Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring is a 2001 animated fantasy comedy film starring the seven-time Academy Award-winning cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation (making it the first Tom and Jerry production to be made by that company) and Turner Entertainment Co., it was the first made-for-video attempt to recapture the style of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's original film shorts from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as the final animated collaboration of both Hanna and Barbera, as Hanna died on March 22, 2001.
Plot[]
Tom has to guard a magical ring handed over to him by his wizard master. Tom is taken aback when Jerry, out of the blue, gets the ring stuck over his head, leading to an exciting chase all over town.
Why It's Great[]
- It's a MASSIVE improvement over Tom and Jerry: The Movie.
- Excellently done animation, with nice facial expressions.
- Good voice-acting.
- The return of characters such as Droopy and Butch the Irish Bulldog in this film, marks the first time the characters appeared on-screen in years.
- The focus is back on the slapstick, which is also funny again.
- Nice soundtrack, ranging from mystical to fast-paced.
- Refreshing new plot that also adds the most focus on the titular protagonists out of any Tom and Jerry movie so far, while staying true to the general source material.
Bad Qualities[]
- Because the ring is magic, it basically means it can do anything the plot demands without any setup.
- It's never explained how Spike and Tyke escaped the pet shelter.
- The ending can be considered a little mean-spirited towards Tom, who gets framed by his owner of stealing his powerful magic ring despite that he helped Jerry throughout to remove it while doing his job as usual to guard whatever it can be from harm, somehow leading him being unfairly antagonized by everyone else in the process.
Reception[]
Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring received mixed reviews, receiving a 43% audience rating.