Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale
DVD cover
Directed by	Spike Brandt Tony Cervone
Screenplay by	Spike Brandt
Story by	Joseph Barbera
Based on	Tom and Jerry by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann
Produced by	Spike Brandt Tony Cervone
Starring	Spike Brandt William Hanna Tony Cervone Joe Alaskey Chantal Strand Ian James Corlett Kathleen Barr Tara Strong Garry Chalk Trevor Devall Richard Newman Mark Oliver
Edited by	Robin DeSales
Music by	Dirk Brossé
Production companies	Turner Entertainment Co. Warner Bros. Animation
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release date	October 2, 2007 (2007-10-02) [1]
Running time	48 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale is an American direct-to-video animated Christmas fantasy comedy film, released in 2007. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Turner Entertainment Co., and is the first Tom and Jerry film directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone. It is the fifth direct-to-video Tom and Jerry film and is a semi-adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann, with Jerry in the role of the Nutcracker and Tom in the role of one of the Mouse King's henchmen.

Aside from being the last Tom and Jerry film to be filmed in a 1:33:1 Full-Screen format, A Nutcracker Tale was the last animated production that Joseph Barbera worked on before his death on December 18, 2006, and as such, the film is dedicated to his memory. It was also the last animated direct-to-video film released under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label before Warner Bros. ceased using the brand's name altogether in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

On August 13, 2020, it was announced that the film would be released on Blu-ray and special edition DVD, and paired with Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers. The bundle released on October 27, 2020.^[2]

Plot[]

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Jerry and his nephew Tuffy watch the Christmas ballet in New York City. At the same time, a group of cats, including Tom, sing a song for the Cat King in an alley overlooking the Empire State Building. Jerry goes to the empty stage floor where magic begins to happen around him, where toys like a pony named Nelly, a pixie named Paulie and the Ballerina in the music box come to life.

The stage transforms into a wintry wonderland where the toys all enjoy a dinner feast. Tom and the other cats ruin the feast and trap the toys while Jerry, Paulie and Nelly try to stop them but are shot out of a cannon. As the Captain of the Cat Guards, Tom traps the Ballerina in a cage then brings her to the Cat King, who unsuccessfully asks her to dance for him. Later on, Tom is called to gather other cats and stop Jerry, while Tuffy gives the Ballerina a string attached to a ring of keys before going to warn Jerry and stop the cats. Meanwhile, Jerry, Paulie and Nelly decide to follow a star to an older man called the Toy Maker. Along the way, Jerry falls through some ice before being revived, freed and pulled up by Nelly and Paulie, which makes Paulie unravel by melting the glue that keeps him together. Tuffy gets to Tom and dresses up as an angel and a devil to convince him not to harm Jerry, but accidentally reveals himself when he ends up sticking the trident in Tom's eye, causing the tower of cats to fall off of a cliff. Tuffy goes to Jerry to warn him of the cats. The cats attack, but Jerry and the rest of the group escape inside a tree. The group then comes to a hill where Paulie's head is sent flying into another hole. They go into the hole and discover a fiery world with lava pits and dragons; a flame fairy gives Paulie his head back. A dragon wakes up but is hypnotized by Jerry into lifting them out of the pit.

The fiery world denizens launch a cannon which blasts Jerry and his friends into a house with clocks. The mice and toys are chased by the cats again and run into a fairground. They make it to a ridge, and Jerry blows up balloons to make it off safely. One cat shoots an arrow, popping Nelly's balloon. Tuffy grabs on to her and unravels more of Paulie. Nelly is captured by the cats, and she tells them where the others are headed. The remaining three make it to the Toy Maker and he fixes Paulie. He also gives them a key that allows them to awaken an army of toy soldiers. The three depart with their new army to take back the kingdom.

When the cats attempt to escape the army of toy soldiers, the Ballerina appears with the other toys and leads them in an army against the Cat King. As the Cat King orders his followers to retreat, Jerry activates a toy train that knocks all the cats on top of it as it crosses the stage and exits through the backstage door, hitting the wall of the building next door to the theatre and finally falling into a dumpster back in New York. The Ballerina hugs Jerry in victory and happily tells him that she never doubted him. Suddenly the wall next to them begins to crumble. Nelly shoves Jerry and the Ballerina out of the way, crushing and killing her. However, the magic revives her and removes her string and the requirement to talk with it. Jerry and the Ballerina dance after receiving their crowns back and the curtain is let down, ending the show and the film.

Voice cast[]

• Spike Brandt (uncredited) and William Hanna (archive sound, uncredited) as Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse
• Tony Cervone as Butch Cat
• Chantal Strand as Tuffy
• Ian James Corlett as Paulie
• Kathleen Barr as Nelly
• Tara Strong as La Petite Ballerina
• Garry Chalk as King of the Cats
• Trevor Devall as Lackey
• Richard Newman as The Toymaker
• Mark Oliver as Dr. Malevolent

Production[]

According to Brandt, Joseph Barbera decided on a Nutcracker adaptation as he thought its music fitted perfectly with Tom and Jerry.^[3] The Amazon page for the DVD appeared sometime in August 2007.^[4][when?]

Widescreen[]

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Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale was the fourth Tom and Jerry film to be filmed in high-definition widescreen (the first three being Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars, Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry and Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers), although the Region 1 DVD and the U.S. version of Boomerang were in full screen (cropping the left and right of the image). The film is broadcast in widescreen on Cartoon Network in the United States, as well as a Blu-ray version.

Reception[]

Paul Mavis of DVD Talk gave the film a very positive review saying "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale earns marks for embracing an operatic storyline while keeping the essential punish-Tom-with-pain gags that made Tom and Jerry such a successful franchise for decades."^[5] Meanwhile, Nick Lyons criticized it, stating "Tom And Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale is a rushed animated feature that was simply made to cash in on the Christmas holiday. Avoid this one and rent or buy a holiday classic like the animated Grinch."^[1]

Renee Schonfeld of Common Sense Media rated the film 4 out of 5 stars (making it the highest rated Tom and Jerry film on the site) saying "especially at holiday time, for kids who understand cartoon action, it's a delightful entertainment. Teens and grown-ups might like it, too."^[6]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has no critic approval rating, but the audience approval rating is 63% based on 311 users.^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale at IMDb