Tom and Jerry (film)

***Tom and Jerry*** (labelled in international markets as **Tom & Jerry: The Movie**) is an live-action/animated film based on the cartoon characters and animated theatrical short film series of the same name, and will be produced by Warner Animation Group. It was released on February 26, 2021 by Warner Bros. Pictures and digitally on HBO Max for a month on that same date. It is the fifty-fifth Warner Animation Group film.

## Plot[edit]

In Manhattan, Tom Cat, who dreams of becoming a pianist, plays in Central Park, while his longtime rival Jerry Mouse is in search of a new home. During one of Tom's performances, Jerry picks a fight with him which ends with Tom's keyboard destroyed, followed by a chase.

Kayla Forester, a street-smart young woman doing odd jobs while living by her wits, ends up bumping into Tom while he is chasing Jerry. Looking for a position at New York's fanciest hotel, the Royal Gate, Kayla is tasked with helping the events manager Terence Mendoza with setting up a high-profile wedding, after presenting a stolen resume as her own, which impresses Henry Dubros, the hotel's general manager and owner. At the same time, Jerry sneaks into and takes up residence at the hotel, where his regular shenanigans involve stealing food and items to ramp up his new lifestyle. Meanwhile, Tom comes up with various strategies to enter the hotel (since animals aren't allowed inside) in order to pursue Jerry but failing every time and gets an alley cat gang led by Butch caught by animal control.

Local celebrities Preeta Mehta and her fiancé Ben, along with their pets Spike and Toots, arrive at the hotel, where they are met by Kayla and Terence, who both greet them, unaware of Jerry stealing from Preeta's handbag. As the couple are escorted to their room, Jerry's presence is made known, which puts the wedding and the hotel itself at risk. Kayla offers to help catch Jerry without anyone knowing. In her failed pursuit to catch Jerry, Kayla befriends a bartender named Cameron. Meanwhile, a depressed Tom, after his many failed attempts of entering the hotel, falls into despair with his destroyed keyboard, until he notices Jerry inside one of the hotel rooms. Through the influence of his devil, an enraged Tom goes after him, leading to the pair fighting and destroying the whole room. Kayla comes to check, due to noise complaints. She befriends Tom and persuades Dubros on hiring him to catch Jerry, despite Terence's disagreement.

After many failed attempts, Tom designs a big mouse trap and finally succeeds in getting Jerry out of the hotel. Meanwhile, Kayla learns from Preeta that her engagement ring is missing and offers to help without Ben knowing, sparking a friendship between the two. Preeta also reveals that Ben has not been listening to her ideas about the wedding and has ordered various animals. Learning that Tom has gotten rid of Jerry, Kayla and Tom celebrate with Cameron, with Tom playing a song on the piano to impress Toots. However, Jerry returns and reveals to Kayla that he had Preeta's ring with him and agrees to give it back to her if she lets him stay in the hotel. Before Kayla can agree, Terence returns from walking Spike. Jerry hides in Kayla's coat pocket, sparking a chase during which Spike, Tom, and Jerry (whose fighting assumes the form of a tornado-like fight cloud) demolish the hotel lobby.

Terence is put on leave, while Kayla takes over as event manager for returning the ring stolen by Jerry. To prevent any more of Tom and Jerry's shenanigans risking the wedding and her job as well as Tom and Jerry's own chances of wanting to live in the hotel, Kayla tells the cat and mouse that they have to get along and spend the whole next day far away from the hotel if they want to stay, to which they agree. While Kayla manages the wedding with the hotel crew, Tom and Jerry bond during their trip, but are taken to a pet compound after they inadvertently disrupt a baseball game. After Butch and the same gang of alley cats, whom Tom caused to get captured before, fail to manipulate Tom into eating Jerry, a vengeful Terence separately visits Tom and Jerry in different interrogation rooms and secretly tells lies to Tom about Jerry and Jerry about Tom (behind their backs), angering them both. At the start of the wedding, Terence incites Tom and Jerry to fight, creating another fight cloud combined with Spike and the other animals in the room, which ultimately results in the rest of the hotel getting wrecked, the wedding ruined, and Kayla admitting her deception and leaving in shame, while Tom is physically kicked out by Terence.

Knowing it is their fault the wedding was ruined (through Terrance's influence), as they are also left without a chance of shelter due to the hotel's destruction, Tom and Jerry finally put their differences aside, and convince Kayla and the hotel crew, which includes a reluctant Terence, to work together and salvage the wedding alongside them. Tom and Jerry pursue Preeta on an electric skateboard and aerial drone and lure her to Ben, which results in the wedding being held at Central Park. Ben apologizes to Preeta and admits that he was only trying to impress her and her father and he got carried away. The wedding continues, better than originally planned, with Kayla, along with Linda Perrybottom, the woman from which she took the resume from, both getting jobs at the hotel and Tom and Jerry are allowed to stay, while Tom also achieving his career as the hotel's pianist and developing a love connection with Toots.

The wedding guests and hotel staff enjoy the wedding reception, until a mishap caused by Jerry reignites his longtime cat-and-mouse battle with Tom, with Spike joining the fight. Upon being noticed by the others, Tom pulls down a curtain featuring the classic "The End" headline from the cartoons as he and Jerry resume fighting.

In a post-credits scene, Ben finds he is being charged full-price for both weddings, but thinks it's a joke. Mr. Dubros though tells him that Terence crunched some numbers and it doesn't look good for him, then leaves along with Terence as Ben just stares with bewilderment, ending the film.

## Castedit | edit source

* William Hanna, Mel Blanc (Archive audio) and Frank Welker as Tom
* William Hanna, Mel Blanc, June Foray (Archive audio) and Frank Welker as Jerry
* Chloë Grace Moretz as Kayla
* Michael Peña as Terrance
* Colin Jost as Ben
* Ken Jeong as Jackie
* Rob Delaney as DuBros
* Pallavi Sharda as Preeta
* Jordan Bolger as Cameron
* Patsy Ferran as Joy
* Nicky Jam as Butch Cat
* Bobby Cannavale as Spike Bulldog
* Lil Rel Howery as Tom's shoulder devil and angel
* Ozuna as Assistant Hotel Staff
* Christina Chong as Lola
* Camilla Arfwedson as Linda Perrybottom
* Kerri McLean as News Reporter
* Camilla Rutherford as Wealthy Woman
* Daniel Adegboyega as Gavin
* Obie Matthew as Wedding Guest
* Janis Ahern as Mrs. Erickson
* Joakim Skarli as Chef
* Grant Crookes as Driver
* Chelsea Li as Hotel Bar Guest
* Joelle Koissi as New York Resident
* Daniel Eghan as New York Citizen
* Tina Louise Owens as New York resident
* Ty Hurley as Hotel Guest
* Ajay Chhabra as Mr. Mehta
* Joey Wells as Lightning Cat
* Harry Ratchford as Topsy Cat
* Na'im Lynn as Meathead Cat
* Utkarsh Ambudkar as Real Estate Rat
* Tim Story as Pigeon Announcer
* Spank Horton as Ash
* Brock Baker as Droopy
* T-Pain as Tom's singing voice

## Production[edit]

### Development[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

### Theatrical and streaming[edit]

*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[edit]

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 upcoming 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.[*better source needed*]. 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.

### Home media[edit]

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[edit]

### Box office[edit]

As of May 23, 2021, *Tom & Jerry* has grossed $45.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $66.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $112.3 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[edit]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 31% of 121 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 Reporter*'s 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.

## Triviaedit | edit source

* 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, an avid fan of Tom and Jerry, and this will be the first film he worked on that is aimed at a family-oriented audience.
* This film will also be dedicated to Gene Deitch.
* The movie is set to take place in Manhattan, hence as a homage to *Mouse in Manhattan.*
* While the movie is going to be a *Roger Rabbit*-esque film, the animation treatment will be stylized CGI animation that will have the look and feel of vintage 2D animation, promised to be in the vein of the classic shorts from the late-40s to early-50s, in both the character designs, and the overall character animation.
* To avoid criticisms from the original animated film, Tom and Jerry are confirmed not to have voice actors (outside of Archive Recordings) as usual.
* This is Warner Animation Group's second film to be a movie adaptation of a particular source material owned by Warner Bros., following *Scoob!.*
* The movie is directed by Tim Story, and this will be the first film he worked on that is aimed at a much younger audience.
* This is the first Tom and Jerry film to be rated PG by the MPAA.[1]
* This is the first Warner Animation Group film to have a domestic theatrical release since 2019's *The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part* since *Scoob* was released straight-to-video and streaming (NOTE: *Scoob* was originally intended to have a domestic theatrical release last year, but was shelved until May 21, 2021 due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic).
* This is the first Warner Animation Group film to be produced in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, unlike the previous films that were produced in 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
* The 1999 Warner Bros Pictures and 2017 Warner Animation Group logo combo with the 2021 byline only appeared in the trailer, as instead, they use the 2021 Warner Bros Pictures and Warner Animation Group logo combo.
	+ This is the first film to use the 2021 Warner Animation Group logo.
* This is the first Warner Animation Group film to be released in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day.
* This is the third time Jerry's vocal effects are provided by Frank Welker after *Tom & Jerry Kids* and *Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring*.
	+ Thus, it is also the second time Tom's vocal effects are provided by Welker after *Tom & Jerry Kids*.
* This is the shortest advertised Warner Animation Group film in motion picture history, due to 3-month gap between its only trailer and its official release.
* This is the first Warner Animation Group film to be produced in a taller 1.85:1 aspect ratio, unlike the company's previous films that were produced in a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio.