Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

It is two classics brought together in a loving, tongue-in-cheek delight. It's not perfect, but neither on their own was perfect. It's reminiscent and sentimental in all the right ways and has gotten short shrift by too many reviewers.

Wow, a lot of bad reviews here. I also grew up with Tom and Jerry and the original Charlie and the Chocoate factory and loved both. My kids are 3 and 4 and still a bit small for the original Charlie and the Chocolate factory and animation keeps them entertained longer. This movie had the original story plus the comedy of Tom and Jerry and they are watching it for the second time today on Netflix. To all the negative reviewers, this is aimed at little kids, not adults.

So, after i saw a 2.9 on IMDb for the New Tom and Jerry Feature length Movie,

I was honestly a bit upset at IMDb,

not the first time I did not agree with scores posted.......

but still just because it was Tom and Jerry I decided to watch the Same to judge for myself if it were really true....

Could two Cartoon Characters, So Beloved by the entire world, really have an outing that wasn't good enough to score even a measly 3/10......(P.s at the time of writing this review it was 2.9/10)

My Conclusion - Yes and No !!!! Let me explain...................

I was one of the batch of the kids who were still being introduced to our Beloved Characters from the original Chuck Jones and Fred Quimbly - also known as the Golden Age of Tom and Jerry. Since then, Tom, Jerry,Spike and rest of the family has been revamped more than a couple of times and none of them to my liking, Buut i always filed it under "I guess I am too old now to get what the New Age versions are trying to portray." ......!!!.....!!!...

While the new age versions received a clear bump in the animation budget, the other aspects of the shows were either just grossed over or just neglected all together for the sake of budget....

and herein lies the main problem in the very Steep Decline in the Love and appreciation of Our Favorite Cat And Mouse Duo.................. This movie kinda suffers from the same problems....

Although the animation and the look of Our Furry Friends, has considerably improved from the very glitchy type of animations in the previous RE-takes of the famous classic....

......................The problem lies in THE MUSIC................

It was only after recently watching my collection of The Original Tom and Jerry (Mind you I am 26 Now), where i realized that the magic and the love that all of us felt for the show, was due to a Phenomenally Beautiful Sound Track and utterly simplistic problems that Our Furry Friends and their Families Faced... every one, everywhere could instantly relate with them and The absolutely Gorgeous Animation is also a Key Aspect...........................

Now compare That to Tom and Jerry going to Meet Willy Wonka,

for starters u lost a major portion of your adults right here, but still if by any chance an adult were to sit and watch this movie with their kid, they will find it very, very difficult to be drawn into the world that so many of us spent so much time watching, experiencing, loving and emotionally attaching ourselves to the Original Show.......................................................

IN conclusion

i think the studio is yet to understand no matter how much they make our NEW Versions Furry Friends run into different story lines, get animation Upgrades, Make them Talk to Humanize them all

it Never Was and I Doubt ever will hold up to the Beauty in Simplicity and The Absolutely Emotionally Driving Soundtrack is What made the Original So close to our hearts, regardless of age and nationality...

My mom is 55 and she still enjoys the Originals...Nuff Said !!!!

Over all nothing what you do not expect happens in the 2017 Movie, As i said the Animation HAD this glitchy, hyper Active feel to it, but this time round is better done and slightly resembles the Original

Unfortunately the soundtrack still suffers from _

Lazy Cartoon-ishly Stupid base soundtrack

that most of our minds will find it VERY DIFFICULT to get invested in.......

I don't think even most KIDS, in today's day and age will enjoy something like this when U have Johnny Depp and HIS version floating around and the Original Tom and Jerry Shows so readily available !!!

Saw 'Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' for two primary reasons. One being my love for Tom and Jerry.

Have vivid and fond memories of seeing all of their cartoons, with the classic ones (the Hanna Barbera years, the best of which among the best cartoons ever made, Chuck Jones' output was a mixed bag and most of Gene Deitch's were abominations and disgraces to cartoondom) being watched over and over, at my sister's late godfather's house at the age of six and have been a huge fan since. While not as good, most of their films have a lot of enjoyable elements and are not bad films at all.

Also to this day still have a lot of fondness for 1971's 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', which as you can tell this film is very strongly indebted to. Sure "Cheer Up Charlie" is the mother of musical-numbers-that-slow-the-film-down and Peter Ostrum couldn't sing to save his life. However the rest of the songs are very good to timeless, the production values are deliciously colourful (especially when in the factory), it's entertaining, it's charming, Jack Albertson is a delight, the oompa loompas are scene stealing characters, the weirdly trippy and deliciously dark boat ride still dazzles and terrifies and Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka (and his iconic introduction) is a performance for the ages. Just to say, didn't care hugely for Tim Burton's version though it had its merits. Really did question the point of this film but with all the above considered, plus most of Tom and Jerry's other crossovers were surprisingly good, part of me was intrigued and hopeful.

'Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', as feared, was a disappointment and is not one of the better Tom and Jerry films. If anything, to me, along with 'Tom and Jerry: The Movie' and especially 'The Fast and the Furry', it's one of the lesser efforts. Also had mixed views on 'Spy Quest'.

Does 'Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' have pros? Of course. The songs are still great, with the only one coming over as strange in arrangement and staging being "I Want It Now". The zesty "I Have a Golden Ticket" and the beautifully touching "Pure Imagination" particularly come off well. Some of the classic scenes are re-created surprisingly well, particularly the boat ride, which is both wondrous and frighteningly surreal, Willy Wonka's introduction and "I Have a Golden Ticket". Some of the dialogue sparkles and there is the odd amusing moment.

Some of the backgrounds are colourful and imaginative, especially once we get inside the factory, creating that feeling of affectionate nostalgia that one wishes translated into the storytelling. A few of the vocal performances are decent, the highlight being Jess Harnell's note perfect Grandpa Joe. JP Karliak's warmly twinkling and mysteriously enigmatic Willy Wonka is a close second.

However, there are a larger number of cons. Despite being close to personality and drawn well, Tom and Jerry themselves feel shoe-horned in in a story that is not a natural fit for them and most of the time (apart from bringing the golden ticket after being forgotten) they are pointless. Their shenanigans are overused, often distracting from the musical numbers, and little more than filler that pad out time in favour of other memorable parts omitted or toned down. The material is very bland and repetitive, due to a lack of sharp timing and having no originality or freshness. In their 'Wizard of Oz' and 'Sherlock Holmes' outings they served more of a point, added more to the stories, their comedy was funnier and better placed and there was a better mix of old and new, showing fidelity but having enough to set them apart.

Being faithful can be a blessing, the case of 'Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' it was something of a curse. The film suffered from being too faithful and being too closely indebted, and even with the addition of Tom and Jerry and other cartoon characters it added very little new. The only noteworthy fresh touches were the expansion of Slugworth's role (the subplot didn't always make sense but the character was interesting) and Veruca's father growing a backbone and actually scolding her.

Often the human character designs were horrible. The drawing is scrappy and static and the eyes and expressions look dead and with little warmth or joy, almost creepy at times. This is particularly in the case of Slugworth and most of the children. The rest of the voice acting is not particularly good, with the lifeless Charlie of Licoln Melcher and the excruciatingly irritating interpretations of Veruca and Mike from Emily O Brien and Lauren Weisman (meant to be brats but taken too far, the characters are insufferable here) being dishonourable mentions. It's all a mix of hyperactive, with rushed line delivery, and disengaged, some of it done in a monotone. Charlie's mother and the rest of his grandparents are utterly wasted, and excepting Grandpa Joe and Willy Wonka the characters lack their spark. Before one forgets great characters like Droopy and Spike are misused and add nothing and Tuffy is annoying and not just by a little (a talented voice actress like Kath Soucie deserved better).

On top of that the story generates very little warmth, heart, charm or imagination, tending too to be too rushed and hyperactive. Anybody wanting the nostalgia factor are best watching the 1971 film which is full of it whereas too much of this feels like a cheap carbon copy with differences that add little or distract. Instead, one is yearning for fresher material to stop the sense of complete pointlessness but it very rarely comes.

In conclusion, has moments but a purely unimaginative confection. Tom and Jerry and Willy Wonka deserved better. 4/10 Bethany Cox

My kids, 7 and 9, grow up with Tom and Jerry, and they enjoyed this movie a lot!