*This review contains some spoilers.*
I cringed when I heard that a new Tom & Jerry movie had been made and released to video. The cat and mouse's track record since William Hanna and Joseph Barbera left MGM hasn't been very hot. Chuck Jones and his animators were okay, but only made a few stand-out shorts; there were some awful T & J cartoons made in the 1970's; and there was the unpleasant Tom and Jerry Kids. Oh, and don't forget the disastrous, universally panned `Tom and Jerry: The Movie.' With this uneasy mindset, I sat down to watch `The Magic Ring' with my fangs bared and claws ready to shred. But to my surprise, `The Magic Ring" was actually good, giving us new things while honoring what fans love about the duo's past.
The plot is so simple it is hard to believe they managed to stretch it to a whopping 62 minutes. Tom is ordered by his owner, who happens to be a wizard, to guard a ring until he gets back from a trip. As Tom is standing guard, Jerry gets his hands on the ring and jokingly fits it over his head. The ring gets stuck and Tom, naturally, chases Jerry to get the ring back. They wind up taking the chase into the city, where various characters come out of the woodwork and join in, wanting either the ring, Jerry, or Tom. And that is everything. What's interesting is that, while the gags aren't nearly as good as most of the classic shorts, they aren't at all groan-inducing. Many are actually quite funny, seeing as how whenever the ring is nudged a magical beam of light will emit and cause a mishap. Even better is the appearance of a bunch of familiar faces. Spike & Tyke, Droopy, and Nibbles all show up in the film. They even threw in a likeness of Jerry's cousin Muscles (here a different character named Freddie). The best added character is Butch, the Irish-accented dog that vied with Droopy in some great MGM cartoons. He's voiced by the wonderful Man-of-a-Million-Voices, Jim Cummings, one of the best vocal performers ever.
Just to let you know, `The Magic Ring' isn't all magical. While its simplicity is majestic, it is also a problem. Development in the beginning would have been helpful, for instance. The wizard is interesting. They deck him in an outfit and give him a voice that are so silly no one would fear him. It is the perfect touch, except that his face is never visible. But it never really makes sense why he gave Tom the ring instead of taking it along on his trip. And I also could have done without seeing a carbon copy of the ending of the1949 Tex Avery classic `Bad Luck Blackie.' But kids won't care about these things and most older people won't mind them much either. There is one major gripe I have, though. The makers of `The Magic Ring' were wise to avoid the huge mistake of `Tom and Jerry: The Movie' when it came to letting our silent duo speak. However, we do get to hear Tom and Jerry make some sounds. Tom, voiced by Jeff Bennett, was perfect, usually restricted to cries of pain or laughter, reminiscent of the Chuck Jones era. Jerry, however, makes far too much noise. Whenever he sees Tom, he lets out an annoying shout. Frank Welker is another one of the all-time great voice actors, and I love hearing him in cartoons, but his Jerry cries get old very fast. The worst comes in the film's only terrible scene, where Jerry is sitting on a curb, looking at various stores to generate ideas on how to get the ring off his head. Not only are the ideas in this thought balloons unfunny, but he ends the thought by saying `No no no no!' in a very annoying manner each time.
Still, I was impressed that someone managed to pull off a good updating of Tom and Jerry, with the past history being studied to see how not to make Tom and Jerry come to life. I am glad I watched `The Magic Ring,' and I welcome more from this production team. Just as long as Tom and Jerry don't start talking again. Score: 8 out of 10.
I cringed when I heard that a new Tom & Jerry movie had been made and released to video. The cat and mouse's track record since William Hanna and Joseph Barbera left MGM hasn't been very hot. Chuck Jones and his animators were okay, but only made a few stand-out shorts; there were some awful T & J cartoons made in the 1970's; and there was the unpleasant Tom and Jerry Kids. Oh, and don't forget the disastrous, universally panned `Tom and Jerry: The Movie.' With this uneasy mindset, I sat down to watch `The Magic Ring' with my fangs bared and claws ready to shred. But to my surprise, `The Magic Ring" was actually good, giving us new things while honoring what fans love about the duo's past.
The plot is so simple it is hard to believe they managed to stretch it to a whopping 62 minutes. Tom is ordered by his owner, who happens to be a wizard, to guard a ring until he gets back from a trip. As Tom is standing guard, Jerry gets his hands on the ring and jokingly fits it over his head. The ring gets stuck and Tom, naturally, chases Jerry to get the ring back. They wind up taking the chase into the city, where various characters come out of the woodwork and join in, wanting either the ring, Jerry, or Tom. And that is everything. What's interesting is that, while the gags aren't nearly as good as most of the classic shorts, they aren't at all groan-inducing. Many are actually quite funny, seeing as how whenever the ring is nudged a magical beam of light will emit and cause a mishap. Even better is the appearance of a bunch of familiar faces. Spike & Tyke, Droopy, and Nibbles all show up in the film. They even threw in a likeness of Jerry's cousin Muscles (here a different character named Freddie). The best added character is Butch, the Irish-accented dog that vied with Droopy in some great MGM cartoons. He's voiced by the wonderful Man-of-a-Million-Voices, Jim Cummings, one of the best vocal performers ever.
Just to let you know, `The Magic Ring' isn't all magical. While its simplicity is majestic, it is also a problem. Development in the beginning would have been helpful, for instance. The wizard is interesting. They deck him in an outfit and give him a voice that are so silly no one would fear him. It is the perfect touch, except that his face is never visible. But it never really makes sense why he gave Tom the ring instead of taking it along on his trip. And I also could have done without seeing a carbon copy of the ending of the1949 Tex Avery classic `Bad Luck Blackie.' But kids won't care about these things and most older people won't mind them much either. There is one major gripe I have, though. The makers of `The Magic Ring' were wise to avoid the huge mistake of `Tom and Jerry: The Movie' when it came to letting our silent duo speak. However, we do get to hear Tom and Jerry make some sounds. Tom, voiced by Jeff Bennett, was perfect, usually restricted to cries of pain or laughter, reminiscent of the Chuck Jones era. Jerry, however, makes far too much noise. Whenever he sees Tom, he lets out an annoying shout. Frank Welker is another one of the all-time great voice actors, and I love hearing him in cartoons, but his Jerry cries get old very fast. The worst comes in the film's only terrible scene, where Jerry is sitting on a curb, looking at various stores to generate ideas on how to get the ring off his head. Not only are the ideas in this thought balloons unfunny, but he ends the thought by saying `No no no no!' in a very annoying manner each time.
Still, I was impressed that someone managed to pull off a good updating of Tom and Jerry, with the past history being studied to see how not to make Tom and Jerry come to life. I am glad I watched `The Magic Ring,' and I welcome more from this production team. Just as long as Tom and Jerry don't start talking again. Score: 8 out of 10.