Tom and Jerry: The Movie

In 1993, The Walt Disney Company bought Miramax Films, which means that the 1993 film, Tom and Jerry: The Movie is, by proxy, an animated Disney film. You’d never find it in any lists of canon though, as it isn’t officially Disney. Starring Richard Kind, Dana Hill, Tony Jay, Anndi McAfee, and Rip Taylor, the film opened at #14 on its opening weekend, behind films like Sleepless in Seattle, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. And with a budget of $3.5 million, it barely broke even with a profit of $60,000.

Tom (Kind) and Jerry (Hill) head off on their own after their home is demolished, discovering they can talk and sing. Becoming friends, they encounter an orphan named Robyn Starling (McAfee). The duo help her find her father while evading her Aunt Figg (Charlotte Rae) and her lawyer Lickboot (Jay). There’s also a dog on a skateboard, two dog catchers in luchador masks, a performing ship captain and his puppet parrot and a doctor who kidnaps rich pets for ransom.

This film is reviled among Tom and Jerry fans, who like to pretend it doesn’t even exist. But does it actually deserve all the hatred? YES.

Tom and Jerry became famous from starring in theatrical shorts where they constantly battled each other in a very slapstick manner. Tom would create impractical devices to catch Jerry, but would often be the one harmed by them. They were basically the MGM version of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. And, yeah, they do talk. But they also had some speaking roles in their early 40s and 50s shorts. But it wasn’t that much. This film, however, goes way beyond too much for them. And while Hill is all right as Jerry, Kind is a terrible voice for Tom. Whose idea was it to give Paul from Spin City and Frugal Lucre from Kim Possible the role of cat?

This film is also a musical. A musical where the songs are just bad and ruin the pacing of the movie.

Anyway, with there being a film starring the duo, you’d think there would be bigger traps with more thought put into them. Not exactly. The slapstick that Tom and Jerry were known for is pretty much gone from the movie.  There’s a few scenes here and there, but they’re mostly perpetrated by the dog on a skateboard. Other than that, they’re only at the beginning and end.

And that’s another thing. There’s no character development to speak of. From anyone. Tom and Jerry become friends, but go right back to chasing each other at the end. Robyn has no character to speak of, except for being the forever optimist and that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, had she been a side character. Yes, in a film called Tom and Jerry: The Movie, the main characters are not Tom and Jerry, it’s Robyn. And again, she really doesn’t have much characterization going for her. Even PENNY, who was also optimistic that she would get away from Medusa had deterred spirits during the course of her movie. And I still don’t think she’s that great a character. But she’s better than Robyn, which is hilarious seeing as how Robyn was modeled after her.

As for the villains, Figg is annoying. Pure and simple. Lickboot though, is probably the only good thing in the movie. And that’s because he’s played by Tony Jay, who was also the asylum keeper in Beauty and the Beast.

Oh yeah, Droopy’s in the film. For about 10 seconds. But even he can’t give the film a funny moment.  

You know, despite it being so terrible, at least The Black Cauldron tried to stick to the source material. #40