Tom & Jerry (2021 film)

Tom & Jerry (known as Tom & Jerry: The Movie in the marketing promotion and international) is a 2021 American live action/computer-animated absurdist slapstick comedy film directed by Tim Story and written by Kevin Costello, based on the characters of the same name created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The film is a second theatrical film based on the Hanna-Barbera characters, following the 1992 theatrical film. The film story follows Tom enlisted to catch Jerry, before his presence ruins New York City's fanciest hotel and its planned wedding. Like its ideas wiki page, the film is a canon and considering the release over the live action and computer animated hybrid as been localize the film was made by the Fandom User AnaPoppy160 until the development was announced in 2018. The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Rob Delaney, Ken Jeong, Colin Jost, Pallavi Sharda, Jordan Bolger, and Patsy Ferran as well as the voice talents of Bobby Cannavale, Nicky Jam, Lil Rel Howery, The Plastic Cup Boyz, and Utkarsh Ambudkar, while Tom and Jerry does not talking it but it was vocal voice by William Hanna and additional ones by Kaiji Tang and André Sogliuzzo respectively. The film had languished stalled in development hell in 2015 due to the studio spending years to search for a writer to pen the most faithful take on the characters for a feature film. It was released on February 26, 2021 in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures, both theatres and on HBO Max simultaneous release. The film received negative reviews from film critics who criticized its human characters and spoiled screenplay, though animation and sense of nostalgia received praise. However, it was a box office success, grossing $136.5 million worldwide against its $50-79 million budget. ''
==Plot==
In a world co-populated by humans and cartoon animals, Tom Cat, who dreams of becoming a pianist, moves to Manhattan and plays in Central Park while Jerry Mouse is in search of a new home. After Tom's keyboard is destroyed in an altercation, he chases Jerry, but accidentally tackles a young woman named Kayla Forester, causing her to lose her job. Down on her luck, Kayla wants to prove her talents and looks for a position at New York's fanciest hotel, the Royal Gate, where Jerry moves in and Tom fails to break in. Kayla, with a stolen resume, is hired to help plan a high-profile wedding and gets a tour of the hotel, while Jerry's usual antics involve stealing food and items to ramp up his new home, and Tom plans more strategies to enter the hotel and capture Jerry.
Local celebrities Preeta Mehta and her fiancé Ben are greeted, as they arrive, along with their pets Spike and Toots. All, except for Spike, are unaware of Jerry stealing from Preeta's handbag. As the couple and their pets are escorted to their room, Jerry's presence is revealed, which puts the wedding and the hotel at risk. Kayla offers to catch Jerry, but fails and realizes that he'll be hard to catch. After many failed attempts, Tom successfully enters the hotel, and his ensuing chase after Jerry wrecks a hotel room. Due to noise complaints, Kayla comes to check, but she befriends Tom, due to their shared goal of catching Jerry. Owner Mr. Dubros hires Tom to exterminate Jerry, while Tom and Kayla's boss Terence threatens to fire them, if Tom can't catch Jerry.
After many failed attempts, Tom designs an elaborate mouse trap and gets Jerry out of the hotel. Meanwhile, Kayla helps with the wedding plans and learns from Preeta that her engagement ring is missing. Jerry returns and reveals to Kayla that he had Preeta's ring, and he agrees to give it back to her, if she lets him live in the hotel. Before Kayla can agree, Terence returns from walking Spike, and notices Tom looking for Jerry hiding in Kayla's coat pocket, but creates a huge scene that causes Spike, Tom, and Jerry to destroy the hotel's lobby.
Terence is suspended, while Kayla is promoted to event manager, for returning the ring stolen by Jerry. Kayla tells Tom and Jerry that they will have to get along and spend the next day bonding, if they want to stay in the hotel, to which they reluctantly agree. While Kayla takes care of the hotel and manages the wedding with the crew, Tom and Jerry explore the city, but are imprisoned at a pound, after inadvertently disrupting a New York Yankees baseball game by committing fan interference. A vengeful Terence separately visits Tom and Jerry, and feeds them lies of what they said about each other behind their backs. Inciting them to battle at the ceremony, throwing the wedding into carnage and destroying the rest of the hotel.
After Kayla comes clean and leaves in humiliation, Terence evicts Tom and Preeta renounces the wedding. A sorrowful Tom and Jerry put their differences aside, and convince Kayla and the hotel crew, including a sceptical Terence, to salvage the wedding. While the pair lure Preeta and Toots to Central Park, where the wedding is held at. Kayla promises to Preeta that Tom and Jerry have atoned for their behaviour, and Ben apologizes to Preeta for his extensive expenses, in light of impressing her dad. Kayla and the stolen resume's owner reconcile with each other and get jobs at the hotel, while Tom strives to be a pianist and plays the piano for Toots, with Jerry joining the party, until a mishap causes them to fight again.
In a post-credit scene, Ben receives a bill for both weddings.
==Cast== 
*Chloë Grace Moretz as Kayla J. Forester
*Michael Peña as Terence Mendoza
*Colin Jost as Ben
*Rob Delaney as Mr. Henry Dubros
*Pallavi Sharda as Preeta Mehta
*Jordan Bolger as Cameron]
*Patsy Ferran as Joy the Bell Girl
*Ken Jeong as Chef Jackie
*Paolo Bonolis as wedding guest
*Ozuna as assistant hotel staff
*Kaiji Tang as Tom
**T-Pain as the singing voice of Tom
**Jim Carrey as the speaking voice of Tom
*André Sogliuzzo as Jerry
**Colleen O'Shaughnessey as the speaking voice of Jerry
*Bobby Cannavale as Spike
*Nicky Jam as Butch
*The Plastic Cup Boyz as the Alley Cats:
**Joey Wells as Lightning
**Harry Ratchford as Topsy
**Na'im Lynn as Meathead
**Spank Horton as Ash
*Zendaya as Toots
*Lil Rel Howery as Angel/Devil Tom, Tom's shoulder angel and devil
*Utkarsh Ambudkar as Real Estate Rat
*Tim Story as Pigeon Announcer
*Jeff Bergman as Droopy (uncredited cameo)
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Plans for a live-action Tom and Jerry film were announced in 2009, after the success of Alvin and the Chipmunks, and would’ve followed Tom and Jerry's origins over a Chicago backdrop. The film would’ve been produced by Dan Lin, from a script written by Eric Gravning.
On April 6, 2015, plans shifted from a live-action film to a fully animated film, that would stay "in the same vein as the source material".
In October 2018, it was announced that Tim Story would direct a live-action/animated Tom and Jerry film for Warner Bros., which would begin filming in 2019. It was reported that Story was in discussions with Warner Bros. executives about what he was interested in directing, even before directing the new Shaft film. When the Tom and Jerry film was brought up, Story immediately "mentioned his admiration for the characters and how he'd love tackling that property."
=== Casting ===
In March 2019, it was reported that Zoey Deutch and Olivia Cooke were frontrunners for the lead live-action role of Kayla, "who teams up with Tom to stop the pesky Jerry from ruining an important event for herself." Additionally, Sofia Carson, Elle Fanning, Jennifer Lawrence, Ariel Winter, Naomi Scott, Meg Donnelly, Hailee Steinfeld, Yara Shahidi, Kelly Marie Tran, Becky G and Isabela Moner were all in consideration for the role. Later that month, it was reported that Peter Dinklage was being considered for the role of Terrance, Kayla's boss and the human antagonist of the film. In April, Chloë Grace Moretz was in final negotiations to star in the film. Moretz described Kayla as "a lot like Jerry" and as "a girl who gunned for what she wanted to achieve but realizes that time and honesty is what will prevail in the end", as well as "a total goofball", the latter aspect which allowed Moretz to "lean into who [she is] in real life". She also said Kayla is "a little unlikeable with some of the decisions she makes", yet she still wanted the character to feel likeable. Moretz was inspired in her performance by Bob Hoskins' performance as Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as by actresses Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Aniston, Lucille Ball, and Meg Ryan. In May 2019, Michael Peña joined the cast in the role Dinklage was eyed for. Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, Rob Delaney, Jordan Bolger and Pallavi Sharda were added to the cast in July. Patsy Ferran was revealed to be part of the cast in September 2019.
In November 2020, Nicky Jam and Lil Rel Howery revealed that they have been cast in the film in voice roles. On December 2, 2020, Jam revealed that he will be the voice of Butch Cat in the film.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began in July 2019 at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Hertfordshire, England. The film was shot by cinematographer Alan Stewart, on the Sony VENICE cinema cameras and Panavision Primo 70 and Primo Artiste Lenses. Animators were present during filming, allowing cast members to improvise while figures of the titular characters were handled by puppeteers. Filming ended before the industry's shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
=== Animation ===
Animation services were provided by Framestore, who hired 3D animators with a passion for 2D animation for the project. The strategy the animators used was to base the animation off a stylized 3D/CGI VFX modeling medium through a vintage 2D finish by creating innovative rigging, animation techniques used to create 2D animation, and custom tools such as lighting and rendering, resulting in the film's 3D/CGI animation maintaining the look, feel, and spirit of 2D animation, in the vein of the original classic shorts in the 1940s and 1950s. The animators also used early Tom and Jerry shorts as reference and inspiration for the animation sequences. Work on the animation was done remotely during the pandemic, with the filmmakers doing creative exploration on certain shots, and finalizing material through production groups.
=== Music ===
On July 22, 2020, it was announced that Tim Story's recurring collaborator and composer Christopher Lennertz is set to compose the score of the film. The album was released by WaterTower Music on February 12, having 30 tracks.
== Release ==
=== Theatrical and streaming ===
Tom & Jerry was released in the United States on February 26, 2021, by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters and for a month streaming on HBO Max. The movie coincidentally released on Tex Avery's birthdate, in which the movie stars for a brief second one of Avery's characters, Droopy, in an animal shelter and on a Joker parody billboard. It is the first film to officially debut the new Warner Animation Group logo to match with the new shield that Warner Bros. debuted in November 2019. It was originally scheduled to be released on April 16, 2021, but was pushed up to December 23, 2020. The film was then pushed back to March 5, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before moving up a week in order to avoid competition with Disney's Raya And The Last Dragon. Samba TV estimated that 1.2 million U.S. households streamed the film over its opening weekend on HBO Max.
On March 8, 2021, some HBO Max viewers who attempted to watch the film were accidentally shown Zack Snyder's Justice League, a movie which was supposed to release 10 days later. HBO Max quickly fixed the issue within two hours.
=== Marketing ===
A float of the characters appeared in the 94th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to promote the film.
On September 1, 2020, it was announced that Australian toy company Moose Toys made a deal with Warner Bros. to make merchandise for the film along with the animated live action film Space Jam: A New Legacy.
On February 20, 2021, Warner Bros. released two new shorts onto HBO Max titled Tom and Jerry Special Shorts to honor the 81st anniversary of Tom and Jerry, as well as to promote the film. These shorts share the style and crew of the other HBO Max original Looney Tunes Cartoons, also produced by Warner Bros. Animation.. The shorts were removed a month later for unknown reasons.
On March 6, 2021, Rob Delaney had been the star guest Announcer for Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, whereas the titular characters made an appearance themselves with Sir Tom Jones.https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/tom-jones/tom-jerry-ant-dec-takeaway-video/
=== Home media ===
The film was available for rent on April 16, while Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released it on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital on May 18, 2021.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
, Tom & Jerry has grossed $46 million in the United States and Canada, and $72.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $118.1 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $4 million from 2,479 theaters on its first day of release. It went on to debut to $14.1 million, the second-best opening weekend of the pandemic behind Warner Bros.'s December release Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.4 million). The opening weekend audiences were 51% female and 46% under the age of 17, while 35% was Hispanic, 33% Caucasian, 21% African American, and 11% Asian. David Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, said of the figure: "With half of theaters still closed, the pandemic still a threat, and Tom & Jerry available at home, this is a very good opening." In its second weekend the film grossed $6.6 million and in its third made $4 million, finishing second behind newcomer Raya and the Last Dragon both times.
The film was initially released in seven international markets, grossing $1.45 million; Singapore led with $457,000. By its second weekend of international release the film was playing in 16 markets, including debuting at number one in Brazil ($746,000) and Mexico ($395,000).
=== Critical response ===
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 31% of 125 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.70/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "It isn't the worst of the long-squabbling duo's feature-length adventures, but Tom & Jerry is disappointingly short on the anarchic spirit of their classic shorts." According to Metacritic, which has assigned the film a weighted average score of 32 out of 100 based on 20 critics, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 79% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The Hollywood Reporters John DeFore said audiences should just "rewatch Roger Rabbit instead" and wrote: "Tim Story's Tom & Jerry is five to ten minutes of action that might have worked in one of the cartoon duo's shorts, surrounded by an inordinate amount of unimaginative, unfunny human-based conflict."
IGN gave the film a score of 6/10, and wrote: "Tom & Jerry is a sufficient family offering with a cool cast, a sparkling soundtrack, and occasional fun. It's too bad that Tom and Jerry often feel like afterthoughts in their own film and that there wasn't much more for them to do other than serve the story of others." Peter Debruge of Variety said: "Yes, this movie is a hybrid, which means Tom and Jerry have a full cast of flesh-and-blood co-stars, but [director Tim Story] set a simple rule from the opening scene, and he sticks to it: Every single animal in the movie, from singing pigeons to an executive-suite goldfish, is presented as an endearingly designed cartoon character... it's good enough to go down easy."
DiscussingFilm gave the film 2/5, highlighting that even its beloved characters and detailed animation can't save its "dull and uninteresting" plot. They label it a "hollow retelling of films already seen before" with subpar writing, acting, and imagination.
== Follow-up television spin-off ==
Tom and Jerry in New York is an HBO Max original animated series produced by Warner Bros. Animation (outsourced by Renegade Animation, the team behind the 2014 Cartoon Network TV series, The Tom and Jerry Show) that is based on this movie, which follows Tom and Jerry as new residents of The Royal Gate Hotel, with their usually antics and mayhem to follow them all over the hotel and beyond, going across Manhattan, New York City. It was released on July 1, 2021.https://collider.com/tom-and-jerry-in-new-york-series-release-date-hbo-max/
== References ==
* Text was copied from Tom and Jerry (2021 film) at Tom&Jerry Wiki, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.
== Trivia ==
* This is the third Tom and Jerry film to be released in theaters. The first being Tom and Jerry: The Movie and the second being Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry that was theatrically released in select cities of the U.S. by Kidtoon Films. Although, this will be the second Tom and Jerry film made specifically for worldwide theatrical release.
* The film marks the third time where the animated characters Tom and Jerry make an appearance with real life humans, after 1945's Anchors Aweigh and 1953's Dangerous When Wet, but is the first film where they are the focus rather than making a cameo appearance in a brief sequence.
* The movie will be directed by Tim Story, and this will be the first film he worked on that is family friendly.
== Video Link ==
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