Tom & Jerry Trivia | 34 facts about the film based on the popular cartoon

Tom & Jerry is a new film based on the popular cartoon that had its premiere simultaneously in cinemas and HBO Max.

Let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film.

1. Tom & Jerry is a 2021 American live-action/computer-animated slapstick comedy film
2. The film is marketed as Tom & Jerry: The Movie
3. The film is based on the cartoon characters and animated theatrical short film series of the same name created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
4. It is the second fully theatrical film adaptation of the characters following 1992’s Tom and Jerry: The Movie
5. It is directed by Tim Story and written by Kevin Costello
6. The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Colin Jost, Rob Delaney, and Ken Jeong in live-action roles
7. Nicky Jam, Bobby Cannavale, and Lil Rel Howery also feature in voice roles
8. While the titular characters are voiced by William Hanna, Mel Blanc, June Foray (via archival recordings) and Frank Welker
9. Originally intended as a live-action/computer-animated film in 2009, the film languished in development hell
10. With plans eventually shifting to producing an entirely animated film, in the same vein as the original theatrical shorts, in 2015
11. The film again became a live-action/animated hybrid in 2018, using the shorts as inspiration
12. With animation produced by the Warner Animation Group
13. While filming begun in 2019
14. Tom & Jerry was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on February 26, 2021
15. Along with a one-month simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max
16. The film has grossed $5 million worldwide against a $50 million production budget
17. It received generally negative reviews from critics
18. They mainly criticized the focus on the human characters
19. Though, the film was praised for the visual effects on the animated characters and faithfulness towards the original shorts
20. Animation services were provided by Framestore
21. They hired 3D animators with a passion for 2D animation for the project
22. The strategy the animators used was to base the animation off a stylized 3D/CGI VFX modeling medium through a vintage 2D finish by creating innovative rigging, animation techniques used to create 2D animation, and custom tools such as lighting and rendering, resulting in the film’s 3D/CGI animation maintaining the look, feel, and spirit of 2D animation
23. This was in the veins of the original classic shorts in the 1940s and 1950s
24. The animators also used early Tom and Jerry shorts as reference and inspiration for the animation sequences
25. Work on the animation was done remotely during the pandemic, with the filmmakers doing creative exploration on certain shots
26. Finalizing material through production groups
27. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film holds a 24%
28. Based on 42 critics
29. With an average rating of 4.50/10
30. The site’s critics consensus reads, “It isn’t the worst of the long-squabbling duo’s feature-length adventures, but Tom & Jerry is disappointingly short on the anarchic spirit of their classic shorts”
31. According to Metacritic, which assigned the film a weighted average score of 32 out of 100
32. Based on 13 critics
33. The film received “generally unfavorable reviews”
34. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale