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Aggressively mediocre, the updated version of “Tom & Jerry” that premieres in theaters and on HBO Max today is a depressing affair, a film that reminds one of similarly hollow uses of beloved properties like “Yogi Bear” and “The Smurfs.” Although at least those knew to focus on their timeless characters. “Tom & Jerry” barely understands the physical comedy that made the cat and mouse first-round entries in the animated Hall of Fame, focusing instead on a celebrity wedding at a fancy New York hotel and the people who work there. A few sequences of classic T&J comedy aren’t nearly enough to make up for the dull plotting and flat characters in this soulless product, one that will fail equally for adults who grew up on Tom and Jerry, and their kids who have never heard of these characters.

“Tom & Jerry” is a live-action/animated hybrid that takes place in a world in which all animals are animated but all humans are real. But the film barely explores this dynamic in favor of centering a New Yorker named Kayla ( Chloë Grace Moretz ), who basically cons her way into a hospitality job at a fancy Big Apple hotel the week before a high-profile wedding there between household names Ben ( Colin Jost ) and Preeta ( Pallavi Sharda ). As the planning for the wedding gets underway, Kayla discovers that Jerry has taken up residence at the hotel, and so she hires his mortal enemy Tom to take care of the singular infestation before all eyes are on them. Her boss Mr. Dubros ( Rob Delaney ) supports Kayla but co-worker Terence ( Michael Peña ) is eager to take down the newcomer ... just because. Ken Jeong plays the hotel chef. You’ve been warned.

The fatal flaw of “Tom & Jerry”? It’s shockingly unfunny. The moments of creative physical humor are few and far between and there’s not a single verbal joke that stands out. “Tom & Jerry”  needs  extended sequences of animated creativity, and writer Kevin Costello spends way too much time with the dull humans of this version when fans really just want to see the rivalry between two classic characters. A scene in which Tom tries to reach Jerry across a power line hints at what this movie could have been if it had trusted its silent characters in, say, the manner that Aardman trusts fans of Shaun the Sheep. 

While Moretz throws herself into the bad material and tries to make the best of it, everything falls flat around her. Director Tim Story can’t find the rhythm or focus to make the humor work and seems almost purposefully uninterested in his human characters. I get it. They’re boring. But then why are we spending so much time with them? And why are the references so stunningly dated? The film opens with a lengthy sequence of pigeons who will never be seen again singing A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” (great song, sure, but strange choice in 2021) and a later scene includes references to “ The Silence of the Lambs ” and “ The Warriors .” I can only presume that this script has been sitting around for decades and the people hired to do rewrites to modernize it fell asleep on the job. I don't blame them.

Here’s the time wherein critics often feel like Scrooge coming down on 'harmless animated fun for kids,' but trust this father of three when I report that even the little ones will check out here and find something better to do. And the truth is that this market is crowded right now. Paramount+ drops a new Spongebob movie next week and Disney+ will premiere “Raya and the Last Dragon” for those willing to pay an extra fee. And even on HBO Max, where most people will watch this movie, there are dozens of titles, including almost all of the Studio Ghibli catalog. There are simply better choices than “Tom & Jerry.” Almost anything, really.

Available in select theaters and on HBO Max today .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Tom & Jerry (2021)

101 minutes

William Hanna as Tom / Jerry (archive sounds)

Mel Blanc as Tom / Jerry (archive sounds)

Chloë Grace Moretz as Kayla

Michael Peña as Terrance

Ken Jeong as Jackie

Rob Delaney as DuBros

Christina Chong as Lola

Pallavi Sharda as Preeta

• Joseph Barbera
• William Hanna
• Kevin Costello

Director of Photography

• Alan Stewart
• Peter S. Elliot

Original Music Composer

• Christopher Lennertz

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How Not to Make a Tom and Jerry Movie

You know you’re in for trouble right at the start, when the pigeons begin rapping. Tim Story’s Tom and Jerry opens to the strains of A Tribe Called Quest’s classic “Can I Kick It?” as the camera swoops over the New York City skyline and finds Tom relaxing between subway cars and Jerry looking at rental properties with a shady rat real-estate agent. (“Wait till you see the next place. It just screams ‘Mouse House.’ Wait, can I say that?”) Ignore the anachronism of lyrics like “Mr. Dinkins, will you please be my mayor?” — the idea here is presumably to situate Tom and Jerry in a modern-day version of the city. Maybe the filmmakers were just trying to cash in on the Secret Life of Pets gravy train, but it also makes some narrative sense: After all, the city is full of cats tasked with catching mice, in bodegas and apartments and even some movie theaters.

But look, this is already way too much work to do for a Tom and Jerry movie.

A cluttered, awkward, pandering mess, Tom and Jerry (which debuts on HBO Max today) is a good example of what happens when the filmmakers don’t understand (or maybe just forget) what made their subject exciting in the first place. The classic Tom and Jerry cartoons were engines of wordless slapstick joy: fast, clever, and fun. While they have certainly gone through many iterations over the decades and are maybe not as well-regarded today — with little of the surreal inventiveness of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, or the wiseass narrative intricacy of Bugs Bunny & Co. — their thundering bluntness retains a primal cinematic appeal. (Besides, for all the show’s simplicity, you could spend hours arguing over who was the good guy and who was the bad guy: the craven Tom, with his Sisyphean drive, or that ever-triumphant teacher’s pet Jerry.)

Anyway, you’d think that a new Tom and Jerry feature film would prioritize the part where, you know, the cat chases the mouse. You would be wrong. Story’s film sidelines its title characters to focus on the efforts of Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young woman who loses her bicycle delivery job and then lies her way into a gig at a fancy hotel as it prepares for “the wedding of the century” between two celebrity influencer types, Preeta (Pallavi Sharda) and Ben (Colin Jost). Kayla immediately draws the suspicions of the hotel’s ambitious, snooty event manager Terence Mendoza (Michael Peña), even as she becomes friendly with the soon-to-be-weds. When Jerry wreaks havoc in the hotel’s fancy kitchen and strikes fear in the hearts of management on the eve of the big day (“If a picture of this mouse is tweeted to the InstaBookFace, or the Ticky Tock, we will be ruined!”), the resourceful but out-of-her-element Kayla hires Tom to catch Jerry.

For about ten minutes, at least. Tom and Jerry the film seems interested in just about everything but Tom and Jerry, with its elaborate (but somehow still totally half-assed) plot and its scenes of nonstop talk that pile unfunny jokes atop one another. These aren’t bad actors: Moretz was once one of our most promising young performers, and Peña is among our most versatile. But they’ve clearly been directed to exaggerate wildly, perhaps in an effort to match the cartoons they’re acting against. The result is a kind of gathering desperation, as if by making bigger facial expressions or talking faster the actors might be able to will laughs out of lines like “I’ll catch it, sir. Him. Or her. It could be a female. I’m not gender-biased.” (Still, it could be worse. Even as everyone else hams it up, the stone-faced Colin Jost drifts through the film, seemingly asking himself the very question that is also on the audience’s minds: Why is Colin Jost even in this movie? )

The animation is clever in concept: All the animals (and only the animals) have been rendered in classic hand-drawn style — that means not just Tom and Jerry, but also the aforementioned rapping pigeons (understandable), the alley cats that torment Tom (of course), the giant elephants that Preeta and Ben ride at their wedding (don’t ask), as well as all the dead fish and hanging innards we see during a scene at the seaport (really, don’t ask). Meanwhile, various objects that come into contact with Tom and Jerry have been rendered in photorealistic 3-D animation, from Jerry’s little backpack to the toilet plungers Tom uses to scale up the wall of the hotel. And to be fair, we probably dodged a bullet when the filmmakers chose not to try and animate Tom and Jerry in three dimensions. But again, all this seems like background to film’s primary concerns, which involve Kayla’s shenanigans and Mendoza’s scheming and the troubling dynamics of Preeta and Ben’s impending nuptials. Tom and Jerry is so busy, so desperately unfunny, so clunkily cacophonous that it makes you long for the simple, brain-numbing charms of the one thing it pretty much refuses to give you: a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

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Tom & Jerry Review

Cats and mice, fighting together... mass hysteria.

Tom & Jerry premieres on HBO Max, and in select theaters, on February 26.

Tom and Jerry, the perpetually feuding feline and rodent who've been warring for our amusement in over 160 animated Hanna-Barbera shorts (plus numerous TV shows and movies) since 1940 -- not to mention serving as the inspiration for The Simpsons' Itchy and Scratchy -- are now starring in their own big city-set, hybrid live-action/animated adventure. And it doesn't quite hit the mark.

Filled with frequent flashes of fun, Tom & Jerry ultimately gets bogged down with an overload of, well, let's just call it humanity. In an effort to bring together the world of cartoons and real life, the headlining duo often feels sidelined, and supplemental to the story of Chloë Grace Moretz's Kayla and her schemes and scams to keep a job that she conned her way into at a luxurious Manhattan hotel. The cat and mouse vanish for long stretches of the film while Kayla's constant crucibles too often feel like they should exist elsewhere, in a different movie.

The cast, which includes Moretz, Michael Peña, Rob Delaney, and Colin Jost, is a lively and fun batch of game performers, ready to dive wholeheartedly into the silliness involved with interacting with animation, pumping up their performances a bit to fit into a world that's just a little zanier than our own. Dynamic gesturing, big expressions, and a touch of heightened sitcom-iness are crucial when it comes to playing off of scene partners that only exist in your imagination.

Everyone here, top to bottom, knows what the movie is and how it's supposed to feel, but the stakes often feel strange (are we supposed to root for the ultra-wealthy? Or a mouse who, let's be honest, is kind of the worst?) and the story feels a bit too weighted on one side, with too much focus given to the real people. As family entertainment, Tom & Jerry is a perfectly adequate offering, though, depending on expectations, some viewers may be bummed to find less Tom and Jerry present than the title suggests.

17 Movies That Mixed Live-Action and 2D Animation

To be fair, Tom and Jerry are both non-speaking characters and it's challenging to craft a full story around that. There aren't too many hard and fast rules to this specific world, except that all animals are cartoons and, randomly, some can speak (understood by other animals and maybe some humans). It's a loose enough setting that Tom and Jerry can carry on with their chaos, with some moments nicely lifted from old routines from the shorts. There are segments of mirth that land really well but the story's a bit too choppy to maintain momentum.

As both Tom and Jerry arrive in New York and begin squabbling in Central Park (from a situation that Jerry is 100% to blame for), hustler Kayla lies her way into a temp gig at The Royal Gate, a landmark hotel that's hosting a huge celebrity wedding. Kayla's frank homespun ways endear her to many, except Peña's rigid hospitality nerd, Terrence. Through Kayla's drive to keep a job she's unqualified for, and Terrence's need to expose her as a fraud, Tom and Jerry, and their penchant for punching each other, get used as pawns in larger human plots.

Which is the main reason they both feel underutilized. So much of what they do isn't in service of their own story. Of course, neither one's given an abundance of internal wants or needs. Jerry desires a nice, warm home and Tom dreams of - er - playing keyboard as an opening act for John Legend? Regardless, they're the thinnest part of the movie. Director Tim Story 's got some interesting elements here, filling the film with tunes from old school hip hop legends like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and the solid choice to make Jerry a super troll, but the end result is a mixed bag of good intentions, sporadically spirited moments, and an imperfect utilization of the title characters.

2021 Movies Preview

Tom & Jerry is a sufficient family offering with a cool cast, a sparkling soundtrack, and occasional fun. It's too bad that Tom and Jerry often feel like afterthoughts in their own film and that there wasn't much more for them to do other than serve the story of others.

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More Reviews by Matt Fowler

‘Tom & Jerry’ Review: The Cat-and-Mouse Rivals Wage Big-Screen Battle in This Low-Concept Outing

Warner Bros. resurrects Hanna-Barbera's inexterminable frenemies, placing them in a live-action context where they can wreak maximum mayhem.

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In the 80 years since Tom and Jerry made their cartoon debut, the duo have zonked, bonked and kerplonked one another too many times to count, and somehow the joke has never gotten old. Nor have the aggravated gray cat and his rival the clever brown mouse, who remain forever young, and forever scrappy — a hand-drawn Punch and Judy whose ruthless slapstick antics have withstood critiques from all corners, including parents who think such animated violence could be a bad influence on kids.

The erstwhile MGM stars got bad reviews when Film Roman tried to go the feature route in 1993 (that movie never should have given them voices), and they’ll probably get skewered again now that Warner Bros. has tried to position the animated duo alongside a live-action ensemble (led by a pair of daffy performances from Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña) in “Tom & Jerry.” But these two pests have taken far worse — frying pans to the face, waffle irons to the tail — and managed to shake it off.

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Truth be told, the movie’s a pretty faithful extension of the frenemies’ long-running feud — basically, the two cannot peacefully coexist under the same roof — and as such, we should be grateful to director Tim Story (“Shaft”) and screenwriter Kevin Costello (“Brigsby Bear”) for not dropping a two-ton anvil on our nostalgia, the way so many big-studio toonsploitation projects have in recent years. (I’m looking at you, “Scooby-Doo,” “Garfield,” “Yogi Bear,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “The Smurfs” — movies that give their beloved characters ghastly CG makeovers, then awkwardly integrate them into the “real world.”)

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Yes, this movie is a hybrid, which means Tom and Jerry have a full cast of flesh-and-blood co-stars, but Story set a simple rule from the opening scene, and he sticks to it: Every single animal in the movie, from singing pigeons to an executive-suite goldfish, is presented as an endearingly designed cartoon character. Or, as celebrity groom-to-be Ben (Colin Jost) puts it when the series’ familiar bulldog, Spike, makes his over-excited entrance, “He’s a little animated.” No, “Tom & Jerry” won’t be winning any Oscars, even if Hanna-Barbera shorts in which they starred racked up seven during the series’ 1940-58 run. But it’s good enough to go down easy.

Here’s the pitch: For reasons unexplained, Tom and Jerry have relocated to New York City, where they take up residence in the Royal Gate Hotel. It’s a five-star and proudly rodent-free establishment, so their presence causes problems, especially because the place is supposed to host a very swanky Indian-themed wedding between Ben and Preeta (Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda), complete with cartoon elephants.

Elephants, as every cartoon viewer knows, do not take kindly to mice. But then, neither do people, and Royal Gate employees and guests start to freak out — beginning with Chef Jackie (Ken Jeong, an underused resource) — as soon as Jerry sets foot inside. The intruder finds a tiny nook on the 10th floor and furnishes it with stolen treasures: an iPhone for a TV screen and a makeup compact for a mirror, with Preeta’s oversize engagement ring serving as the perfect chandelier.

Out on the street, Kayla (Moretz) has just quit her latest job, and pulling a fast one with a more professional candidate’s résumé, she cons her way through an interview for an opening on the hotel staff. She starts at the bottom, tasked with ridding the Royal Gate of these unwanted vermin (which she briefly succeeds in doing), and quickly works her way up to events manager, just in time for Ben and Preeta’s fancy bash. Kayla’s hardly anyone’s idea of a hero, but in Moretz’s hands, she’s likable enough — a relatable underdog in this cat-and-mouse contest.

While Kayla is trying to fake her way at the new job without attraction the attention of her suspicious supervisor, Terence (Peña), Tom and Jerry are doing battle upstairs — and though these are not Marvel-level visual effects, it’s still fun to watch the cartoon critters tearing apart a hotel room. That means making it look like the animated characters are really ripping fixtures off the walls and shredding pillows, tricks that pushed the envelope back when “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” blurred the lines between Toontown and the world we live in. From “Song of the South” to the upcoming “Space Jam” reboot, plenty of films have creatively combined these two spheres, and for better or worse, this one does so without getting all postmodern about it (apart from a few gratuitous inside jokes, like a “Joker” billboard featuring Droopy).

“Tom & Jerry” resists the temptation to redesign its title characters, although they get some subtle tweaks. The team at Warner Animation Group has eliminated the thick black lines that make them look “cartoony,” and added shading here and there to give them a bit of dimension. But they remain the Tom and Jerry we’ve always known, right down to the decision to keep them silent. They still raise a ruckus, of course, but they don’t speak, relying on pantomime and sight gags to communicate. It does feel as if the filmmakers may have been pressured to have Tom and Jerry kiss and make up in the end, but rest assured, if the movie does well enough, they’ll be back at each other’s throats.

Reviewed online, Los Angeles, Feb. 25, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 101 MIN.

• Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO Max release, presented with Warner Animation Group. Producer: Chris DeFaria. Executive producers: Tim Story, Adam Goodman, Steven Harding, Sam Register, Jesse Ehrman, Allison Abbate.
• Crew: Director: Tim Story. Screenplay: Kevin Costello, based on characters created by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera. Camera: Alan Stewart. Editor: Peter Elliot. Music: Christopher Lennertz.
• With: Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Jordan Bolger, Rob Delaney, Patsy Ferran, Pallavi Sharda, Colin Jost, Somi De Souza, Ajay Chhabra, Patrick Poletti, Janis Ahern, Ken Jeong.

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‘Tom & Jerry’ Review: Chasing the Mouse of Nostalgia

This feature-length expansion of the popular cartoon is too brainless for adults, but its kid-friendly title characters are barely supporting players.

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By Jason Bailey

Affectionate nostalgia can attach itself to the most inexplicable and undeserving of recipients, which is about the only explanation for the existence of “Tom & Jerry,” a new feature-length expansion of the cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s (and endless television rebroadcasts thereafter). Those were simple, slapstick cat-and-mouse chase comedies; here, the characters are uneasily blended, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”-style, into a live-action New York City, where a quick-thinking hustler (Chloë Grace Moretz) bluffs her way into a job at a swank hotel in the midst of preparations for a high-society wedding. Tom and Jerry are also guests at the property, albeit uninvited ones. Shenanigans ensue.

The director Tim Story (of “Barbershop” and the execrable 2019 “Shaft” reboot) and the screenwriter Kevin Costello, reimagine Tom as a shades-wearing street musician, throw in jokes referencing Drake, T.I. and TikTok, and fill the soundtrack with classic hip-hop. It’s all flop sweat, a sad, desperate attempt to make Tom and Jerry the one thing they never were: cool.

They also weren’t crass, which creates some tension with the demands of a contemporary “family” comedy; the picture’s low point finds an animated bulldog squatting and defecating in the middle of a crosswalk, prompting the co-star Michael Peña (poor, poor Michael Peña) to shriek, “How many burritos did you eat?” The de rigueur slapstick scenes for the title characters don’t even play, as the integration of animation and live action is so clunky that it feels like we’re watching special effects demonstrations rather than gags.

Some of the performances are enjoyable. Moretz is charmingly game, Peña is funny because Peña is always funny and Rob Delaney has fun with his role as the hotel’s fussy manager. But the laughs they generate have little to do with Tom or Jerry; they’re borne of the personas and charisma of the cast.

There is some value to “Tom & Jerry,” though, in that it lays bare the unacknowledged truth at the center of the entertainment industry’s undying fealty to existing intellectual property. Put simply: Just because it was on television when you were a kid, doesn’t mean it was good.

Tom & Jerry: The Movie Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max . Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.

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Tom & Jerry

• Action/Adventure , Animal , Animation , Comedy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• February 26, 2021
• Chloë Grace Moretz as Kayla; Michael Peña as Terence; Jordan Bolger as Cameron; Rob Delaney as Mr. Dubros; Pallavi Sharda as Preeta; Colin Jost as Ben; Ken Jeong as Chef Jackie

Home Release Date

Distributor.

• Warner Bros., HBO Max

Movie Review

Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are both moving to New York City. Tom hopes his piano-playing chops might earn him a bit of scratch. And Jerry wants, well, he’d be happy with a nice little mouse hole, a bit of cheese and a semi-decent view.

Of course, they’re not the only ones trying to nibble out a living in the Big Apple. Young twentysomething Kayla is trying to make her way there, too. But finding employment and success isn’t as easy as it looks on Instagram.

Soon, all three of them intersect at a really swanky hotel in the heart of the city. It turns out that the wedding of the century—between super-rich Indian heiress, Preeta; and her wealthy American boyfriend, Ben—is about to take place at the Royal Gate hotel. And after stealing someone else’s résumé, Kayla gets hired as part-time staff.

Her first big job? She needs to take care of a little mouse issue that just popped up in the famous hotel. After all, if somebody noticed a scurrying rodent—aka Jerry the mouse—during the biggest event of the season, it could cause havoc with the hotel’s reputation. So, Kayla hires a local cat named Tom, whom she recently stumbled across, to help her exterminate that little furry annoyance.

There’s only one big problem. When you mix a smart little mouse and an aggressive cat into a huge elaborate wedding featuring elephants, exotic birds and a tiger … someone could well end up in the doghouse.

Positive Elements

There are a number of good lessons for kids here. The film makes it clear that deceit and lying will lead to a comeuppance. And after apologizing for making exactly those kinds of choices, Kayla even goes so far as finding the person whose résumé she stole, publicly apologizing and trying to make things right. A newlywed couple—who almost cancel their wedding—learn that taking the time not only to love, but to listen to each other is of vital importance in a successful marriage. 

At one point, a discouraged Kayla talks about her expectations and failings, noting that it seems as if everyone her age in her newsfeed has already found success. In response, her friend Cameron states, “Maybe we just need to stop comparing ourselves to everybody and just work for it!”

It’s made clear, even in Tom and Jerry’s case, that getting along with each other and learning to work together is the only good and productive way to go.

Spiritual Elements

Someone says, “Thank the Lord.” A song’s lyrics include the phrase, “Thank God you’re still here.”

Tom has several moments when his good and bad sides—represented by a small devil Tom and angel Tom—talk about decisions that need to be made. In each case, the devil Tom tricks or outmaneuvers his better version, driving Tom to make an aggressive, unwise choice.

Sexual Content

Preeta and Ben kiss after getting married.

Violent Content

Comedic cartoon hijinks, pratfalls and violence abound. And though all of the different animal characters are at some point pummeled or bounced around, Tom tends to always be the one who gets the worst of it—even when he is essentially an innocent bystander. On several different occasions, Tom and Jerry chase, smash and slam their way around a room, lobby or hallway in the hotel, destroying things as they go.

And other animated critters—including a large bulldog, a pair of elephants, a tiger and a small menagerie of other animals—get in on the brawling action, too. At several points those squabbles become a destructive whirlwind of action that unleashes scenery-chewing havoc that includes smashing into windows, doors and walls as well as drawing humans into the swirling, head-thumping mix. Heavy objects, such as bowling balls and baseball bats, get bashed down on heads and fingers; hot irons smash faces; characters face-plant on walls and floors; windows and glass ceilings are shattered; characters are electrocuted; and teeth are spit out.

Animals eating other animals is also occasionally a part of the cartoon mix here. For instance, Tom gobbles a large fish, pulling the skeletal remains out of his mouth. And he’s forced by a gang of heavy-fisted alley cats to put Jerry in his mouth and told to chew him (though he doesn’t).

Crude or Profane Language

We hear one use of “gosh” and a handful of “oh my god” exclamations. Someone makes a winkingly suggestive comment when asked about something with a wi-fi connection saying, “Why the fi not?”

Drug and Alcohol Content

We see Jerry drinking a glass of what looks like champagne. Tom joins in, too. It’s then, though, that we notice that it’s a bottle of sparkling cider that they’re enjoying.

There is a lot of flowing champagne for humans, however, before, during and after the wedding celebration.

Other Negative Elements

Amid all of this movie’s, uh, tomfoolery , Jerry is particularly irritating. He’s the one who generally coaxes Tom, in annoying ways, to chase him. He also steals quite a few objects, including a very valuable engagement ring, to adorn his new digs in the hotel. That said, Tom doesn’t always make the wisest choices either. And one time, he even tries to get more money by tricking people into believing he is blind.

The movie also spreads some toilet humor around in its script—focusing on animal defecation (offscreen), passing gas, and things like taking a picture of one’s backside on a copy machine.

On the human side of things, Kayla steals and lies, too. (Though in her case, those actions eventually catch up to her, and she apologizes for her actions and strives to correct her wrongs.)

Things start off here with a flyover of New York City that’s underscored by A Tribe Called Quest’s hip-hop tune, “Can I Kick It?” And that definitely let’s viewers know right out of the dog gate that this isn’t your grandfather’s Tom and Jerry.

From there, things admittedly feel a bit odd. The now-familiar blend of live action and frantic animation chases its own tail a little too often. Tom, who’s constantly getting thumped about by an irritating Jerry, feels a little more violent in this modern era than you might expect. And the fact that the animated “stars” of the film are relegated to silent supporting roles in someone else’s story—and a fairly unimaginative and ho-hum one at that—had me feeling like the filmmakers were clawing their way up the wrong cat-scratch post.

Once I settled in and decided not to give it all up for a catnap, I found some things that were worth sticking around for. There are indeed some fun moments in the cat-and-mouse antics. The human leads learn lessons from their poor choices. And younger viewers will gain from light encouragements to get along, as this reboot emphasizes learning from and listening to one another, and working together.

Hey, there’s even some solid advice here for social-media addicts to stop needlessly comparing themselves to all those seemingly successful Insta influencers online. By the time the credits started to roll, I even found myself feeling a bit nostalgic.

Granted this pic won’t leave anyone purring to beat the band. But it won’t make you want to scratch the furniture either.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Tom & jerry.

• 63 Movie Nation Roger Moore Movie Nation Roger Moore The target demo here is the same as it ever was — 8-and-under. There’s plenty of slapstick and critter gags for them, crashing furniture, trashed hotel rooms and wedding party mishaps. The rest of us? “Cute” it is and cute these two forever will be.
• 63 Paste Magazine Natalia Keogan Paste Magazine Natalia Keogan While the movie is often adorable and overwhelmingly wholesome, it lacks the true essence of Tom and Jerry cartoons: Goofy, slapstick barbarity perpetually enacted between the two characters.
• 60 IGN Matt Fowler IGN Matt Fowler Tom and Jerry hit the big screen for a hybrid live-action romp that too often feels like it's not even their movie.
• 60 Variety Peter Debruge Variety Peter Debruge No, Tom & Jerry won’t be winning any Oscars, even if Hanna-Barbera shorts in which they starred racked up seven during the series’ 1940-58 run. But it’s good enough to go down easy.
• 42 IndieWire Steve Greene IndieWire Steve Greene Tom and Jerry manages to prove that it’s possible to be stretched thin and overstuffed at the same time. It’s a specially calibrated kind of chaos not so much meant to be a movie but something designed to hold the attention of a child.
• 30 The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore Tim Story's Tom & Jerry is five to ten minutes of action that might have worked in one of the cartoon duo's shorts, surrounded by an inordinate amount of unimaginative, unfunny human-based conflict.
• 30 The New York Times Jason Bailey The New York Times Jason Bailey The de rigueur slapstick scenes for the title characters don’t even play, as the integration of animation and live action is so clunky that it feels like we’re watching special effects demonstrations rather than gags.
• 30 Slashfilm Josh Spiegel Slashfilm Josh Spiegel Tom & Jerry is, in many ways, aiming to be a live-action cartoon. But it fails in so many basic ways of cinematic storytelling. The story is dull, the characters are single-dimensionally bland, and the performances are stiff.
• 25 San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson A movie that seems to have been made by people who don’t understand the history, true nature or appeal of their iconic characters.
• 25 RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico A few sequences of classic T&J comedy aren’t nearly enough to make up for the dull plotting and flat characters in this soulless product, one that will fail equally for adults who grew up on Tom and Jerry, and their kids who have never heard of these characters.
• See all 20 reviews on Metacritic.com
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‘Tom and Jerry’: Cat v. Mouse: Dawn of Justice

• By David Fear

Once upon a time, there was a cat. His name was Tom. Some folks at an animation studio thought it’d be a good idea to pair him with a mouse. After an exhaustive search on several continents, they found a young, aspiring rodential star named Jerry. Never mind the centuries of biological history that made one intent on killing the other: Even the suits had to admit that these two had crazy chemistry together. After a trial-run short in the early 1940s was met was raves, they were signed to a exclusive contract. For almost two decades, they created a double act that made them both household names. Fame, fortune, and Oscars (seven of them) followed. So did scandal — affairs with starlets and each other’s spouses, run-ins with the law, being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, a nasty addiction to pain pills and catnip — and, eventually, a mutual sense of acrimony. But as with so many comic duos from the mid-20th century, Tom & Jerry knew that their whole was greater than the sum of their parts. That ampersand between their names was the key to their continual success.

Still, by 1958, neither mammal was on speaking terms with each other. Crew members and animators became used to the icy silences that permeated cartoon sets. Finally, via respective publicists, the cat and the mouse announced they were breaking up. Several solo films, a Colgate-sponsored variety show for Jerry, and a number of competing calypso albums followed, all of which were met with public indifference or outright derision. Occasional reunions followed over the years, including a nice run in the late Sixties. But for many of their fans, it felt like they were just going through the I’ll-make-you-bite-your-own-tail-then-you’ll-see-a-halo-of-stars motions. The thrill was gone.

Yet endless re-runs of those vintage toons, fan gatherings (who can forget those annual TomCon events?), and the Nostalgia Industrial Complex kept the names of Thomas Cat and Jerry S. Mouse alive throughout the years. And even though it had been ages since the two had worked together, the executives at AT&T/WarnerMedia/HBO/GloboChem needed new intellectual properties to pimp out in the name of content — and that feline-rodent team used to be a big hit with the kids, right?

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After hammering out agreements between both parties, a new feature film starring Tom and Jerry was greenlit. A script, for lack of a better word, was written, and rewritten, and rewritten, and rewritten again. A director was needed, and after seeing the 2019 sequel-reboot Shaft, the powers that be knew that Tim Story was just the man for the job. Chloë Grace Moretz would play the human lead, a young woman named Kayla who cons her way into a five-star hotel job the weekend before a celebrity couple is about to be married there. (Having lost a bet with God, SNL ‘s Colin Jost was cast as the male half of the couple.) Michael Peña, Ken Jeong, and Rob Delaney were set to costar. Once the dust settled on weeks of long, tortured negotiations, Rob Delaney’s Mustache joined the project as well.

So there they were, together again, the cat and the mouse, trying to resurrect the old magic. (They can’t go on. They must go on.) A few of their old friends, notably Spike the Bulldog, were dragged out of retirement as well. There would be some modern touches, of course — listen to those pigeons sing A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” !!! — and, in the name of corporate synergy, a reference to 1989’s Batman movie. A group of urban-caricature cats would provide what the executives were told was “flavor.” Digs at the hoity-toity hospitality industry, showbiz excess, and the aspirations of millennials would also add necessary social commentary. A skateboard would have Wi-Fi, and when someone asks why a skateboard needs internet access, another person would reply, “Why the Fi not?”

Still, no one was coming to Tom and Jerry for any of that. They would be showing up for the names in the title. And lo, the duo brought out all of the old tried-and-true bits, from mallet wallops to the head (and other body parts too!) to skeleton-revealing electrocutions to one half of the duo exploiting the other’s undying love of cheese. Steam poured of out ears. Jaws dropped and make a “ga- jomp ” sound. The two chased each other around New York City alleys and through hallways and in “animal tornadoes,” each cat-versus-mouse game more manic than the last. No one wanted to tell them that it all felt a little forced, especially the fans — after all, shouldn’t just seeing these anthropomorphic animals beat the crap out of each other to the sound of old-school hip-hop cuts be enough? And while you wouldn’t exactly call something this threadbare “entertainment,” weren’t parents simply happy that their kids had something to watch so they could go into the other room and drink in peace?

In the end, everybody got what they wanted, right? The corporate entity had something to put on its cable channel. A host of animators and technicians got jobs. The actors got checks. The cat and mouse got to relive their glory days one last time, and no one called them Itchy or Scratchy, not once. Late capitalism scored another notch on its bedpost. As for viewers, well … whoever won in the endless round-robin of interspecies chicanery, we all lost. OK, now that’s over. What else is on?

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Tom & Jerry Review: A Live-Action Hipster Remake That's Strictly for Kids

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Tom and Jerry return to theaters and HBO Max in a hipster, live-action film that's strictly for younger children. The classic Hanna-Barbera cat and mouse cartoon are still the best of frenemies. But get a modern update that rankled my old-school sensibilities. I knew things were going to be different when an animated pigeon starts rapping in the opening scene. The film isn't a musical, but there are a few auto-tuned songs that turned me off completely. That said, Tom & Jerry are still up to the usual bag of tricks. Tom chases Jerry, gets pummelled in numerous creative ways, and Jerry escapes laughing. Kids will be entertained by the hijinks. Adults and fans of the shorts will find the updated storyline lacking.

Tom & Jerry opens in New York City with the two critters on different missions . Jerry is looking for a new place to live. He's not impressed with the accommodations offered by his real estate rat (Utkarsh Ambudkar). Tom plays keyboard in Central Park under the guise of being blind. In a random turn of events, Jerry wrecks Tom's prized piano and the chase begins.

Chloë Grace Moretz stars as Kayla , an unemployed young woman who scores free meals at the prestigious Royal Gate Hotel. She bluffs herself into a temporary job, but is immediately under suspicion from Terrance, the uptight events manager (Michael Peña). The hotel is hosting the celebrity event of the year. Superstars Ben (Colin Jost) and his fiancé, Preeta (Pallavi Sharda), are having a lavish Indian wedding at the Royal Gate. He has a flatulent bulldog, Spike (Bobby Cannavale); while she owns a pampered cat, Toots. The hotel erupts into chaos when Jerry takes a liking to the posh surroundings. Kayla is assigned the task of removing the bothersome rodent. She recruits the perfect cat for the job.

Let me start off by admitting the difficulty in adapting a 1940s cartoon for a 21st century audience . Children today are more sophisticated. Thankfully, the animals remain animated characters and not pure CGI. The basic interplay remains the same between Tom, Jerry, and Spike. Director Tim Story ( Barbershop , Shaft ) and screenwriter Kevin Costello ( Brigsby Bear ) go overboard with a plot driven by social media celebrity fluff. The wedding at the center of the story is fashioned after uber-famous couple, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. Also, there are scenes where Chloë Grace Moretz and her bartender love interest (Jordan Bolger) flirt about the latest style of Air Jordan sneakers. These plot points are lost on me, but may resonate with a younger demographic. Regardless, they are just not funny and seem like filler more than anything else.

Jerry is a big jerk for the majority of the film. This caught me by surprise. He cruelly destroys Tom's keyboard, and pretty much beats him to a pulp in every situation after. The cartoon never depicted Jerry as mean-spirited. He was the brunt of Tom's ire for a specific reason. Tom was sent to dispatch Jerry by the racist "mammy" character. Who was always heard yelling "Thomas!", but never seen. The filmmakers obviously couldn't use that set-up here. It's just a strange deviation to make Jerry unlikeable. I never thought I'd be rooting for Tom to catch him.

Tom & Jerry 's human elements are frankly negligible. The ensemble cast are talented actors, but aren't humorous or entertaining. Tom & Jerry 's shenanigans with Spike and Toots are the animated highlights. They cause rampant destruction, which elicited minor chuckles along the way. Children will be amused by these scenes, but I don't believe the hour and forty minute runtime will hold their interest. This version of Tom & Jerry may gain a new audience, but probably won't appeal to older and die-hard fans. Tom & Jerry is produced by Warner Animation Group, Hanna-Barbera Productions, and Turner Entertainment. It will be released concurrently by Warner Bros. in theaters and HBO Max streaming on February 26th.

• Movie and TV Reviews
• Tom and Jerry (2021)

Tom & Jerry: The Movie Review

For the uninitiated, Tom and Jerry are the OG Itchy & Scratchy. In around seven inventive, bruising, glorious minutes they would attempt to beat the crap out of each other until Jerry won or the fight just continued off-screen. In its classic run from 1940 to ’58, guided by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the ’toon titans won seven Academy Awards and redefined the short-form cartoon. Brevity is key to Tom & Jerry , and it’s just one of the reasons any feature iteration of the characters is doomed to fail. After a 1992 completely animated feature (that hinged around the cardinal sin of the two enemies becoming friends), this latest attempt, directed by Tim Story ( Fantastic Four , Ride Along ), is an animation-live action hybrid that dilutes any of the spirit of the original by saddling usually likeable actors with over-extended, tedious human-based guff over a 98-minute running time. That’s at least 91 minutes too long.

The dull-as-dishwater plot sees unemployed millennial Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz) con her way into a job at posh Manhattan hotel The Royal Gate, chiefly to help out with the high-society wedding of Preeta (Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda) and Ben (Colin Jost), the biggest event in the hotel’s history. It’s at this point that homeless mouse Jerry takes up residence in the hotel, leading Kayla to convince hotel manager Mr Dubros (Rob Delaney) and his minion Terence (Michael Peña) to hire piano-playing cat Tom to catch the rodent before the big day. What follows is a slew of standard cat-and-mouse chases and carnage — will the hotel’s centre-piece glass atrium get smashed? — mixed in with dull wedding-movie scenarios (a ring gets lost, doubts about an extravagant celebration are expressed) before it all inevitably builds to the ceremony where all bets are off as to what happens to the huge cake baked by wannabe Michelin-star chef Ken Jeong.

The big idea of the film is that while it takes place in the real world, every animal, from pigeons (who bizarrely sing A Tribe Called Quest’s ’90s hit ‘Can I Kick It?’ over the front credits) to goldfish to elephants, is animated and most can talk (Tom and Jerry don’t, the law of the characters). It’s a big shift from the animation, which was resolutely from the point of view of the animals, the human world hinted at by showing the characters from the knee down. The film does a decent job of mixing CGI techniques with a pen-and-ink feel, but the characters feel even less integrated into live action than the ’toons of Who Framed Roger Rabbit 33 years ago.

Brevity is key to Tom & Jerry, and it’s just one of the reasons any feature iteration of the characters is doomed to fail.

Happily (and surprisingly) the film doesn’t pull its punches in the violence department (although it is strange to see a real iron go into a cartoon face) — a scene where Tom is constantly electrocuted on a telephone wire has a viciousness that recalls the Hanna-Barbera heyday. There are some nice moments — Jerry’s tiny scented business card — and the film is at its best when simply replaying gags from the classics, especially the moment from Jerry’s Diary where Jerry piques Tom’s curiosity only to punch him straight in the eye. But the overriding impression here is one of tired plotting, thin characters and an absence of spark or wit. Tom & Jerry doesn’t need an expanded (human) universe. It’s just a cat trying and (mostly) failing to batter a mouse. The sooner filmmakers learn this, the better.

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‘tom & jerry’: film review.

The eternal cat-and-mouse enemies return in a hybrid live-action/animated Tim Story film starring Chloe Grace Moretz.

By John DeFore

John DeFore

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A tired exploitation of intellectual property that became passé the night The Simpsons aired its first Itchy & Scratchy Show (if not decades earlier), Tim Story ‘s Tom & Jerry is five to ten minutes of action that might have worked in one of the cartoon duo’s shorts, surrounded by an inordinate amount of unimaginative, unfunny human-based conflict.

Slumming in the central role of this ‘toon/live-action hybrid, Chloë Grace Moretz understandably invests as little as possible, maybe wishing she could be acting opposite physical Muppets, at least, instead of figures that will be drawn in at a later date.

Release date: Feb 26, 2021

Moretz plays Kayla, a victim of the gig economy with flexible morals. Stumbling into an opportunity for a temp job at a tony Manhattan hotel, she sabotages another applicant and assumes her identity. Soon she’s facilitating a wedding that’s supposed to be the biggest event in the hotel’s 90-year history: Pallavi Sharda and Colin Jost play a couple who are famous for reasons the movie needn’t explain. Suffice it to say that her father is rich and intimidating, and Jost’s Ben can’t stop adding flourishes to the wedding plans (exotic animals, a drone-copter) in an attempt to impress him and his daughter.

Unfortunately, another stranger arrives at the same time Kayla does: a mouse, whose presence, if discovered, would obviously wreak havoc on the wedding and nix hopes the hotel’s chef (Ken Jeong) has for a Michelin star. Kayla winds up getting the hotel’s manager (Rob Delaney, underexploited but always welcome) to hire a cat she meets as her partner in mouse-hunting. Meanwhile, Kayla’s pompous but insecure boss (Michael Peña, who, in underplayed moments, earns 85 percent of the film’s few non-slapstick laughs) is threatened by the newcomer, and looks for ways to undermine her.

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With just a bit of shading to add depth, animators strike a fair balance between CGI and pen-and-ink in their depiction of Tom, Jerry and the many other animals in the film. The hundreds of artists at work find a few opportunities for pleasure — like putting a tiny, real-looking backpack on Jerry, or getting Tom’s fur wet in the rain.

But from the start, the pic’s overall visual approach does them no favors. In the scene where Tom and Jerry meet for the first time, as the piano-playing cat busks in a park, extras stand in a group gawking at empty space as an unconvincing bit of drawn-in action unfolds. Later, the duo’s first major fight scene destroys a hotel room: The tangibility of the chaos (broken chandeliers, holes in sheetrock) may amuse the youngest child viewers, but the disconnect between live-action and animation just makes one yearn for a beautiful Chuck Jones sequence, in which the world and those who wreck it are one.

A single sequence — in which Tom risks electrocution and more in an attempt to get at his nemesis while he’s tucked in an upper-story suite — comes close to the antic violence that made this pair famous. But even here, Story and his crew do little that Robert Zemeckis couldn’t accomplish, using 1988 technology, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit — and that film had a vastly, vastly wittier script.

Tiresome cat-and-mouse-and-temp-worker conflicts finally reach a natural conclusion, whereupon the dispirited viewer realizes the movie actually thinks we care about the humans in the background. “Somewhere, we forgot how to fight,” sighs the bride, whose doomed wedding ceremony takes over the film. Even after it goes very predictably awry — you know exactly what’s to come as soon as you see the ornate glass atrium — the movie has 20 long minutes to go, getting the lovebirds back together and ensuring that Kayla redeems herself. Does anybody else yearn for the days of animal-versus-animal cartoons that showed humans from the knees down, if they bothered to include them at all?

Production company: Warner Animation Group Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures (Available Friday, February 26, in theaters and on HBO Max) Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Pallavi Sharda, Colin Jost, Jordan Bolger, Rob Delaney, Patsy Ferran, Ken Jeong Director: Tim Story Screenwriter: Kevin Costello Producer: Chris DeFaria Executive producers: Tim Story, Adam Goodman, Steven Harding, Sam Register, Jesse Ehrman, Allison Abbate Director of photography: Alan Stewart Production designer: James Hambidge Costume designer: Alison McCosh Editor: Peter Elliot Composer: Christopher Lennertz Casting director: Lucinda Syson

PG, 101 minutes

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Review: ‘Tom & Jerry’ doesn’t give the beloved cat and mouse enough time to shine

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If there is one thing that can be said about “Tom & Jerry,” it’s that the beloved cat and mouse spend most of their time in the movie doing what they do best: playing a hyper-destructive game of cat-and-mouse. But that really isn’t enough to justify taking this nostalgia bait.

To be fair, having non-verbal characters best known for animated shorts carry a 101-minute movie is a difficult ask. Instead, Warner Bros. Pictures’ live-action/animation hybrid, out now in theaters and HBO Max , sees William Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s classic cartoon rivals plopped into modern-day New York for an adventure that mostly revolves around humans played by Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Rob Delaney, Colin Jost and Pallavi Sharda.

Directed by Tim Story from a script by Kevin Costello, “Tom & Jerry” is set in a version of the world where all animals — from pets to potential ingredients to exhibits in a museum — are cartoons. That they are portrayed in a more classical 2-D animated look instead of the 3DCG approach taken by other recent live-action/animation hybrids does add to its charm.

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The movie starts with Tom and Jerry trying to make new starts in the city. The pair quickly cross paths in a park when Jerry tries to crash Tom’s attempt at making some quick cash as a street performer, establishing their antagonistic relationship. Their ensuing high jinks also lead to innocent bystander Kayla (Moretz) losing her job, setting up the main human storyline.

The majority of the subsequent action is set within a swanky hotel where Kayla fibs her way into getting hired for a job for which she is not quite qualified as it staffs up in anticipation of the upcoming wedding of social media “it” couple Preeta (Sharda) and Ben (Jost). Though Kayla charms the manager (Delaney) to get the position, the event manager Terence (Peña) dislikes her from the start.

The human storyline just doesn’t deliver. It’s hard to figure out what character you are meant to root for because the movie doesn’t give the audience enough to really understand their motivations. It’s a credit to the actors that they are not all completely unlikeable. That said, Delaney and Patsy Ferran, who plays the quirky bellhop Joy, are among the highlights.

Tom and Jerry, each interested in making the fancy hotel their home, unfortunately become secondary to Kayla’s quest to prove she can handle the job. The moments when neither are around particularly drag and “Tom & Jerry” doesn’t quite land its message about the difficulty of being a young adult hitting the job market in the current gig economy.

The slapstick physical comedy does provide some laughs, and coupled with the toilet humor “Tom & Jerry” will likely appeal to some members of the family audience.

Still, if you’re in a mood for this flavor of cartoon violence, you’re better off hunting down the classic shorts or episodes of Tom and Jerry’s past TV shows.

'Tom & Jerry'

Rated: PG, for cartoon violence, rude humor and brief language Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes Playing: Paramount Drive-in, Paramount; Regency the Plant Drive-in, Van Nuys; Mission Tiki Drive-in, Montclair; in general release where theaters are open; also on HBO Max

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Tom and Jerry Reviews

• 32   Metascore
• 1 hr 41 mins
• Comedy, Action & Adventure
• Watchlist Where to Watch

A deep dive into the annals of history to explore the moment when Tom first crossed paths with his nemesis, Jerry. As the furry foes meet for the first time and butt heads, so begins a decades-long rivalry full of whimsical hijinks. Based on the original characters developed by William Hanna.

Reviewed By: Rovi

Tom and Jerry bear the weight that few cartoons do; the name is recognizable by about every generation, and just hearing it conjures up images of the classic cat-and-mouse duo. Tim Story's latest adaptation is ambitious, mixing the classic animation into a live action New York City, but the film falls flat in almost every way. As a children's movie, Tom and Jerry does the bare minimum, clashing bright colors and slapstick cartoon humor with an uninteresting story and boring characters. Fortunately for Story (Ride Along, Shaft) and crew, this is likely enough to keep their target audience satisfied. Anyone else will be hard-pressed to find anything of merit, other than a few Hanna-Barbara references littered throughout the film. Tom is trying to make it in the big city, and things start off well, until Jerry comes and destroys his keyboard. As they both try to find shelter in New York, they stumble upon a fancy hotel right across the street from Central Park. Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young professional trying to find her way, stumbles into a job at the same hotel. Almost immediately, Kayla and her uptight manager, Terence (Michael Peña), are tasked with hosting New York City's most important wedding. Unfortunately for them, Tom and Jerry are about to get in the way.The basic design concept here features all of animals in the world as animated characters, while everything else is live action. When things get hectic on screen and the animals are all in a tussle, the concept seems to work well. It is always entertaining to see the elaborate lengths that Tom goes through in order to catch his nemesis. The problem with the movie is that the awful story and acting get in the way almost constantly. Kayla's journey from "nobody" to special events coordinator is not at all interesting, and the acting surrounding it all is hard to sit through. There is not one good performance here, and the patched together script only magnifies the film's issues.At the end of the slow 101-minute runtime, the audience will be begging for more Tom and Jerry and less hotel drama. This animated hybrid shows early potential, but then totally goes off the rails as more characters are introduced. This is a film that absolutely abandons its roots, tries to be something more, and fails miserably. There are not many movies that are filled with this much empty space. Thankfully, young children should find this entertaining, but anyone older than the age of 10 will be checking their watch and waiting for the credits to roll.

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Tom and jerry: the movie, common sense media reviewers.

Misfire with talking characters, forgettable musical score.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Meant to entertain, not educate.

Promotes putting aside differences to be helpful t

Tom and Jerry learn that working together as a tea

Standard Tom and Jerry cartoon mayhem, only in thi

Some name-calling: "stupid," "'fraidy-cat," "twit,

Part of the popular Tom and Jerry franchise.

Padres y cuidadores: establezcan límites para la p

Parents need to know that Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a feature-length cartoon made in 1992, and it's a decided departure from the usual cat-and-mouse offerings. Tom and Jerry are in full talk mode in this movie for the first (and only) time. They spend the first few minutes fighting and outwitting one…

Educational Value

Positive messages.

Promotes putting aside differences to be helpful to others: "The greatest gift in life is a friend."

Positive Role Models

Tom and Jerry learn that working together as a team reaps rewards. The cat-and-mouse rivalry is played only for a very short time in this film. Instead, they are striving for similar goals and, for the most part, treat each other well and are concerned for one another's well-being. A stereotypically greedy lawyer ("Lickboot") is an associate of a one-dimensional evil female guardian. The many villains all are two-faced: initially sweet, compassionate, and caring, but then transformed into mean, money-hungry, will-stop-at-nothing bad guys.

Violence & Scariness

Standard Tom and Jerry cartoon mayhem, only in this case less of it than in other movies. Characters blow up and fall and are chased, squished, squashed, hit with mallets, trapped in a house fire, stuck on a Ferris wheel, and threatened by a fang-bearing, growling dog. In some instances, characters appear to have been drowned, trampled, or exploded but turn up, alive and well, only moments later. "Stray catchers" capture and cage some animals. Villains cackle, and their faces contort with meanness.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Some name-calling: "stupid," "'fraidy-cat," "twit," "nitwit."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Padres y cuidadores: establezcan límites para la presencia de alcohol, drogas y tabaquismo en los contenidos de sus hijos con Plus. Únete ahora

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a feature-length cartoon made in 1992, and it's a decided departure from the usual cat-and-mouse offerings. Tom and Jerry are in full talk mode in this movie for the first (and only) time. They spend the first few minutes fighting and outwitting one another, with the usual chases, falls, bumps, and explosions. The rest of the film is a joint effort by the beloved characters as they try to rescue and help a young orphaned heiress facing an array of cutthroat villains. Plus, hoping to establish some equity in the musical genre (perhaps in an effort to cash in on some of the Disney magic), the movie has a full score of musical production numbers composed by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse, two well-known songwriters. Though there is some of the expected cartoon mayhem (fire, an avalanche, danger on "the mean streets"), the conflict is provided by human scoundrels with evil on their minds. It appears that the film did not achieve the hoped-for success and remains the only Tom and Jerry movie of its kind. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (4)

Based on 3 parent reviews

It´s Tom & Jerry, in 90s

What's the story.

TOM AND JERRY: THE MOVIE finds the perennially fighting cat and mouse on a non-traditional adventure. Instead of the typical Tom and Jerry story line and traditional cat-and-mouse antics, the filmmakers opted for a fairy tale, a complete musical score with song-and-dance numbers, and Richard Kind and Dana Hill as the voices of Tom and Jerry. Accidentally left behind when their family moves and their beloved house is demolished, Tom and Jerry are homeless, forced to hang together to survive. When they meet Robyn Starling ( Anndi McAfee ), a little girl who believes she's an orphan and has run away from her scary, mean Aunt Figg ( Charlotte Rae, shrill and scary), T and J find new purpose. They commit themselves to rescue Robyn and, in their efforts, face an assortment of very bad guys, all of whom will stop at nothing to get their hands on Robyn's fortune. The chase gets more intense when the villains learn that Robyn's father may not be dead after all.

Is It Any Good?

Someone had a very bad idea. The cherished mystique of the almost-silent cat-and-mouse cartoon antics of Tom and Jerry is shattered here by the startling addition of the characters' voices. Whatever kids (grown-ups, too) have imagined them to sound like can't possibly be anticipated, can't possibly be duplicated, and is bound to fail. And, somehow, the guys have managed to express themselves very well without words. Coupled with a derivative, forgettable musical score (with the exception of "Friends to the End" and, perhaps, "I Miss You") and a plot that goes in several directions at the same time with so many peripheral characters you'd need index cards to keep them all straight, this is a barely passable effort. It's interesting to note that this was a one-time-only endeavor; neither the voices nor the pairing of Mancini-Bricusse with Tom and Jerry ever appeared again.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what happens when an established franchise switches gears. How was this movie different from the usual Tom and Jerry fare? Were you disappointed, or did you like the changes the filmmakers made?

What parts of this movie reminded you most of a fairy tale? Who was the "princess"? Which villain was most like an evil witch or stepmother or king? What fairy tale character roles did Tom and Jerry fill?

"You can't tell a book by its cover" is a famous saying. How does it relate to all of the villains in this movie? Based on your answer, what does the term "hidden agenda" mean?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 1, 1992
• On DVD or streaming : March 12, 2002
• Cast : Richard Kind , Dana Hill , Anndi McAfee
• Director : Phil Roman
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Warner Home Video
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Friendship , Music and Sing-Along
• Run time : 84 minutes
• MPAA rating : G
• Last updated : June 10, 2024

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