by their cheaper more economical animated projects made for broadcast television (Flintsones, Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, etc.), Tom and Jerry is arguably the project that put the two on the map and gave them the necessary clout to establish themselves as a dominant force in the animation industry. The 114 shorts produced between 1940 and 1958 are still entertaining to this day, and their influence is second to none with the shorts winning seven Academy Awards. A Feature film had been in various stages of development since the 70s. Chuck Jones was one of the first to attempt the project, but script problems lead to it being abandoned, another project would've involved Chevy Chase and Dustin Hoffman playing the duo in a live-action format (but this appears to have never gotten passed the development stage. What we have here is a movie that isn't bad, but it's not good either, mainly because it feels like Tom and Jerry feel out of place in their own movie.

The plot itself is very standard stuff for a children's movie and plays like The Rescuers by way of Cinderella's evil stepmother. Charlotte Rae and Tony Jay are both talented actors who are clearly putting their all into characters that are very stock and don't have much in the way of substance or humor. A similar issue befalls the main character (yes, seriously) Robyn who isn't annoying or unlikable, but also doesn't have any real defining characteristics that leaves her as a blank audience proxy through which the viewer can project themselves as. The movie is also very slow paced and doesn't mesh well with the manic energy and over the top deliveries that are near synonymous with the cat and mouse duo. This probably explains why the movie will often contrive ways to separate Tom and Jerry from Robyn for extended periods of time but because most of the focus is on Robyn getting reunited with her father, it often feels like we're watching a trimmed down version of The Rescuers that is frequently inter cut with cameos from Tom and Jerry.

In terms of the voice acting it's a mixed bag. The controversial choice to have Tom and Jerry speak I don't think is too bad. TV character actor Richard Kind provides the voice of Tom and I personally feel he was well cast, his delivery does a good job of matching the arrogant cockiness that is often expressed on Tom's face in the shorts and I honestly wouldn't have been opposed to Kind voicing Tom in other incarnations. Dana Hill on the other hand I don't feel works nearly as well as Jerry. I'm not quite sure what it is about Hill that doesn't fit the role just right in my opinion, but personally when I see a character like Jerry, I usually think of June Foray's Rocky the Squirrel or Walt Disney's mickey voice being more fitting for such a character type. Maybe this isn't a fair assessment of the voice acting as it's derived from personal preferences, but that's more or less where I stand.

The rest of the voice actors are varying degrees of passable. Henry Gibson, Charlotte Rae, and Tony Jay are all voicing uninteresting characters but their deliveries do bring some life to them. Rip Taylor on the other hand playing captain Kiddie (who basically acts like Taylor down to throwing confetti on people) plays his part aggressively over the top and a little of him goes a long way. He's only in the movie for maybe five minutes, but his protracted yelling and self aggrandizement become tiresome within 30 seconds, especially a big musical number/

The musical numbers in this movie are not well done. Not only are they not pleasant to listen to as they're often sung by people not known for their singing abilities, but they also bring the movie to an abrupt halt by either describing things we already know or telling us things we don't need to know. The movie's score and songs were written by frequent Blake Edwards collaborator Henry Mancini who's done some amazing songs such as Shadows of Paris and Moon River, but his music feels as intrusive to this movie as Tom and Jerry do.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie isn't poorly made or poorly acted(mostly), but it is poorly conceived. This movie with an emotional core of a plucky orphan girl trying to be reunited with her lost father just doesn't fit with Tom and Jerry. I understand why they need a linking plot to justify Tom and Jerry as a feature film, but it was a mistake doing something this slowly paced. In order for a movie featuring Tom and Jerry intruding on another plot to work, the plot would need to be a fast paced farce that's more fitting with their comedic style. If the story Tom and Jerry were shoehorned into were something along the lines of Peter Bogdonivch's What's Up Doc? or John Landis' Oscar that might be serviceable material that could support a feature length film, but as is: It's putting a square peg in a round hole. The movie will entertain small children for its brisk 80 minute runtime, but it'll be forgotten about almost as soon as it's over.

What is people's deal with being so critical of movies(for kids usually as in the case of this one) they don't like? And I don't mean simply saying whether or not it appealed to you but really vicious, I spit on your grave, rip your beating heart out of their chest, damn you forever to the pits of oblivion for failing to live up to my happy expectations...

Seriously get over it.

I remember this film from when I was a kid and while admittedly its nothing spectacular, its an enjoyable, funny movie that most kids will love(because lets remember it is a kids film.) Heres a little info on some of the "controversial" aspects of the film.

Tom & Jerry talk - Seriously I don't see what the big deal is, the voices chosen for these two characters are suitable and funny more so than their various speaking voices in the old cartoons (thats right people they did speak in the cartoon.) Its really the highlight of the film as you'd expect.

Tom & Jerry sing - Why not? Tom & Jerry don't fight - In fact they become friends 'sort of' which isn't such a bad message to convey when you think about it, and really at least give the filmmakers some props for trying to do something new with the material.

So the point is just get over yourself and enjoy it.

PS. I just realized I used a quote from The Dark Knight in my summary

So back in 1992, we had the first attempt at a Tom & Jerry movie made for the big screen. Directed by TV animation veteran Phil Roman and released by Miramax, the film was a critical and financial failure upon its release and is often seen as the starting point of terrible Tom & Jerry movies to follow. It doesn't help that fans of the timeless cat & mouse look down on this movie for having the duo speak, but that alone is actually the least of the movie's problems. That being said, as poor of an effort as the movie turned out to be, there is a surprising amount of charm in it for all the wrong reasons.

Now despite the movie being named after Tom & Jerry themselves, the central problem with it is that the story focuses on a completely different character, Robyn Starling. Tom & Jerry end up taking a back seat to help this blandly written child escape her abusive aunt and reunite with her long lost father, even though this movie should have been theirs in the first place. Perhaps if the movie was executed in an Alice in Wonderland styled narrative where Tom & Jerry roam around the country in search of a new home, it would be a lot more fitting, but as is, we have to sit through a generic cookie cutter plot of someone who belongs in another film altogether. It doesn't help that the musical numbers by famed composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Leslie Bricusse range from charmingly upbeat to obnoxiously repetitive, some of which are immediately forgotten as soon as they're over. Also, you know a Tom & Jerry movie is in trouble when the duo not only barely chase each other around, but most of the slapstick is given to the villain's dumb dog on wheels (go figure).

However, despite the movie's flaws, what does make it somewhat of a curious viewing are the unexpected characters you couldn't imagine being in a movie like this. In addition to Robyn's hysterical aunt Pristine Figg and her hammy lawyer Lickboot, the people Robyn, Tom and Jerry encounter along their ways should have their own shorts altogether. From an obese dog who needs a roller skate to move around, to an insane animal physician sadly named Dr. Applecheek, to a gay Captain Kiddie and his puppet hand Squawk, this cast comes right out of nowhere and are just as bonkers as they sound in description. Plus, the voice actors and animators brought more life to them than the one dimensional script ever did, complete with over the top performances and appealing character designs. Also, as the film keeps on going, the stakes do at least get higher and higher, even if it's painfully obvious what happens at the end. After all, Tom & Jerry can't die in any cartoon, so why even bother trying to do so in the first place?

So in the end, while by no means a great watch, the 1992 Tom & Jerry movie is so bizarre in its execution that it leaves you wondering why the filmmakers chose to take the duo in this direction from the start. While there are better installments with the duo out there, I would recommend this over the 2021 movie, because this one at least has some weird plot points going for it compared to the corporately manufactured HBO Max original. Die hard fans of the duo might not like me in the morning for saying this, but the cat and mouse have been on worse adventures, as bad as this one is.

T&J are one my favorite cartoon characters. They are cute and cuddly, and they are a bundle of fun to watch. I used to giggled at their playfulness. Tom never gave up hope in trying to catch Jerry, and Jerry has never failed to find ways to avoid being caught. I still remembered that one time when my mom scolded me, I turned on the TV and watched T&J, and I was not sad anymore. That was how good T&J series were to me.

This film is a good, clean fun for the whole family. If I have kids, I would not mind them watch this film, rather than watching all those new cartoons that is filled with adult humors disguised in cute and cuddly characters. There were no sexual remarks or crass jokes and certainly no double meaning humor.

So who cares if T&J can talk to humans? So who cares if they stop fighting against each other and instead help each other to save the girl from the evil Aunt Pigg? If the film has to follow exactly from the TV series, then what is the point of having to make this film? So, a decent score of 8 out of 10. A clean, fun film for the entire family. And a definite watch for the young and the young at hearts.