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Once upon a time there was a cat. His name was Tom. Some people in an animation studio thought it would be a good idea to pair it with a mouse. After an exhaustive search across several continents, they found an aspiring young star named Jerry. Thanks to centuries of biological history, one intended to kill the other, but even the costumes had to admit it: these two had crazy chemistry together. After a short test in the early 1940s was met were raves, they were signed to an exclusive contract. For nearly two decades, they created a double act that knew them both. Fame, fortune, and the Oscars (seven of them) followed. So did the scandal – affairs with starlets and spouses, run-ins with the law, a summons to the House’s non-American activities committee, a nasty addiction to painkillers and catnip. – and, finally, a mutual feeling of acrimony. But like so many mid-20th-century comic book duets, Tom and Jerry knew their whole was greater than the sum of its parts. That ampersand between their names was the key to their continued success.
Yet in 1958, none of the mammals got along. Crew members and animators got used to the icy silences that permeated cartoon backgrounds. Finally, via the respective publicists, the cat and the mouse announced their breakup. Several solo films, a Colgate sponsored variety show for Jerry, and a number of competing calypso albums followed, all of which were met with either public indifference or outright derision. Occasional reunions followed over the years, including a great run in the late 60s. But for many of their fans it was like they were just biting your tail and then you will see a halo. of stars. The thrill was gone.
Yet endless covers of those vintage toons, fan gatherings (who can forget those annual TomCon events?) And the Nostalgia industrial complex have kept the names of Thomas Cat and Jerry S. Mouse alive over the years. And although it had been centuries since the two had worked together, the executives of AT&T / WarnerMedia / HBO / GloboChem needed new intellectual property to extract in the name of content – and this feline-rodent team was a big success. with the kids, right?
Watch Tom & Jerry: Cat vs. Mouse on HBO Max here
After making deals between the two parties, a new feature film starring Tom and Jerry has been lit. A screenplay, for lack of a better word, has been written, rewritten, rewritten and rewritten again. A director was needed, and after seeing the 2019 sequel reboot Tree, the powers that be knew Tim Story was just the man for the job. Chloë Grace Moretz would play the main human role, a young woman named Kayla who gets in her way in a five-star hotel job on the weekends before a celebrity couple is about to tie the knot there. (Having lost a bet with God, SNLColin Jost was cast as the male half of the couple.) Michael Peña, Ken Jeong and Rob Delaney were all set to star. After the dust settled over weeks of long and tortured negotiations, Rob Delaney’s Mustache also joined the project.
So they were, together, the cat and the mouse, trying to resuscitate the old magic. (They can’t go on. They must Continue.) A few of their old friends, most notably Spike the Bulldog, were also pulled out of retirement. There would of course be some modern touches – listen to these pigeons singing “Can I Kick It?” From A Tribe Called Quest? !!! – and, in the name of corporate synergy, a reference to the years 1989 Batman movie. A group of urban cartoon cats would provide what the leaders have been told to be ‘flavor’. Digs into the hospitality industry, showbiz excess, and millennial aspirations would add much needed social commentary as well. A skateboard would have Wi-Fi, and when someone asks why a skateboard needs internet access, another person will say, “Why not Fi?
Yet no one came to Tom and Jerry for all that. They would run for the names in the title. There you go, the duo brought out all the tried and true old bits and pieces, from mallet pouches to the head (and other body parts too!) To the revealing skeleton electrocutions to the duo’s halfway exploiting the undying love of cheese the other. . Steam flowed from the ears. The jaws dropped and made ajumpThe two chased each other down New York City’s back alleys and hallways and into “animal tornadoes,” each cat-versus-mouse game more manic than the last. Nobody wanted to tell them everything. it seemed a bit forced, especially the fans – after all, shouldn’t it just be seeing these anthropomorphic animals fighting each other to the sound of old-fashioned hip-hop tracks? exactly something worn out “entertainment”, weren’t parents just happy that their kids had something to watch so they could go into the other room and drink in peace?
In the end, everyone got what they wanted, right? The company had something to put on its cable channel. A host of animators and technicians have found jobs. The actors got checks. The Cat and Mouse got to relive their glory days one last time, and no one has called them Itchy or Scratchy, not once. Late capitalism has marked another notch on its footboard. As for viewers, well… whoever won in the endless round-robin of interspecies bickering, we all lost. OK, now it’s over. What else?
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