This weekend HBO Max released Tom and Jerry straight to demand, and I decided it would be good to pair this with a rewatch of Soul to contrast the two vastly different animated films. Their messaging and even their animation styles were incredibly different, so they played well off each other, but they both helped harken back to a younger time in my life. Also they both had excellent accompanying music to their stories. One of the movies was much better than the other movie, and it will probably win the Oscar for best animated picture whereas one will be a better watch for kids.
Tom and Jerry was typically the story of a cat and mouse that hate each other very much, but this movie shifted away from that dynamic early on, and it did not have much of a choice. The tv show was typically made up of small segments of Tom and Jerry trying to outsmart the other with Jerry coming out on top, but for a one-hundred-minute movie they needed to expand the story, so it was mainly about Kayla lying her way into a job she was unqualified for and trying to keep it while hosting a wedding for two incredibly rich and important people. Kayla hired Tom to get Jerry out of the hotel because it does not look great for a hotel to have a mouse living there.
Soul was about Joe Gardner, a temporary middle school band teacher that had big dreams of becoming a jazz musician instead of a teacher, and he finally gets his big break and a chance to perform with a big jazz act, but he falls into the sewer and “dies.” When he goes to the afterlife, he escapes the stairway to the great beyond and ends up in a place where he becomes a mentor for 22. As the mentor he needs to find her spark, and this was no easy task, she had been there for thousands of years. Joe and 22 end up back on Earth, but she ends up in his body and Joe ends up in a cat. 22 starts to find the little joys in life, and she realizes that it might be worth coming to earth after all, but Joe still stays a little selfish and worried about his goals, but in the end when they switch places, Joe realized that it is not all about his dreams and accomplishments.
At the beginning of Tom and Jerry, it seemed like it was going to send an extremely negative message to the children, which the fact that this even crossed my mind shows that I am getting old. Tom and Jerry was always very violence based, but it made sense because cats and mice do not like each other, it is nature. Clearly fighting is not the best message we want to send kids, especially if that fighting is all physical with no verbal attempts of reconciliation. Then on top of this violence they added on Kayla who quit her last job and lied her way into her new fancy job. Clearly lying and fighting leading to success are not good messages to send, but the story had a slightly redeeming quality to it. In the end, Kayla ends up telling the truth and gets recognition for being good at the job based off her own merits, and to get the happy ending for the movie, Tom and Jerry must work together to get the bride back for the wedding ceremony that they ruined. So it showed even the worst of natural enemies can work together for the greater good.
One of the biggest hurdles Tom and Jerry had to overcome was that the two titled characters do not speak. It can not be an easy task to make a one-hundred-minute movie when the two main characters do not speak, that puts a ton of pressure on the storytelling to make the movie decent, and this movie did not do the best job of storytelling. The movie ended up feeling like it was more about Kayla than Tom and Jerry because she was the main person that the story affected. It was about her job and her ability to keep it, Tom and Jerry just manipulated some of the circumstances around her and created comedic relief. It also seemed like the acting was almost intentionally bad to put it one more of a kid friendly level, but good stories can be told on a child level without compromising the integrity of the movie, but this movie did not follow that line of thinking.
Watching these animated movies did create a sense of nostalgia for me, I and many others did grow up watching Tom and Jerry and Pixar movies. It seemed like the elements of Tom and Jerry were playing key roles in the movie were fan service based. They played many of the hits. From Tom getting tricked into hitting a massive dog, to the massive bumps that protrude from the animal’s heads when they get clobbered, to Jerry making tiny objects decorate his tiny home, and the big cloud of dust when massive fights were occurring. So many of their interactions seemed like scenes I had seen before in the cartoon growing up, which made me enjoy the film more because it reminded me of a simpler time. Also growing up, some of my favorite movies were Pixar films, and it is interesting to go back and revisit these characters once I am older because the movies were so well done that I can still get the child like enjoyment out of them, but unlike Tom and Jerry, there are more moral and life based lessons embedded in them to learn when viewing once older.
One of the interesting ways to contrast these films was based off their animation styles. Tom and Jerry chose an interesting route of only animating the animals. It initially seemed very odd and like they did not fit in, but as the movie continued it felt more normal. Part of the reason why it may have seemed odd at the start could have been that the quality of animation has advanced so much since the last time that I watched Tom and Jerry that it just seemed odd to see them in the newer way. Then compared to Soul, which had the full talent of Pixar behind it and was fully animated, it was a completely different experience. The whole movie felt so put together and well-orchestrated that even when they had the contrasting 3-D and 2-D characters in the self-seminar, it all just looked so well. There was also the contrasting of the seriousness of the messages between the two films. Soul clearly took the responsibility of conveying a positive message to their audience way more than Tom and Jerry did. It felt like the creators of Soul had a clear goal and intention in their mind for the movie, whereas Tom and Jerry felt more like a joy ride.
There was one area where both movies excelled in incredibly well, and that was with their music selection. From the opening scene of Tom and Jerry the music had me interested. Since all the interactions between the two were nonverbal, the music accompanying their actions was incredibly important. For many of their scenes they had rap behind it with a strong beat. It helped make the movie better. Then when it came to Soul, it was obvious from the start that the music was going to be good, and it had to be because it was such an integral part of the story. Joe was a music teacher and an aspiring jazz musician. So there were plenty of scenes where music was central to the scene, and the blending of the music with the unique animation style was excellent, especially when he got into the zone.
The main idea of Soul was the defining the difference between a person’s purpose and their spark. Joe initially thought that they were the same thing, and in some instances, they did corelate for people, but not everyone is so lucky to have them intertwined. Joe felt like he was not fulfilling his purpose, which he thought was becoming a professional musician, and when he looked back on his life, he felt as if he had completely failed. Then when the film took a closer look into his background, he started to realize that he had not been a failure, there had been numerous moments in his life when he had ended up helping others out. So his purpose might not have been to be a professional musician, but to be the music teacher he was so he could continue to reach out to the youth. It was even evident that he was better at this than he thought when he interacted with 22. This whole idea of purpose verse spark is a complex idea to dive into, and it is hard to make a kid’s movie when delving into such a serious topic. The movie did have it moments of levity and child like humor, but it seemed like the movie would hit home more for adults than for children. It can be hard to come to terms with the reality that what sparks you might not be what you end up doing with your life, they could not intertwine at all, but that makes it even more important to enjoy the moments when you are reveling in the activities that spark your interest, it will help you live a more enjoyable life.
These movies were quite different, and they were worth watching for different reasons. Soul was an incredible movie from start to finish, and it will likely win the Oscar for best animated picture. It had serious themes attached to it, and the jazz soundtrack to go with it was excellently done. It also had a new story that had not been done before, Pixar continues to produce animated pictures at an unparalleled level. I gave it an 88. Tom and Jerry was an enjoyable watch because it reminded me of my childhood, and I am sure it will remind many others of theirs. It also showed how much cartoons have changed since the time when I was watching them. With an upbeat soundtrack behind it, the movie had its comedic moments and a nice tempo, but overall, it was nothing special. I gave it a 71. One of the exciting aspects of this movie to me was that one of the kids I work with was extremely excited to go home and watch it himself, so I am looking forward to having a conversation with him about it. It makes me happy to see younger people still excited about seeing movies even though sadly it will not be in the theaters, hopefully his love for them continues as he grows because there can be a large amount learned from movies and an appreciation of a form of art.
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