Long time frenemies Tom and Jerry are heading back to the big – and small – screen in Tom & Jerry: The Movie! Not only will the movie be released in theaters on February 26, 2021, but subscribers of HBO Max will also be able to watch it at home. My son and I recently had the opportunity to interview Tim Story, the director of Tom & Jerry. Want to know more about the film like whether it stays true to the original cartoons? If so, keep reading for 7 fun facts about Tom and Jerry: The Movie!
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
7 Fun Facts About Tom & Jerry The Movie 2021
My son loves watching Tom and Jerry reruns on TV so I was excited when we received an invitation to participate in a virtual interview with the director of the new Tom & Jerry movie, Tim Story. In the movie, Tom (a cat) and Jerry (a mouse) take their rivalry to a whole new level when Jerry takes up residence at an upscale hotel in New York City. Stay tuned for my movie review but in the meantime, here are several Tom and Jerry movie facts!
- While the movie takes place in New York City, it was primarily filmed in London. Most of the scenes were filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, Battersea Park (in London), and Fulmer Wood in Slough.
- The movie stays true to the original cartoons. For example, Tom and Jerry do not speak in the movie, although Tom does sing in one of the scenes. Tim Story said this was consistent with the ’40s and ’50s cartoons. Tom never spoke in the original cartoons 95% of the time. Also, there are other animals in the movie. like Spike and Toots, and they are all animated thanks to CGI. Tim Story said that they chose CGI instead of using live animals because Tom and Jerry were always animated in the cartoon and they wanted to do the same with the other animals to be consistent.
- Speaking of the animated animals in the movie, my son asked Tim Story more about the process in filming a live-action animated film. Tim said some of the scenes were filmed with puppets and if those scenes were used for the movie, the digital creators would remove the puppets and replace them with the animated animals. Click the video below to find out more about the puppets 🙂
- In the upscale hotel, Jerry creates his own little home. Tim Story pointed Jerry’s homes are very human-like, only mouse-sized. Tim also said that Jerry’s homes in the movie were all digitally created.
- Tim Story was asked if there were any scenes in the movie that didn’t make a final cut. It turned out there was at least one scene that didn’t make it into the movie, and that’s a scene where Jerry gets revenge on a seagull.
- Even though Tim Story is the director of the movie, he gets to make an appearance in the film, too. Or at least his voice makes an appearance 🙂 That’s because he’s the voice for one of the pigeons in the film! You’ll recognize his name from the end credits.
- Is there going to be a sequel? My family and I sure hope so! During the interview, Tim Story was asked that question and he said that a sequel will depend on the viewers/audience-goers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this one, because my family and I loved the movie.