Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

(1992)

It’s hard to pinpoint where Tom and Jerry sit amongst one production company or another. Are they Disney? Are they Looney Tunes? This ambiguous origin might come from the fact that their production changed hands frequently throughout the years. Or it might come from the fact that they were invented by William Hannah and Joseph Barbara while they worked for MGM, long before they started their own company and streamlined animation for syndicated TV. That’s why Tom and Jerry don’t look like Fred Flintstone or Huckleberry Hound. Incidentally, Chuck Jones would eventually draw some Tom and Jerry episodes which is why they take on that signature Wile E. Coyote/The Grinch Who Stole Christmas/The Phantom Tollbooth look at one point.

Tom and Jerry have been passed from one artist to another, from one company to another. It’s kind of amazing they maintained a faithful fanbase with so many changes. Then we come to this theatrical movie made just for them! Hoo-boy.

How do you make a compelling plot with non-verbal characters in a verbal world? Make them talk, I guess. Richard Kind as Tom and Dana Hill as Jerry. Researching this was confusing as Richard was married to a Dana for a while, just not this Dana.

Both actors have dabbled in voice acting. Richard Kind also did Bing Bong from Inside Out and Dana Hill was Charles in Duckman. Who and who was who and who? Yeah, I feel the same way. Okay, Richard has become a mainstay of Pixar films. He’s like an auxiliary Ratzenburger.

Still, Tom and Jerry have been around since 1940 and I’ve not met a single nor married person who doesn’t love them. I’d think the honor of voicing these iconic characters would be reserved for the veteran likes of Maurice LaMarche and Frank Welker, or Bill Scott and June Foray, or Bill Farmer and Charles Martinet, or… sorry, I love voice actors. I wanted to do voice acting but I forgot to.

Some T&J aficionados are probably losing their minds right now, wanting to tell me Frank Welker and June Foray actually did provide various screams and vocalizations (or full on voices in “Tom and Jerry Kids” in Frank Welker’s case). Even Stepin Fechit played Tom at one point!

The question that arises in my mind is “Was this plot compelling enough to merit such a monumental event as giving voices to characters whose whole act is based on a lack of dialogue?”

NO. The plot is a run of the mill rescue plot that should have been left to Bianca and Bernard from The Rescuers.

Next question: “Could this plot have been facilitated by a non-speaking Tom and Jerry?”

Easily. And it would have felt more like Tom and Jerry if this is what they had done. Limitation fosters creativity. Taking this limitation away makes this uncreative.

I don’t remember guffawing a single time. I don’t remember snickering. I don’t remember blasting carbon dioxide out of my solitary functioning nostril in amusement. Did this movie suck? No. But it wasn’t interesting. That’s crazy because Tom and Jerry are infinitely entertaining otherwise. How did they mess this up?

Well, at least they (gnomes) learned from their mistakes and made some quality Tom and Jerry straight-to-video stuff since this abomination but I fear they may never see the silver screen again for the remainder of Earth. Personally I think they should go back to square one and start having short cartoons before movies. But that would probably cut too deep into the precious 45 minutes of trailers before the three hour movie.

I’ve touted its praise before but if you want to see some great and modern Tom and Jerry (who are back in the hands of Warner Brothers), the absolute greatest manifestation is by far Tom & Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Pure genius from start to finish. Hilarious! The tunnel scene alone makes it worth the watch.

They’re still cranking these out. The latest one came out in 2021. I know zippy zap about it. Okay, I’ll watch the trailer right now. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, it looks great. No talking from the animals as God intended. And it looks like the focus is on the cat and mouse trying to kill each other as God intended. Looks like I’ll be giving this one a chance.

(Answer: Chuck Jones drew Tom and Jerry from 1963-1967)