Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1992 animated musical comedy film directed by Phil Roman, and produced by Film Roman and Turner Pictures. It is a film adaptation of the Tom and Jerry series of theatrical shorts.

It was the first Tom and Jerry feature-length film, and the only one to be theatrically released worldwide (not counting the later direct-to-video film, The Fast and the Furry which was theatrically released only in select U.S. cities by Kidtoon Films).

It also served as a comeback to the silver screen for the pair after a 34-year absence from film. Tom and Jerry co-creator Joseph Barbera served as creative consultant.

Plot
Tom and Jerry are together with their owners as they are about to move to a new home. The moving van is at their house waiting, while Tom dozes in the back of the car, however when he notices Jerry, he puts him on a cue stick, and Jerry, noticing no escape and knowing that he will fly, grabs hold of Tom's whiskers so they fly together into the garden. Jerry quickly dashes into his mousehole and locks the door, Tom nailing wooden planks on the door. Tom leaves the house, but it is too late: The owners have left. 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. The next day, Tom notices that the house is being destroyed by a demolition crew.

He manages to escape but realizes he could not just leave Jerry, so he goes back in and saves him. The two manage to survive, but now they are homeless. The two traverse the streets looking for food and shelter all day, to no avail, they remain homeless. That night in an alley they meet a stray dog named Pugsy and his friend, Frankie Da Flea. Tom and Jerry both introduce themselves, before comically expressing shock at having spoken. Pugsy and Frankie encourage the two to be friends, as it would be difficult to survive in the streets alone. They agree, and they also all agree to have a 'feast' at their place and Pugsy makes a 'buffet' by collecting leftovers in the bin. When Pugsy's tray is full, two dogcatchers capture him and Frankie and lock them in their truck.

With Pugsy and Frankie gone, Tom is ambushed by a gang of mean singing alley cats who chase him, only to be saved by Jerry. Tom and Jerry then meet a girl named Robyn Starling, whose mother died when she was a baby and is left behind with her evil guardian Aunt Pristine Figg when her father goes away to Tibet, but her father is now presumed killed in an avalanche. Figg has proceeded to take over the house with her sleazy lawyer Lickboot even moving Robyn into the attic as her bedroom. Robyn had run away after her locket was thrown out of the window and that is how she began to run. Tom and Jerry, knowing what it is like to be homeless, attempt to convince her to return home, convinced that deep down, Figg loves Robyn.

Indeed, Aunt Figg is crying in the house, scared of losing Robyn and begging a local police officer to find her safely, but reverts to her cold, money-hungry self once the officer is gone. The officer finds Robyn, Tom, and Jerry, but Figg has Tom and Jerry sent to an animal shelter run by Dr. J. Applecheek, who is in secret the employer of the two dogcatchers and in charge of an abusive prison-like pound. Tom and Jerry are reunited with Puggsy and Frankie. With help from several other dogs including Droopy, they stage an escape. Meanwhile, Robyn discovers through a telegram that her father is alive and once reunited with Tom and Jerry, they run away to find him. Figg discovers this, and at the suggestion of Lickboot places a $1 million bounty on the three of them. Meanwhile, Robyn's father Mr. "Daddy" Starling is notified that his daughter has run away and immediately returns to America to find her.

Tom and Jerry end up separated from Robyn after their raft crashes into a ship. Robyn is found by the owner of a local amusement park Captain Kiddie and his talking hand puppet Squawk. But Kiddie and Squawk see Robyn's face in an advert about the bounty and telephone Figg after trapping Robyn in a Ferris wheel. Applecheek overhears the telephone conversation and a race begins to reach Robyn first. When he refuses to give the Dogcatchers any of the money they throw him out of the track. Tom and Jerry find Robyn in the park just when Figg and Applecheek arrive. The three of them trap the dogcatchers in the Ferris wheel and flee up the river in a boat, pursued by Figg, Applecheek, and Kiddie. Eventually, Applecheek falls off a bridge and crashes into Kiddie and Squawk in the water, and Aunt Figg and Lickboot end up with their 1955 Austin-Healey 100 stuck in the mud on a farm. The river ultimately takes Tom, Jerry, and Robyn to an old summer cabin belonging to her and her father, but they are ambushed by Figg and Lickboot, who attempt to forcefully take Robyn back home. In the ensuing struggle, an oil lamp breaks and starts a fire. Tom and Jerry climb onto the roof and get Robyn out of the cabin with a rope while Figg and Lickboot are stuck in the roof of the boat and it drives them away.

As the house is burned to the ground, Mr. Starling finally arrives in a helicopter and rescues his daughter, but is unable to reach Tom and Jerry before the cabin collapses. The pair survive the wreckage and are taken to live with Robyn and her father in their home. Pugsy and Frankie see this in a newspaper and are satisfied that Tom and Jerry finally found friendship. However, old habits die hard, as once Robyn and her father are out of sight, Tom and Jerry resume with their old antics.

Voice cast

 * Richard Kind as Tom, a grey-blue house-cat who is chasing Jerry and is able to talk.
 * Dana Hill as Jerry, a brown mouse who is also able to talk.
 * Anndi McAfee as Robyn Starling, an "orphan" that Tom and Jerry met and wants to find her father.
 * Charlotte Rae as Aunt Pristine Figg, Robyn's guardian who merely has her eyes on Mr. Starling's money and the main antagonist of the Film.
 * Tony Jay as Lickboot, Figg's sleazy lawyer.
 * Henry Gibson as Dr. J. "Sweetface" Applecheek, an animal and pet caretaker who kidnaps lots of animals.
 * Ed Gilbert as Mr. "Daddy" Starling, Robyn's father.
 * Ed Gilbert also voices Puggsy, a homeless dog who meets Tom and Jerry with his best friend, Frankie.
 * David Lander as Frankie Da Flea, Pugsy's best friend. He is a flea who also meets Tom and Jerry.
 * Rip Taylor as Captain Kiddie, an obsessed owner of a run-down amusement park.
 * Howard Morris as Squawk, Kiddie's talking puppet.
 * Michael Bell as Ferdinand, Figg's overweight wiener dog who is always on a skateboard so he can move.
 * Michael Bell also voices Straycatcher #1
 * Sydney Lassick as Straycatcher #2
 * Raymond McLeod, Mitchell D. Moore, and Scott Wojahn as Alleycats
 * Don Messick as Droopy, makes a cameo during the escape from Applecheek's kennel.
 * B.J. Ward as Tom's owner, accidentally leaves him behind in the beginning.
 * Greg Burson as Moving Man, helps Tom's family move.
 * Tino Insana as Patrolman

Musical numbers

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

Reception
Tom and Jerry: The Movie received generally negative reviews from film critics. Joseph McBride of Variety remarked, "'Tom and Jerry Talk' won't go down in film history as a slogan to rival 'Garbo Talks'." Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film's songs. Solomon also criticized Phil Roman for his direction. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post complained about the dialogue between Tom and Jerry, 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". However, Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave a positive review of the film. Canby praised Henry Mancini's score to the film and musical numbers. Canby later went on to say, "[the characters of] Tom and Jerry have charm."

As of April 2011, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 20% of critics gave positive reviews on the film, based on 10 reviews.

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. Opening at #14 on its opening weekend, the film made $3,560,469 at the North American box office.

Soundtrack
A soundtrack album for Tom and Jerry: The Movie was released by MCA Records in 1992 and included both the songs and score from the film, composed by Henry Mancini.