After being rendered homeless when their animosity results in their owners inadvertently leaving them behind, Tom and Jerry are left to wander the streets without food or shelter. After the two reluctantly form an alliance of convenience despite their animosity, they come across a runaway named Robyn Starling who is under the neglect and abuse of her "Aunt" FIgg and corrupt lawyer Mr. Lickboot. The two team up to help reunite Robyn with her missing father.
Tom and Jerry are often considered the pinnacle of the works of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, despite their legacy often being overshadowed by their cheaper more economical animated projects made for broadcast television (Flintsones, Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, etc.), Tom and Jerry is arguably the project that put the two on the map and gave them the necessary clout to establish themselves as a dominant force in the animation industry. The 114 shorts produced between 1940 and 1958 are still entertaining to this day, and their influence is second to none with the shorts winning seven Academy Awards. A Feature film had been in various stages of development since the 70s. Chuck Jones was one of the first to attempt the project, but script problems lead to it being abandoned, another project would've involved Chevy Chase and Dustin Hoffman playing the duo in a live-action format (but this appears to have never gotten passed the development stage. What we have here is a movie that isn't bad, but it's not good either, mainly because it feels like Tom and Jerry feel out of place in their own movie.
The plot itself is very standard stuff for a children's movie and plays like The Rescuers by way of Cinderella's evil stepmother. Charlotte Rae and Tony Jay are both talented actors who are clearly putting their all into characters that are very stock and don't have much in the way of substance or humor. A similar issue befalls the main character (yes, seriously) Robyn who isn't annoying or unlikable, but also doesn't have any real defining characteristics that leaves her as a blank audience proxy through which the viewer can project themselves as. The movie is also very slow paced and doesn't mesh well with the manic energy and over the top deliveries that are near synonymous with the cat and mouse duo. This probably explains why the movie will often contrive ways to separate Tom and Jerry from Robyn for extended periods of time but because most of the focus is on Robyn getting reunited with her father, it often feels like we're watching a trimmed down version of The Rescuers that is frequently inter cut with cameos from Tom and Jerry.
In terms of the voice acting it's a mixed bag. The controversial choice to have Tom and Jerry speak I don't think is too bad. TV character actor Richard Kind provides the voice of Tom and I personally feel he was well cast, his delivery does a good job of matching the arrogant cockiness that is often expressed on Tom's face in the shorts and I honestly wouldn't have been opposed to Kind voicing Tom in other incarnations. Dana Hill on the other hand I don't feel works nearly as well as Jerry. I'm not quite sure what it is about Hill that doesn't fit the role just right in my opinion, but personally when I see a character like Jerry, I usually think of June Foray's Rocky the Squirrel or Walt Disney's mickey voice being more fitting for such a character type. Maybe this isn't a fair assessment of the voice acting as it's derived from personal preferences, but that's more or less where I stand.
The rest of the voice actors are varying degrees of passable. Henry Gibson, Charlotte Rae, and Tony Jay are all voicing uninteresting characters but their deliveries do bring some life to them. Rip Taylor on the other hand playing captain Kiddie (who basically acts like Taylor down to throwing confetti on people) plays his part aggressively over the top and a little of him goes a long way. He's only in the movie for maybe five minutes, but his protracted yelling and self aggrandizement become tiresome within 30 seconds, especially a big musical number/
The musical numbers in this movie are not well done. Not only are they not pleasant to listen to as they're often sung by people not known for their singing abilities, but they also bring the movie to an abrupt halt by either describing things we already know or telling us things we don't need to know. The movie's score and songs were written by frequent Blake Edwards collaborator Henry Mancini who's done some amazing songs such as Shadows of Paris and Moon River, but his music feels as intrusive to this movie as Tom and Jerry do.
Tom and Jerry: The Movie isn't poorly made or poorly acted(mostly), but it is poorly conceived. This movie with an emotional core of a plucky orphan girl trying to be reunited with her lost father just doesn't fit with Tom and Jerry. I understand why they need a linking plot to justify Tom and Jerry as a feature film, but it was a mistake doing something this slowly paced. In order for a movie featuring Tom and Jerry intruding on another plot to work, the plot would need to be a fast paced farce that's more fitting with their comedic style. If the story Tom and Jerry were shoehorned into were something along the lines of Peter Bogdonivch's What's Up Doc? or John Landis' Oscar that might be serviceable material that could support a feature length film, but as is: It's putting a square peg in a round hole. The movie will entertain small children for its brisk 80 minute runtime, but it'll be forgotten about almost as soon as it's over.
