In Defense of "Tom and Jerry: The Movie"

I consider Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1993) to be a Guilty pleasure of mine. I grew up watching this movie every other weekend and I remember it being one of my favorite movies. Having re-watched it as an adult recently, even despite being well aware of the criticism, I still enjoyed watching this movie

In this article I will explain why...

Contrary to Popular opinions, I don't think Tom and Jerry The Movie is a terrible story (even after rewatching it as an adult). If anything it's just "good enough". It's the kind of movie you put on during a Friday family night to be entertained by while having delivery pizza for dinner. It's nowhere near Disney level quality, but it can be fun to watch without having to think too hard about it

Perhaps the number one criticism of the film is that Tom and Jerry talk and become "best buds".

Now having seen this movie hundreds of times, I can tell you that the second part of the argument holds no water. Even after the song "friends to the end", Tom and Jerry make it clear that they aren't going to be best buddies anytime soon. Rather, they seem to instead pull a truce and become frenemies; mostly putting their diffrences aside to help a little girl named Robyn when they meet her later on. This frenemy dynamic continues till the Climax when Tom finally acknowledges Jerry's friendship (well...sorta); Only for both of them to go back on it on the epilogue.

With regards to their talking voices, Despite being Tom and Jerry, they do make sense.

The Late-great Dana Hill provides the voice of Jerry. Her voice (identical to her voice of Max in Goof Troop) gives off a personality of small but rough and tough; which perfectly describes Jerry. By contrast, Tom's voice (provided by Richard Kind) fits that of a big wannabe bully who is weak and neurotic in reality and constantly getting bested by someone small than he is; or Tom in a nutshell.

However, the real star of the movie is Robyn Starling

Robyn is the "loveable little girl" of the movie; a self-proclaimed little Orphan girl and billionaire heiress. A cute little girl with a spunky and kindhearted personality, Robyn is easily the most likeable character in the film.

Because Robyn's father is a billionaire, Aunt Figg exploits her for monetary gain; all while subjecting her to emotional abuse (e.g. calling Robyn "Orphan", forcing Robyn to the attic and giving her room to Figg's dog). This leads to Robyn's numerous attempts to run away from home to seek shelter at her family's summer cabin (Robyn's Nest), which eventually gets destroyed by Figg & Lickboot in the movie's climax (albeit, not on purpose). Throughout the movie, Tom and Jerry assist Robyn as she trys to flee Aunt Figg, only for Robyn to be rescued by and reunited with her father at the movie's climax

The movie has several Villains, all of them fall under a "so bad they're good" category. The main Villains are Aunt Figg (Robyn's abusive de-jure guardian) and Lickboot (The shady lawyer of Robyn's father). I can best describe Aunt Figg as the gem-fusion of Ursula and Madame Medusa. Meanwhile, Lickboot sports a "Dick Dastardly" look and is voiced by the late-great Tony Jay in all of his sophistication

Now while both Figg and Lickboot are hammy in both their appearances and mannerisms, they do have their nuances. Figg is abusive to Robyn and greedy for her father's money. Lickboot is also Greedy, but is more level headed and cunning than Figg. Aunt Figg is also quite impulsive and not as intelligent as her partner-in-crime Lickboot; who still trys to reason with her despite going along with her greedy schemes for is self interest

On a side note too, it's worth noting that Lickboot might have ironically had more concern for Robyn's welfare than Figg, as he later tries to reason with a distraught Robyn to escape the burning cabin while Figg tried to ditch.

Other Villains include Dr. Applecheeks and Captain Kiddie.

Dr. Applecheeks is a sadistic extortionist disguised as a friendly faced veterinarian, whom Aunt Figg hires to get rid of Tom and Jerry to shut them up. Funny enough though this probably makes him the best early example of a twist Villain. Despite his initial friendly appearance, he is quickly revealed to be sick an twisted. And yet despite this, thanks to the magic of Traditional Animation, his character design never feels off putting because of it (mostly because how hammy both his design and Villainy is)

Captain Kiddie is a sort of weird exception. He clearly doesn't start off as a Villain, just as an airhead amusement park owner who let's his (all too human) greed get the best of him when he finds out that Robyn (whom he rescued and nursed earlier) is worth a million dollar missing child reward. He also is not as abusive as the other Villains, even though he tries to hold Robyn at bay on the top of a Ferris wheel till Aunt Figg arrives

Henry Mancini provides the musical score and, to be honest, does a pretty good job. While the songs themselves are pretty cheesy (except Robyn's Song "I Miss You", which I think is adorable), The background music of the film does a good job at capturing the humorous tone of the movie while still giving a dramatic feel (much like Mancini's work in The Great Mouse Detective)

All in all, despite its flaws, I really don't see why this movie gets so much flack from online. Its a good movie to watch for some simple entertainment. I personally recommend it.