Here at Empire Towers, we’re always arguing about the greatest cartoon characters of all time (no, really). And forever near the top of the list are MGM’s wonderful, Oscar-winning, constantly warring cat and mouse duo, Tom & Jerry.
And so it’s with mixed feelings that we received the news that Warner Bros. has announced plans for a big-budget Tom & Jerry movie.
Why the mixed feelings? Well, we’re not entirely happy about the decision to make Tom (the cat, in case you weren’t aware) and Jerry (the ingenious mouse who’s always thwarting Tom’s plans to eat him with some deftly-deployed violence) CG characters in a live-action world, but given the success of WB’s own **Scooby Doo **movies and Fox’s recent Alvin & The Chipmunks, that’s hardly a surprise. We’re traditionalists who would like to see Hanna and Barbera’s creations in glorious 2D, but that may be just us.
No, we’re worried about the plotline that’s been revealed. The movie, produced by Dan Lin and written by Eric Gravning, will be an origin tale, in which the slap-happy sparring partners experience hate at first sight. So far, so good – but then they get lost in Chicago and – this is the part that has us on guard – have to reluctantly work together to get home.
Hold it right there. Now, granted, Tom and Jerry have worked together before in the classic cartoons – usually to outwit the dog next door, Spike – and of course there has to be an actual plotline here (as much as we love the sight of Jerry hitting Tom in the face with an iron/frying pan/golf club/small thermonuclear device, 90 minutes of that might be overkill). But these are two sworn enemies, and in Empire’s humble, the film should end with the status quo intact.
Of course, we’re willing to be shown the error of our ways.
There’s a good chance that Tom & Jerry will be the first of the various Hanna-Barbera properties owned by WB to make the big screen. They also own the rights to The Jetsons, with Robert Rodriguez attached to direct, and Yogi Bear, which Donald DeFine will produce.
So, readers – good idea? Bad idea? Answers below.