Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1993 animated musical film produced and directed by Phil Roman starring Tom and Jerry and the only feature to be theatrically released worldwide, although Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry was theatrically released in select cities of the United States of America by Kidtoon Films. The characters' co-creator and Hanna's partner, Joseph Barbera served as creative consultant for the picture.
Plot
The pair are both together with their owners as they are about to move to a new home. The moving van is at their old house waiting, while Tom dozes in the back of the car. However when he notices Jerry, he puts him on a stick, and Jerry, noticing no escape and knowing that he will fly, he grabs hold of Tom's whiskers so they fly together into the garden. Jerry quickly dashes into his mousehole and locks the door, Tom nailing wooden planks on the door. Tom leaves the house, but it's too late: The owners have left. When Tom tries to get in the moving car, he ends up with a bulldog and ties up his ears so he cannot see. Tom runs into the house for safety and stays there for the night. The next day, Tom notices that the house is being destroyed by a demolition crew.
He manages to escape but realizes he couldn't just leave Jerry, so he goes back in and saves him. The two manage to survive, but now they're homeless. Then they meet a dog named Puggsy and his friend Frankie Da Flea. Tom and Jerry both introduce themselves, before suddenly realizing seconds later that the other spoke, a rarity in the shorts. Puggsy and Frankie encourage the two to be friends, as it would be difficult to survive in the streets alone. Then they all agree to have a 'feast' at their place and Puggsy makes a 'buffet' by collecting leftovers in the bin. When Puggsy's tray is crammed, a dogcatcher captures Puggsy and Frankie and lock them in their Chevrolet Advance Design.
With Pugsy and Frankie gone, Tom is ambushed by a gang of mean singing alley cats who chase him only to be saved by Jerry. Tom and Jerry then meet an eight-year old girl named Robyn Starling, whose mother died of pneumonia when she was a baby and is left behind with her horrid and evil guardian Aunt Figg when her dad goes away to Tibet. Robyn runs away after her locket is thrown out the window and that's how she began to run. Jerry said to her that if she runs, her things won't be with her but Robyn said to them that Aunt Figg may seem sweet but "she's mean, real mean".
Cut to Aunt Figg crying in the house, scared of losing Robyn. With the help of her sinister lawyer, Lickboot, and her overweight dachshund, Ferdinand, she releases a reward of $1,000,000 for the return of Robyn, who they wish to sell for a ransom as they're engulfed by love of money. Robyn is recaptured, but manages to escape yet again, after Tom and Jerry are kidnapped by Figg and given to her friend Dr. Applecheeks, who sends them to a city pound where animals are abused (among them Puggsy and Frankie). At this point, everybody is looking for the million dollar girl, and Aunt Figg and Lickboot manage to get to Robyn's escape destination first. What was planned as another capture fails, and it only worsens the situation when an oil lamp is knocked on the floor.
As the house goes up in flames (also sending Aunt Figg, Lickboot and Ferdy out the door), a man bearing a strong resemblance to Indiana Jones, Daddy Starling, arrives and rescues them. Tom and Jerry are taken to a new home where they both promise not to trick each other ever again. But the pair soon revert back to their old ways.
Reaction
Critical reception
Tom and Jerry: The Movie received extremely negative reviews from critics and audiences alike at the time of its release. It had no connection to the continuity of the original 114 shorts (including the 2005 short, The Karate Guard) whatsoever. It is the only adaptation where the two continuously speak, in contrast with other adaptations (except for Jerry's speaking voice in the duo's appearance in Anchors Aweigh and the cartoon short, The Lonesome Mouse). Rotten Tomatoes ranks it as "Rotten" with only 17% percent of reviews being positive. Doug Walker, a.k.a the Nostalgia Critic went along to say that them speaking and getting along is against the ten commandments and that the plot took as much slapstick out of the film as possible.
Box office performance
The film made $3,560,469 at the box office, a very substandard amount, largely due to the fact that it was released in direct competition with Rising Sun, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and So I Married an Axe Murderer . However the film was made on a budget of only $3.5 million, which makes it only a moderate box office loss, but the budget made it profitable. Today, this motion picture is seen as some sort of Tom and Jerry special, as in many parts of the world it is played amongst other films or episodes randomly.
Credits
Cast
Crew
References
Sources
External links
|
Tom and Jerry |
|
| Main characters |
|
|
| Recurring characters |
|
|
| Theatrical shorts |
|
|
| Television shows |
|
|
| Packaged and programming |
|
|
| Television specials |
|
|
| Theatrical films |
Anchors Aweigh (live-action film with Tom & Jerry cameo, 1945) Tom and Jerry: The Movie (Theatrical film, 1992) Tom and Jerry (Theatrical film, TBA)
|
|
| Direct-to-video films |
|
|
| Other formats |
|
|
| Related |
|
|
| See also: List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera |
|
