Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! (German: Tom und Jerry: Wilder Westen, Polish: Tom i Jerry: Na Dzikim Zachodzie) is a 2022 direct-to-video animated western comedy film produced by Warner Bros. Animation that was released on DVD and Digital by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It was released on January 25, 2022. It aired on Cartoon Network on June 18, 2022 and on HBO Max on June 19, 2022.
Plot[]
The Wild, Wild West just got wilder with Tom and Jerry on the ranch! This time, the rivals team up to help a cowgirl and her brother save their homestead from a greedy land-grabber, and they’re going to need some help! Jerry’s three precocious nephews are all ready for action, and Tom is rounding up a posse of prairie dogs. But can a ragtag band of varmints defeat a deceitful desperado determined to deceive a damsel in distress? No matter what happens with Tom and Jerry in the saddle, it’ll be a rootin’ tootin’ good time!
Synopsis[]
The movie begins with the scene of a typical Old Western town. In the outskirts, an elderly prairie dog is narrating a story. He is disturbed by a slovenly and obese man named Clem, who admits to hate prairie dogs and attempts to harass the spotted one, without success. One of the attempts results in Clem getting kicked by a horse, which causes him to land on a cactus. When Clem gets stuck into a hole, prairie dogs loot him and take his possessions into their town, then they hold a party.
Shortly afterwards, a landscape of a ranch is shown. Longhorn-breed cows are grazing until a red bird damages the corral fence, setting the cattle free. Jerry and his nephews are sleeping inside leather knife scabbards, prepared with wool. Jerry wakes up first and notices a cow's eye peeking through the mousehole. He forcibly shuts the eye, walks outdoors and mounts himself on the cow, which dared to disturb him. Using his mount as a bulldozer, Jerry rounds up the bovine back to their corral. At the same time, Bumpy and a grayish she-cat walk by. When the old man complains about the corral being damaged by the cattle, Jerry yells in fear and runs away, but the she-cat grabs him. It turns out to be a play, as Jerry and the cat cuddle each other. The old man comes back to the house for breakfast, where the female owner of the ranch is making the meals for Bumpy and the animals. Jerry's nephews are shown to have an exceptional appetite, as they break the wall and take over most of the egg-and-bacon muffins Betty has cooked. Despite very little is left to eat for non-mice, nobody complains. Even Betty isn't upset that Jerry's nephews jump into her coffee mug.
It turns out that Betty, the ranch owner, is awating her brother Bentley to come to the family site. At the same time, August Critchley is planning to take over the ranch as he's expanding his zone of control in the area. So far, only Betty's and Bentley's ranch (The Double B Ranch) are the sole enclave outside his power and Critchley openly desires the land for himself. Clem turns out to be Critchley's henchman, who carries out the plan to undermine the ranch with prairie dogs digging tunnels beneath it. Multiple scarecrows planted around the prairie dog tunnels are to scare the animals off and move them towards the Double B ranch, so it could be bought for lowered price.
Later on, Bentley arrives on a horse cart with his cat Tom, who seems bored by the trip. While Bumpy is admiring Bentley's smart-looking outfit, Tom wakes up and spots the ranch she-cat. He immiediately falls in love with her, despite the female ignores Tom. While his owner shares the experiences involving big city life as railroad clerk, Tom attempts to impress the she-cat by a lasso trick, lashing the rope to make "Howdy" sign. The trick eventually fails, as Tom entangles himself. The second attempt goes even worse, when Tom's lasso catches the windmill and takes him away. The she-cat gives him a bored gaze and returns to licking herself. During the family reunion, Bentley is boasting about his work at the railroad, then he explains he returned to have break from the work at his family site.
Cast[]
- George Ackles as The Marshal
- Sean Burgos as Bumpy
- Trevor Devall as Duke
- Chris Edgerly as August Critchley
- Georgie Kidder as Scruffy
- Justin Michael as Bentley
- Kaitlyn Robrock as Betty
- Isaac Robinson Smith as Zeb
- Kath Soucie as Tuffy
- Stephen Stanton as Virgil
- Fred Tatasciore as Clem
- Kari Wahlgren as Duffy and Jane
- Kami Desilets as Tuffy's siblings
- William Hanna and Rich Danhakl as the vocal effects of Tom and Jerry (uncredited)
Butch, Lightning, Topsy, Hen and Meathead also make silent appearances.
The She-Cat has no voice provided.
Uncle Pecos also makes a brief cameo on a stamp in Jerry's mouse-hole.
Songs[]
Notes[]
- This is the second direct-to-video movie to have the same animation style used in The Tom and Jerry Show (2014), the first was Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers. It is the first such movie to use the animation style of the second season-onwards of The Tom and Jerry Show, unlike Santa's Little Helpers, which used that of the first season.
- This is the first Tom and Jerry movie for several things:
- The first Tom and Jerry movie to be directly released on DVD and digital since Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 2017, five years before this movie.
- The first movie in which Spike Bulldog does not appear since Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers, and the first feature-length Tom and Jerry film since Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon where Spike is absent.
- The first movie in which Butch, Meathead, Lightning, and Topsy appear in the new animation style introduced in the season season of The Tom and Jerry Show.
- The first direct-to-video movie to be directed by Darrell Van Citters since Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers.
- The first movie to not include the classic cartoon intro and outro sequence, as well as the first not to include the Tom and Jerry theme, since Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry.
- The first Tom and Jerry movie since Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers where archive recordings of William Hanna's vocal effects from the original Hanna-Barbera era Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1940s and 1950s are used to voice the cat-and-mouse duo, albeit uncredited as usual.
- This movie takes place during the American Frontier (also known as the Wild West), a couple of years after the Civil War.
- It may also take place in Texas a couple of years after the Reconstruction Era.
- The DVD box art of the film, as seen in the film's trailer below, is loosely inspired by the rare 1943-1946 Tom and Jerry opening title card as seen from "Baby Puss" (1943) up until "Trap Happy" (1946), which is said to be lost over time from theatrical re-releases as well as the loss of their original negatives from the 1965 MGM vault fire.
- Butch, Meathead, Lightning, and Topsy also appear in this movie, but have no speaking lines. Topsy is also referred to by the name of Shorty.
- Uncle Pecos makes a brief cameo in a stamp seen on the wall in the mouse-hole where Jerry and his nephews live.
- This is the second direct-to-video movie to have a soundtrack released (on December 2nd, 2022). Tom and Jerry: Snowman's Land first got a soundtrack released (November 15th, 2022).
Bonus Feature Gallery on Movies Anywhere
- The DVD has no special features, while the digital release has a bonus feature available on Movies Anywhere: a gallery of 35 images taken from the movie.
- There are no Tom and Jerry classic cartoons included as the film's DVD bonus features, although some wanted western-themed Tom and Jerry classic cartoons like Texas Tom, Tall in the Trap or Posse Cat to be included.
- Bumpy and August Critchley are the only new characters in this movie who do not have Southern or American accents. In this case, Bumpy speaks with a Mexican accent while Critchley speaks with a British accent.[citation needed]
- Clem's voice sounds very similar to Looney Tunes character Yosemite Sam, given his deep voice and Southern accent. Coincidentally, both characters are voiced by Fred Tatasciore (Tatasciore has been voicing Yosemite Sam since Season 2 of New Looney Tunes).
- Duke, the name of one of the characters in this film, is likely a reference to the nickname of John Wayne, who has starred in many classic Western films, such as West of the Divide, The Desert Trail, The Dawn Rider, Paradise Canyon, and The Searchers.
- Coincidentally, Wayne was mentioned in the song "Cowboy Up," along with the late Gary Cooper, who has also starred in classic Westerns, such as The Last Outlaw, The Virginian, and The Westerner.
- An excerpt of the cowboy song "Home on the Range" is heard during "You're Movin' in with Us."
Videos[]
Reviews[]
- The movie got a 5/10 review on screen connections. The following says
- 1st article: ‘Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up’ takes our favorite cat and mouse rivals into the wild west to help the kind-hearted folks running a family ranch whose home and way of life is threatened by a greedy criminal intent on taking it for his own. While this new animated Tom and Jerry’ feature certainly has its charms and offers up a consistently entertaining, humorous and family friendly new adventure for the two to tackle, it also strays a bit too far from the core of the animated rivals which is sure to irk some dedicated fans of the legendary cartoon stars. One of the most crucial elements of Tom and Jerry has always been the never-ending war between this cat and mouse and all of the hilarious events that occur along the way, yet that’s something this new film almost completely ignores after a brief confrontation or two early on. Instead it decides to unite them against a greater evil which is understandable to a degree and works to progress the film’s story while still providing them some other foes to take on in order to keep the humor and fun flowing; yet allowing them no real clashes or confrontation aside from a moment or two prior to reaching that point almost feels like abandoning what’s quite likely the most important ingredient in the Tom and Jerry formula. Fortunately, ‘Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up!’ still manages to serve up enough consistent humor and delightfully goofy moments to keep things from every becoming dull or uninteresting and it’s at least worth a watch for fans.
- 2nd article: Overall, ‘Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up!’ offers a fun and quite funny new adventure for our beloved cat and mouse duo that brings them all the way to the wild west this time around; although it does make some questionable decisions such as largely abandoning key elements in what makes the animated rivals misadventures so notable to begin, with resulting in a somewhat mixed bag as a whole. I would recommend giving ‘Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up!’ a whirl if you’re a fan of the animated duo or if you have little ones at home that enjoy their antics. I would suggest attempting to find a rental option if possible just to be safe before dropping the money on a blind purchase though as it’s not one of the strongest Tom and Jerry features over the years. Nonetheless it still makes for a fun, funny and thoroughly entertaining adventure for the whole family that certainly has its share of charm and is worth checking out.
- 3rd article: VIDEO: The DVD release of ‘Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up!’ is presented in a 16×9 friendly Widescreen presentation with the film’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite nice as a whole and delivers a clean, smooth and brightly colored presentation from start to finish with no unexpected problems showing up along the way. It holds up without issue even during the various fast moving and heavily populated moments and never allows anything occurring onscreen to become problematic or negatively affected throughout. Overall, this is a solid standard definition video presentation that looks quite great for the DVD format and should more than satisfy anyone that’s content with the format in general.
- 4th article: The DVD release features a 384 kbps 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack does its job quite capably and offers a crisp, clean and well balanced audio presentation throughout. While not overly aggressive in the surround department by any means, it does utilize all five available channels on many occasions in order to send music and small effects seeping throughout the various speakers, while always still making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a fairly nice 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.
- In another review, the film gets 3/10 and states that it is the 2nd worst film ever after Willy Wonka, according to them.
Goofs/Errors[]
- In the scene where Tom chases the mice mischief to the right, in 2 frames, his head is outside the watermelon, the carrot disappears and he looks nervous.