Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers (2006)

 

The fourth direct to video Tom and Jerry movie, may not be the cartoon duo's finest hour but it is a fun little adventure. 

This film features our heroes aboard a pirate ship (with Tom as the cabin boy). Tom and Jerry are obviously having a big slapstick battle aboard, when Tom discovers a treasure map. Both Tom and Jerry have dreams about finding this treasure. The duo naturally fights over this treasure map, but they are not the only ones. They must also deal with a trio of pirates and an equally greedy bulldog (their old pal/foe Spike). Things are further complicated by the treasure map possibly being cursed.

This movie really works when it comes to the physical slapstick. While nothing can ever recapture the magic of the classic short films by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, but it is still very well done. This is especially due to some great comedic timing and the wonderful facial expressions on the characters. These elements can make even the most familiar slapstick gags work very well and it does just that here. The facial expressions and animation not only make the gags funnier, but it also makes Tom and Jerry feel real to us the same way they did in the classic shorts. Just like in those shorts there are little character moments that aren't really that funny but go a long way in endearing the duo to us. This film also has a wonderful sense of atmosphere. The last act of the movie has a fun adventurous feel to it that works very well. Yet this adventurous feel is matched by some good old fashioned silly slapstick. The two merge very well and this act is especially fun, partly because of having some of the movie's best gags and having some very atmospheric background art. 

Once again the human characters are the weakest part of this film. This is especially true of the three pirates. The gag of them talking in pirate sounding gibberish while their parrots translate for them gets old very quickly. In fact most the gags revolving around these characters falls flat. Also even at 71 minutes this movie feels like it is a bit stretched out to feature length and it can drag at times, but never too much to truly hurt the film. The use of a narrator also feels unnecessary as the narrator speaks so little that it always feels weird whenever they talk. 

This is the only Tom and Jerry film directed by Scott Jeralds. However Scott Jeralds did direct three of the direct to video Scooby-Doo! movies, Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003), Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003) and Scooby-Doo! and The Loch Ness Monster (2004). On the TV side of things he directed episode of the TV shows, Freakazoid, Histera!, What's New Scooby-Doo! and Krypto the Superdog. He had also previous worked as a character designer at Hanna-Barbera in the 1980's. This is also the only of these direct to video Tom and Jerry movies that writer Christopher Painter worked on. Though he would work as a writer and story editor on the TV series Tom and Jerry Tales. 

All in all despite its flaws this is a really fun movie.