Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Phil Roman
Produced by Phil Roman
Bill Schultz (co-producer)
Screenplay by Dennis Marks
Based on Tom and Jerry created  
by William Hanna and
Joseph Barbera
Starring Richard Kind
Dana Hill
Anndi McAfee
Charlotte Rae
Tony Jay
Ed Gilbert
David Lander
Henry Gibson
Rip Taylor
Music by Henry Mancini
Production
company
Distributed by Miramax Films1
LIVE Entertainment
(United States)
Turner Pictures
(Germany)
Release dates
  • October 1, 1992 (1992-10-01) (Germany)

[1]

  • July 30, 1993 (1993-07-30) (United States)

[2]

Running time
 84 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3.5 million
Box office $3.6 million

Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1992 American animated musical buddy comedy film produced and directed by Phil Roman and released in Germany by Turner Pictures[3] and in United States by Miramax Films1 and LIVE Entertainment. It is a feature-length film starring Tom and Jerry[3] and their first and only one to receive a wide theatrical release. This also marked the duo's return to the silver screen after 34 years. The pair talk in this movie, although they have spoken in their earlier cartoons. Joseph Barbera, co-founder and co-charman of the Hanna-Barbera studios, who created Tom and Jerry with partner William Hanna, served as creative consultant.[3]

This was Dana Hill's last film before her death on July 15, 1996. It was released on July 30, 1993 in the United States, after having its world premiere on October 1, 1992, and underperformed at the box office.

Plot

Tom and Jerry together with their owners are about to move to a new home. The moving van is at their old house waiting, and Tom doses 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. He quickly dashes into his mousehole and locks the door, Tom nailing wooden planks on the door. 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.

Next day, Tom and Jerry notice that the house is broken down to make a new apartment as a replacement. They meet a dog named Puggsy and his friend Frankie the Flea that tries to teach Tom and Jerry to be friends. 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 couple of dogcatchers capture Puggsy and Frankie and lock them in their car.

Tom and Jerry then meet a nine-year-old girl named Robyn Starling, the daughter of Daddy Starling, whose mother died when she was a baby and is left behind with her evil guardian Aunt Pristine Figg when her dad goes away. Robyn runs away after her locket is thrown out the window and that's how she began to run. Jerry said to her if she runs, her things won't be with her but Robyn said to them that Aunt Figg may seem sweet but she's real mean.

Cut to Aunt Figg crying in the house, scared of losing Robyn. With the help of her sleazy lawyer, Lickboot and her overweight dachshund, Ferdinand, make a reward of a million dollars for the return of Robyn, who they wish to sell for a ransom, engulfed by love of money. Robyn is recaptured, but manages to escape yet again, after Tom and Jerry are kidnapped by the ruthless Dr. Applecheek and the straycatchers where animals are abused. Tom and Jerry helped Puggsy and Frankie escape. At this point, everybody is looking for the million dollar girl, and Figg and Lickboot manage to get to Robyn's escape destination first. Dr. Applecheek wanted to get Robyn first, but he falls into the creek. What was planned as another capture quickly goes wrong when an oil lamp is knocked on the floor.

When the house goes up in flames, Tom and Jerry help Robyn out of the cabin, while Figg, Lickboot and Ferdinand flee into a boat, which drives them away; Mr. Starling finally comes and rescues Robyn. Tom and Jerry are rescued too and taken to a new home where they both promise to never trick each other again. But as soon as Robyn and her dad are out of sight, the pair have soon reverted to their old ways, and the movie finishes with Tom chasing Jerry.

Voice cast

Musical numbers

  1. "Friends to the End" - Pugsy, Frankie, Tom, Jerry
  2. "What Do We Care? (The Alley Cats Song)" - The Alley Cats
  3. "Money Is Such a Beautiful Word" - Aunt Figg, Lickboot
  4. "God's Little Creatures" - Dr. Applecheek
  5. "I Miss You (Robyn's Song)" - Robyn
  6. "I've Done It All" - Captain Kiddie, Squawk
  7. "Finale (Friends to the End)"
  8. "I Miss You" (End Title) - Stephanie Mills
  9. "All in How Much We Give" - Stephanie Mills

Reception

Critical response

The film has been criticized particularly for giving dialogue to the normally silent stars Tom and Jerry, although in some cartoons from back in the 1940s and 50s, the two protagonists had some spoken dialogue. Joseph McBride of Variety remarked, "'Tom and Jerry Talk' won't go down in film history as a slogan to rival 'Garbo Talks'."[1] Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film's songs. Solomon also criticized Phil Roman for his direction.[2] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post complained about the dialogue between the cat and mouse, and said that the voices "don't fit the characters". Hinson also said that the musical numbers are "forgettable as they are intolerably bouncy and upbeat".[4]

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, on their show Siskel & Ebert gave the movie "Two Thumbs Down", though praising the animation, look and the truthful art design of the animated shorts, neither thought that it was a good idea to give dialogue to the two characters, giving lack of more slapstick action from past cartoons and that the story was silly, even considering that the character of Robyn Starling takes most of the attention than the cat and mouse themselves.

However, Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave a positive review of the film. Canby praised Henry Mancini's score to the movie and musical numbers. Canby later went on to say, "[the characters of] Tom and Jerry have charm."[5] As of April 2015, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 18% of critics gave positive reviews on the film, based on 11 reviews.[6]

Box office

The film opened in the United States and Canada on July 30, 1993, the same weekend as Rising Sun, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and So I Married an Axe Murderer.[7] Opening at #14 on its opening weekend, the film made $3,560,469 at the North American box office, making it financially unsuccessful.[7][8]

Other media

A video game based on the movie was released for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear in 1993 followed by a hand held game by Tiger Electronics released that same year.

Soundtrack

Tom and Jerry: The Movie - An Original Movie Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released 1992
Recorded 1991
Genre Film soundtrack
Label MCA Records
Producer Henry Mancini
Leslie Bricusse

A soundtrack album was released by MCA Records in 1992 and included both the songs and score from the film, composed by Henry Mancini.[9]

All songs written and composed by Henry Mancini. 

No. Title Length
1. "All in How Much We Give" (Stephanie Mills)  
2. "Friends to the End" (Ed Gilbert, David L. Lander, Richard Kind, Dana Hill)  
3. "What Do We Care? (The Alley Cats' song)" (Raymond McLeod, Michael D. Moore, Scott Wojahn)  
4. "God's Little Creatures" (Henry Gibson)  
5. "(Money is Such) A Beautiful Word" (Charlotte Rae, Tony Jay)  
6. "I Miss You (Robyn's Song)" (Anndi McAfee)  
7. "I've Done It All" (Rip Taylor, Howard Morris)  
8. "Theme from Tom and Jerry (Main title)"    
9. "Homeless"    
10. "We Meet Robyn"    
11. "Food Fight Polka"    
12. "Meet Dr. Applecheek"    
13. "Chase"    
14. "Escape from the Fire"    
15. "Finale (Friends to the End)"    
16. "Theme from Tom and Jerry (Pop version)"    

Home media releases

The movie was first released on VHS and Laserdisc on October 26, 1993 by Family Home Entertainment.[10] Then it was re-released on VHS on March 2, 1999 and the first time made its DVD debut on March 26, 2002 by Warner Home Video, although despite receiving a UK VHS release from First Independent Films, no Region 2 DVD release is as yet currently available.[11] However, it is currently unknown whether the film will be released on Blu-ray by Warner Home Video.

Footnotes

  1. ^ The film's distribution rights were transferred to Warner Bros. in 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 McBride, Joseph (October 1, 1992). "Review of Tom and Jerry: The Movie". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Solomon, Charles (July 30, 1993). "Movie Review: Tom and Jerry': A Bland Cat-and-Mouse Chase : The formulaic story feels like a rerun and borrows characters from many other classics.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Barbera, Joe (1992). My Life in 'Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century. Atlanta, GA: Turner Publishing. pp. 234–239. ISBN 1-57036-042-1.
  4. ↑ Hinson, Hal (July 30, 1993). "Tom and Jerry". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ Canby, Vincent (July 30, 1993). "Movie Review - Tom & Jerry: The Movie". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tom and Jerry - The Movie". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Tom and Jerry: The Movie". Box Office Mojo (Amazon.com). Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  8. ↑ "It's Tough to Stay Afloat in the Film-Cartoon Biz : Movies: Disney's hits prove that it can be done, but other firms lack marketing savvy and a competitive product, animators say.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Tom and Jerry the Movie [VHS] (1993)". amazon.com. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Tom and Jerry - The Movie (1992)". amazon.com. Retrieved 25 January 2012.


Sources

External links


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