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Warner Brothers Bringing Tom and Jerry Back From the Dead

by Brandon Lee Tenney
January 22, 2009

It is physically and emotionally tearing me apart to report this news. As if the lowest common denominator wasn't already low enough with the likes of Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks and Scooby Doo in the zeitgeist of American cinema, Warner Brothers wants their own freakish CG/live-action hybrid. So, Tom and Jerry is being developed for the screen. Seriously, I've blacked out twice, and I'm only three sentences in. As much as I personally hate this, I will admit that it does make sense for WB. No matter the critical pounding Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks took, they were both very financially successful.

Alvin and the Chipmunks alone grossed a worldwide total of $360 million for Fox -- on a budget of only $60 million. Makes sense that WB wants a piece of that pie, too. And believe me, I so wish it didn't. And now I've ruined the pie for myself. But since it's inevitable, here's what's in store for the feuding cat and mouse big screen version. The property will be developed as an origin story revealing how Tom and Jerry first meet, form their rivalry, and reluctantly work together to return home after getting lost together while violently and hilariously attempting to kill each other (yea, I added that last bit). Eric Gravning is attached to write and Dan Lin will be producing what should prove to be a steaming pile of dirty, dirty cash.

Think the nauseating news ends there? Warner Brothers also owns the rights to several other classic Hanna-Barbera animated properties that are also in development, including Yogi Bear and The Jetsons. In fact, this story has stolen every bit of hope I'd been storing up for Star Trek come May. If Warner Brothers had announced they were re-releasing Space Jam in 3D, to be honest with you, I would have been at least six to seven times less nauseous right now. Usually this is where I'd end with a question about your "excitement" or "theories" regarding the project. But, frankly, if I have to read anymore about this, I'll -- too late...

Filed under Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

CDZ

WOW! Are studios really that hard pressed to make money? What's sad is that they don't even attempt to make a good film when they decide to make (slaughter) these franchises into big films. Studios rely on peoples nostalgia and the masses are actually foolish enough to go see a movie that had no effort put into it. It's just sad really.
James M.

Sure this is bad news, but I think that one of the main reasons these movies fail on a critical, and personal level, is that when you take these iconic cartoon characters and convert them into "realistic" CGI elements, it loses all of it's charm and dignity. I realize they might think it to be much more interesting and technologically advanced to make Garfield a real cat than it's comic counterpart, but it just isn't the same. That isn't to say that if they did make these movies faithful to the drawings (like Roger Rabbit), that these movies will be good, I'm just saying that it loses it's nostalgia that most adults might not mind seeing them for. Just my thought on these.
MrSammich

I love Tom and Jerry, the old one with the music for the sound effects that earned Oscars for animated short, that was good.
Daniel

But they don't need an origin story for Tom and Jerry! It was funny just as it was, with no explanation for how they came to be fighting. No amount of live-action and CGI is going to recapture that comedic magic. There goes my childhood fellas
http://firstshowing.net Andy Adair

As crappy as this news might be, you had to expect this to happen. Alvin and the Chipmunks (as bad as it might be) made a good amount of money in the box office. So as bad as these movies are, as long as families continue to shovel out the 50+ dollars to see the movie, they will keep making this crap.
Trevor

WHAT!? NOOOO!! WHY!? I could understand Alvin and the Chipmunks, i could even overlook Garfield...but...but....Tom and Jerry?.......What's Next? Calvin and Hobbes? Oh God....
RivasEN

Why does this news make you lose hope for Star Trek?
Ajax

They already did an animated film for T&J and it was horrible. Please don't do it again. Here is a review of the first one http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/1499-tom-and-jerry-the-movie
teyhtr

actually looking forward to this and the marvin the martian christmas movie that was announced way back. I enjoyed the hell out of Alvin and the Chipmunks and I own it on blu-ray. Not a great oscar-worthy film but something fun to pass the time.
Combat Chuck

Wait... People liked Tom and Jerry? The 15 minute cartoons where the animators used every bit of talent they had and still weren't very succesful? And now they're turning it into a movie? I hope Warmer Brothers fails horribly. Like, crash and burn, no survivors, no remains, no trace.
wildrews_slave

Hopefully it will be better than all of the crappy animated Tom and Jerry movies.
Butters

I don't understand the problem here. Why don't you just not go to the movie and stay home and watch Tom and Jerry on TV if you love those cartoons so much? Besides, there are going to be plenty of good movies you can go to this year if this isn't your thing. Why in the world would studios not want to make as much money as possible? That is what businesses do, they are created to make money. This is very simple. Anyways the main thing is What do you expect? How is this surprising? Who cares? don't give them your business and go see movies that actually interest you so we don't need to see these retarded bitch fests when the obvious happens.
Movie Fan

@10 Dunno what rock you lived under, but T&J is a very successful franchise and world renowned. I'm sure the studio will ruin this classic though.
Cody

Yeah @10 what the fuck kind of childhood did you have? i mean Seriously "The 15 minute cartoons where the animators used every bit of talent they had and still weren't very succesful?" SERIOUSLY!? Anyway yeah wow companies are desperate this shows it.
Squiggly

The difference between Garfield, The Chipmunks and Tom & Jerry is really simple, tho: FOX assumes everyone is retarded and thus makes nothing but an endless stream of retarded movies. The only GOOD movies FOX releases are movies they had no hand in producing... they just distribute those. Thank you FOX Searchlight... Warner Bros has a far better track record (which isn't saying much when comparing them to FOX), but more importantly, they are a lot more willing to let a director do something interesting. They give a lot of creative freedom to the artists because they know that people will make something good if you let them, and that if the director and all of the people working on it like it, then a lot of other people probably will as well. It's bitten them on the ass a few times (Speed Racer) financially, at least, but just look at the last couple years of Warner movies and the innovation and just huge releases they've been responsible for... It's pretty amazing, really. I'm actually more interested in this sort of flick now that Warner is making one. God knows the previous attempts have been awful, but that was FOX. Actually, it was Tim Hill. Besides, it's a lot more fun to watch two characters repeatedly attempting to kill each other than it is to watch a cat eat crap and fart and a few rodents sing and dance and crap. And for the record, there were later Tom & Jerry cartoons (like late 70's early 80's) that weren't anywhere near as awesome as the original ones. I'm hoping that #10 is referring to those.
http://evilnik.blog.com evilnik

@ 10 So you were the one who had a bausive uncle who locked you up in the celler all your childhood.......... dude ...... if you havent seen tom and jerry and was not amused by it, you were living in a village dungeon in communist korea during the cold war!
http://megamillionslottery.org MegaMillionsLottery

I remember those days
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

OK, WHY couldn't this be hand-drawn animated? WHY?! WHY?! The live-action/CGI hybrid shit.
http://www.becominggenuinedaily.net Austin Bonds

I have always enjoyed the cartoons, but to bring them to the screen is unwise. Leave them as they are (animated) is the best play (in my belief).
Fisherr

WB is supposed to be one of the most leading making movies companies around the globe.Hope they doesn't screw up the amazing picture that everybody have for Tom and Jerry.
Susana

@ #6- no no no, I don't think Bill Watterson would EVER let Calvin and Hobbes end like this!! He is against "cheapening" comics through media in this way, or so I have read!! @ #1- I completely agree. "Are studios really that hard pressed to make money?" It's just like, don't they have any respect for these childhood images? .. or dignity? Where's the pride in being a part of these things? and I don't get why it always HAS to be Live action WITH CGI animation. can't it just be animation? not that a movie with both live action and cgi animation would be bad in general. it just seems that when it comes to these movies, they have to do both.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/01/22/warner-brothers-bringing-tom-and-jerry-back-from-the-dead/ christian searight

Look, these tom and jerry news videos think are in cartoons, but if you look at some photos i saw, it might give you a big shock at what and who they really are.