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Tom and Jerry: The Movie

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Tom and Jerry: The Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhil Roman
Screenplay byDennis Marks
Produced byPhil Roman
Bill Schultz (co-producer)
Starring
Music byHenry Mancini
Production
companies
Distributed byMiramax Films
LIVE Entertainment
Release dates
  • October 1, 1992 (1992-10-01) (Germany)
[1]
  • July 30, 1993 (1993-07-30) (United States)
[2]
  • September 17, 1993 (1993-09-17) (Australia)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$3.6 million

Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1992 American animated musical comedy film starring Tom and Jerry, produced and directed by Phil Roman, released in Germany by Turner Pictures[3] and in United States by Miramax Films and LIVE Entertainment.

This is the cat and mouse duo's[3] first feature-length film. It also received a wide theatrical release and marked their return to the silver screen after 50 years. Although largely mute in the original cartoons, the pair talk extensively in this film. Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera, 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 in Germany, and grossed $3.6 million. It was filmed in 1991.

Plot

While moving house with their owners, Tom and Jerry get into a fight, and Tom nails Jerry inside his mousehole with floorboards, but misses the moving van and is forced to stay in the house after angering a nearby bulldog. The house is demolished the next morning, leaving them homeless. Wandering through the city, they meet a dog, Puggsy, and his flea friend, Frankie, who try to persuade them to be friends. While finding food from some nearby bins, Puggsy and Frankie are captured by two dogcatchers, while Tom and Jerry end up in a tussle with some alley cats. They escape after Jerry fools them into falling into the sewer.

They then cross paths with a nine-year-old girl, Robyn Starling, who has run away from home. She tells them that since her mother died in childbirth and her father was apparently killed in a recent avalanche, she has been living with her abusive guardian, "Aunt" Pristine Figg, and her devious lawyer and boyfriend, Lickboot, but ran away after Figg threw her locket out of the window. Despite Robyn's misgivings, Tom and Jerry persuade her to return home and they are taken in as pets. Tom and Jerry, however, end up in a massive food fight with Figg's dog, Ferdinand, and stumble across a telegram confirming that Robyn's father is still alive. Figg sends them to an animal shelter run by Dr. Applecheek, who turns out to be an abusive animal kidnapper, and the true employer of the two dogcatchers who caught Puggsy. Reuniting with Puggsy in the cells, Tom and Jerry stage an escape and free all of Applecheek's captured animals, among them Droopy, and rush to tell Robyn the news. Elated, Robyn becomes determined to find her father in Tibet and they escape the city on a raft in the river, but the raft is struck by a boat and they end up separated. Figg places a $1 million bounty on Robyn, while Mr. Starling is alerted of his daughter's situation and rushes back to America to find her.

Robyn is found by Captain Kiddie, the owner of a failing amusement park, and houses her until seeing an ad for the reward, upon which he traps Robyn on the ferris wheel and contacts Figg. Tom and Jerry also find Robyn and they flee in a paddle boat as Figg, Lickboot, Applecheek and the dogcatchers arrive. A long chase ensues, in which the dogcatchers end up trapped in the ferris wheel and Kiddie and Applecheek are left stranded in the river. Following the river, Tom, Jerry and Robyn arrive at Robyn's summer cabin, but Figg and Lickboot have arrived first. In the ensuing scuffle, a lantern is knocked over and the cabin is set on fire. As Figg and Lickboot flee on Robyn's boat, Tom and Jerry manage to get Robyn to the roof just as Mr. Starling arrives in his helicopter. Robyn is saved, but Mr. Starling is unable to reach Tom and Jerry in time before the cabin collapses. They only barely survive and are reunited with Robyn.

In the aftermath, Robyn takes Tom and Jerry in as her pets. Just when it appears that they have found friendship, old habits die hard and the duo resume their antics. The film closes as Tom chases Jerry once again.

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

Tom and Jerry: The Movie received negative reviews from both critics and viewers. Although the animation was praised, the film was criticized for its bad musical numbers, sub-par voice acting, the names of the villains (Aunt Figg, Mr. Lickboot, and Dr. Applecheeks) which one critic compared to "abstract fetishes", dark content, and the plot not focusing on the titular characters. The fact that Tom and Jerry have full dialogue was not well received by fans of the original cartoons. On Rotten Tomatoes, it scored 18% based on 11 reviews.

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 June 2016, 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

Untitled

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 tracks are written by Henry Mancini

No.TitleLength
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."I Miss You (End Title)" (Stephanie Mills) 
9."Theme from Tom and Jerry (Main title)" 
10."Homeless" 
11."We Meet Robyn" 
12."Food Fight Polka" 
13."Meet Dr. Applecheek" 
14."Chase" 
15."Escape from the Fire" 
16."Finale (Friends to the End)" 
17."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]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McBride, Joseph (October 1, 1992). "Review of Tom and Jerry: The Movie". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  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. ^ a b "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. ^ [1]
  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

  • Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-591-5. pp. 284–285.
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