If you were to ask me what my favourite cartoon of all time is, I would immediately say 'Tom and Jerry'. This animated cat and mouse duo really needs no introduction; I can say for the moment that the original shorts were one of the building blocks of my sense in humour, and I can say without hesitation that its Hanna Barbera's strongest work. It was also one of the earliest cartoons that people have been making money out of, however, very few incarnations could hold a candle to the original. With that said, there has been a trend in the past decade in which Warner Bros would put Tom and Jerry with various properties. One of their attempts to rejuvenate the franchise was to combine the cat and mouse rivals with classic stories like Sherlock Holmes, The Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk to name a few. Now I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with mixing a cartoon with classic stories, as a matter of fact, this is something I used to do whenever I drew Tom and Jerry as a child. The problem is that for some, they don't think of their own versions, but they remake existing film versions to animation and just insert Tom and Jerry characters.
Just to clarify, they were T&J crossovers that do have their own takes (like the ones with Robin Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk). But even then, they're derivative as they already did this with 'Tom and Jerry Kids' (which has a place in my heart). What Warner Bros doesn't understand is that we don't want to see T&J needlessly shoehorned into classic movies or stories; we want to see the characters assume the roles of such literary characters, or just have them work off the same settings. Much like in the original shorts. Is there really a big enough demand for these crossovers to exist? Well, there must be an audience for them, considering they keep making them regardless if these ideas make sense or not. I'm serious, there's one that has T&J meet up with Jonny Quest. Oh what, just because they were both made by the same duo, that automatically makes them similar? Now some of these movies are not poorly made in of themselves, but some were really not necessary. It doesn't help that I'm not even a fan of the Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone designs for these characters, though they're some that I find more entertaining for their novelties. However, the crossover with 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' was the straw that broke the camel's back for many people. I think the backlash for that movie was so notorious, that it made Warner Bros realise that we don't need any more of these random crossovers. And as far as I know, there hasn't been any word or sight of a new movie since then.
I don't know if this means no more T&J crossovers if it is then is it too soon to assume that they are just a trend? For me, these direct to video crossovers were at best, recycled renditions of well-known stories and characters, and temporary bumps in the road at worse. What do I mean by this? Well we shouldn't act like these crossovers are ruining the franchise, Tom and Jerry have hit low points in the past, and they've managed to get themselves out of them. Hopefully, movies like the Willy Wonka one will be the last infamous T&J related things we'll have for a long time. After nearly 8 decades, they're still recognised and cherished to this day. I'll still look forward to what's to come for this hilarious cat and mouse in future variations, for better or for worse. And maybe someone will actually combine them with various types of source material, and do it the right way. So what are your thoughts on these T&J crossover movies, I would like to know?
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