Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry (2005)

 

A very offbeat but quite enjoyable direct to video Tom and Jerry movie.

This movie is pretty much Tom and Jerry meet Wacky Races. In this film, Tom and Jerry are kicked out of the house, when the wreck it in one of their infamous chases. When they learn that the car racing reality show, The Fabulous Super Race has a fancy new house as its prize both enter in the race. In this race they compete against Gorthan, Destroyer of Light (a demon lord from another world), TV action star Steed Dirkly, a soccer mom and a seemingly sweet old grandma. 

There is a lot to enjoy here. The supporting characters may be pure stereotypes but in this Wacky Races type of framework, this actually works. None of these characters are meant to be taken sympathetically and exist simply for the sake of humor. While not every gag with them works, there are a lot of gags that do. The gags involving the demon lord and the granny definitely made me chuckle as did the quicksand scene with the soccer mom. Their one-dimensional personalities were the joke for the most part this worked. The idea of Tom and Jerry competing in a race is delightful and the characters worked perfectly within this story. The typical Tom and Jerry slapstick is also very good here. Also with how the other characters all underestimate the cat and mouse, it is easy to find them sympathetic compared to the other characters. 

As much as I enjoyed this movie, I did admit it tended to drag a bit in the middle. This is when the supporting characters were given much of the screen time. These characters are funnier as side characters and in their own individual scenes. However when they become the focus, they become less funny. Luckily the beginning and ending sections have Tom and Jerry as the main characters and are simply a lot of fun. I also have to say that the satire of Hollywood was not as sharp or clever as it should have been. 

This film was directed and written by Bill Kopp (who also voiced Tom). Kopp also directed and wrote the previous direct to video Tom and Jerry movie, Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars (2005). He also has worked on such animated TV shows as Taz-Mania, House of Mouse, Danny Phantom, Wabbit and Amphibia. He co-directed and co-wrote the Bugs Bunny cartoon, Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas (2004) and worked as an animator on some of The Simpsons shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show. 

This is far from a perfect movie but it is still a delight for Tom and Jerry fans.