Official Tom & Jerry in "The Karateguard" Talkback Thread

[Jon Cooke]

This thread is for discussing the new Tom & Jerry short, "The Karateguard". The cartoon is airing Friday, Jan. 27, 2006 at 9:00pm (eastern) and repeats late Friday/early Saturday at 2:30am on Cartoon Network. :tomcat: :jerry:

http://www.goldenagecartoons.com/The-KarateGuard_poster.jpg

Note: The folks in the attached images are (left to right) Sander Schwartz, Spike Brandt, Joseph Barbera, Tony Cervone.

-Jon

[Daff Doc]

I must say Mr. Barberra doesn't look bad to me at all, although I don't know when these pictures were taken but he has to be at least over 90.

[Daff Doc]

Ah ha! And now I see some actual drawings from the cartoon itself. It does look like it's from 1948! Great work guys! It's alot better than the promotional poster art.:tomcat: :jerry:

[Jack G.]

The art looks excellent. I wonder how limited the animation is?

[CueBallCat79]

A snippet of it is turning up on the promos for this coming CN Fridays line-up. So far my opinion isnt very high. It looks about on par with The Magic Ring in terms of the designs and still moves at a rapid fire pace that I think is still TOO fast for T&J. Tom's coloring I really think is too bright. I still stand by my feeling that no matter what anyone ever does with T&J they will never capture the original feel of the old shorts. And the crazy thingis that I don't think it's that hard.

I'm still hoping to be proved wrong. It cant be as bad as "The Fast and the Furry" though.

[Treadwell]

Are these the same people who made that show open for Cartoon Network's "Tom and Jerry Show" (or whatever it was called)? That had excellent models, backgrounds and animation. (Paced too fast, but it is only a 30 sec open).

[Barb Herholzer]

So, is this an update of the basic premise of THE BODYGUARD? Looks like Jerry is carrying a mini gong instead of a bell to signal for help from Butch/Spike. I'd like to see it, but I don't get Cartoon Network anymore. :(

[David Gerstein]

It cant be as bad as "The Fast and the Furry" though.How bad was The Fast and the Furry? Until this moment, I didn't know anyone who'd actually seen it!
I did see Blast Off to Mars, which had its moments but also some very odd decisions (goofy Pinky and the Brain-like human characters with visible faces; Casio keyboard-like music; Tom and Jerry too silent, so we got barely any of their characteristic gulps or screams).

[CueBallCat79]

How bad was The Fast and the Furry? Until this moment, I didn't know anyone who'd actually seen it!
I did see Blast Off to Mars, which had its moments but also some very odd decisions (goofy Pinky and the Brain-like human characters with visible faces; Casio keyboard-like music; Tom and Jerry too silent, so we got barely any of their characteristic gulps or screams).

It was bad. BAD bad. If you didn't like Blast Off to Mars you are going to hate this one. Basic story has T&J's chase taking them to a reality show in which several competitors are racing their vehicles to a specified location in order to win (and bear with me since I've only seen it once). Tom and Jerry end up joining the racers in their own vehicles and the audience turn-out is so great the greedy TV producer in charge of the show keeps extending the location of the finish line in order to drag out the length of the show and the ratings.

First of all, Tom and Jerry should not be participating in this silly "Wacky Races" style scenario. Seeing them behind the wheels of real cars takes them out of the cat and mouse enviorment most of us are used to. On top of that, there are WAY too many human characters in this film, all of them competing for screen time so that we may go a good ten minutes before we even see T&J at certain parts of the movie. There's the nasty producer ( a huge rip on Mr. Plotz from Animaniacs) and his wimpy yes-man assistant. There are the individual racers, among them a mad scientist, some sort of odd warrior/overlord guy and a stereotyped "dontcha know" housewife, who all eat up T&J's screen time for most of the film. The worst of the worst are the two announcers for the show, one of who is voiced by Billy West and who acts and sounds like Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. They take up the most screen time and the film seems to be more about them than it is about Tom and Jerry.

The animation is incredibly bland, there is nothing visually interesting in the entire cartoon. Avoid it like the plague if you can.

[Debbie]

It was bad. BAD bad....Avoid it like the plague if you can.

I'll second that myself, and this is coming from someone who could stomach most of the previous reincarnations of Tom and Jerry. Deitch, Jones, even Hanna-Barbera's TV version, the Filmation series, The Mansion Cat and the three previous movies all had something I liked about them...although I never warmed up to Tom and Jerry Kids. The Fast and The Furry bumps Tom and Jerry Kids off the top spot on my "Worst Version of Tom and Jerry" list.

[Dave Bennett]

Are these the same people who made that show open for Cartoon Network's "Tom and Jerry Show" (or whatever it was called)? That had excellent models, backgrounds and animation. (Paced too fast, but it is only a 30 sec open).
I'm curious as to what opening you're referring, Treadwell.

Does it start off with Tom and Jerry rendered as childlike chalk drawings, and feature Spike getting a frying pan in the face?

That would be the opening for the 13 half hours of the recently-completed "Tom and Jerry Tales", but I wasn't aware it was being aired anywhere yet!

And back on topic, it was my understanding that Joe Barbera wrote and did a number of storyboards for this "KarateGuard" short many years ago, but it languished until Spike and Tony 'unearthed' it and got the go-ahead to produce it, with Mr. Barbera's blessing.

I believe that nearly all of it (90%?) was animated by Spike Brandt . . . and beautifully, based on the pencil tests I saw!

•

[CueBallCat79]

I'm curious as to what opening you're referring, Treadwell.

Does it start off with Tom and Jerry rendered as childlike chalk drawings, and feature Spike getting a frying pan in the face?


No, he's talking about the opening sequence CN used for a few years starting the late 90s. It showed T&J fighting in the kitchen, Tom nearly killing himself on a workout bike, Tom wooing Toots and finally Tom climbing after Jerry on a ladder, and falling through the roof of the house.

[absolutpaul]

Joe Barbera looks pretty good in those photos, but I suspect those were posed stills. I doubt that Joe actually drew the drawing we see him sketching, and in the other picture, it looks like someone is holding him up while he stands.

[Jon Cooke]

[color=navy][font=comic sans MS][size=3]I'm curious as to what opening you're referring, Treadwell.

Does it start off with Tom and Jerry rendered as childlike chalk drawings, and feature Spike getting a frying pan in the face?

That would be the opening for the 13 half hours of the recently-completed "Tom and Jerry Tales", but I wasn't aware it was being aired anywhere yet!

I am interested in hearing more about this "Tom and Jerry Tales" series. This is the first I have ever heard of it. Was it done for Cartoon Network?


-Jon

[Dave Bennett]

13 episodes of 'Tom and Jerry Tales' were produced at Warner Bros. in the first half of last year. Each half hour show consists of three 'shorts' - each with two different, really nice, old-fashioned title cards.

Tom and Jerry never utter a word -- thank goodness -- just lots of shrieks, screams, and "Hanna Yells"!

They were produced with only the 'foreign market' signed up -- 7 different countries, I think, with Germany prominent among them. There was hope that they would air on the Cartoon Network, but no deal had been firmed, the last I heard.

[cbrubaker]

13 episodes of 'Tom and Jerry Tales' were produced at Warner Bros. in the first half of last year. Each half hour show consists of three 'shorts' - each with two different, really nice, old-fashioned title cards.

Tom and Jerry never utter a word -- thank goodness -- just lots of shrieks, screams, and "Hanna Yells"!

They were produced with only the 'foreign market' signed up -- 7 different countries, I think, with Germany prominent among them. There was hope that they would air on the Cartoon Network, but no deal had been firmed, the last I heard.
Interesting.

What was the "middle" short? Spike, or Droopy?

[Dave Bennett]

I don't know that any of them were designated as a "middle" short, but they all starred Tom and Jerry anyway.

Spike and Droopy both show up in a number of the 39 7-minute segments. (Droopy was in only three that I can think of . . . Spike was possibly in almost half of them -- as the 'bad guy')


•

[Dr. Killpatient]

I have a question. During which program will this cartoon be airing on?

[Studio Toledo]

Joe Barbera looks pretty good in those photos, but I suspect those were posed stills. I doubt that Joe actually drew the drawing we see him sketching, and in the other picture, it looks like someone is holding him up while he stands.

When you put it that way, it's rather a different perspective than what I had thought to believe. Hopefully I would still be somewhat active when I"m 94 (by then they'll probably come up with some drug that would put me in good working order).

[Thad]

If you missed it, you didn't miss much. It looked, sounded, moved, and played like anything done with Tom & Jerry in the past six years. So I didn't like it much.

-Thad

[mojokingbee1]

A HELL of a lot better than those last three made-for-video movies. With nice animation to boot. I give it a 4 out of 5. I'm hoping "Tom and Jerry Tales" will be as good as (or better than) this.

[Martin Juneau]

13 episodes of 'Tom and Jerry Tales' were produced at Warner Bros. in the first half of last year. Each half hour show consists of three 'shorts' - each with two different, really nice, old-fashioned title cards.

Tom and Jerry never utter a word -- thank goodness -- just lots of shrieks, screams, and "Hanna Yells"!

They were produced with only the 'foreign market' signed up -- 7 different countries, I think, with Germany prominent among them. There was hope that they would air on the Cartoon Network, but no deal had been firmed, the last I heard.

Gosh! I never heard too about this. I wish only Teletoon Canada has the chance to air this :)

[Jon Cooke]

I had mixed feelings about this one. It was a big improvement over "The Mansion Cat" and it had some very nice animation in spots (Tom and Jerry looked more like themselves in this cartoon than they have in years), but it just wasn't terribly funny. The timing seemed a little off in spots, such as the bit where Tom is crushed inside the garbage truck. It seemed a little more painful than funny.

I also didn't think the music score was very good. Nobody can seem to duplicate (or try to duplicate) Scott Bradley's Tom & Jerry-type music. Most modern Tom & Jerry effort sound like the composer is trying to imitate Carl Stalling.

Also, there must be some sort of legal issue preventing them from using the normal Tom & Jerry opening fanfare music. I noticed this cartoon and "The Magic Ring" both used versions of Tom & Jerry's theme that sounded close but not exactly. Sort of like how Animaniacs or Tiny Toons would sometimes use a tune that sort of sounded like "Powerhouse" instead of actually using "Powerhouse".


-Jon

[CueBallCat79]

First of all, this cartoon moves too fast. Tom and Jerry don't have to be moving around at mach 5 all the time. There's such a thing as having them exhibit quieter moments with more restrained action. And the cartoon injuries in the old cartoons were never THIS cartoony.

And this cartoon was too derivitive for it's own good. Copying "The Bodyguard" isn't a bad thing, since it does have that karate twist to it. But the final minutes of the cartoon feel like a replay of "Jerry's Cousin." In fact, it IS a replay of "Jerry's Cousin."

I appreciate trying to mimic Tom's laughter and yells with this cartoon (never liked Jeff Bennett as Tom) but why not use the real sounds from the older cartoons? I think that's the big thing that's missing with new Tom and Jerry productions: the distinct sound these cartoons had. "The Karateguard" sounds more like a Looney Tunes cartoon.

While the cartoon had a basic concept, it fails to play it out successfully, instead meandering around a half dozen different locations before finally coming to it's conclusion. And Tom trying to one-up Spike by covering his ears with pillows is the plots biggest failing. What SHOULD have happened is that after covering Spike's ears, Jerry should of have several moments of real torture at the hands of Tom, making things seem a little in doubt. This was done very well in "The Bodyguard", "Quiet Please!" and "Fit To Be Tied" with Spike somehow incapacitated allowing Tom to brutalize Jerry, little knowing he was merely postponing the beating he was going to recieve once Spike finally was free to pummel him. Here, Tom doesn't lay a finger on Jerry before Spike simply opens his eyes and attacks him.

Not a TERRIBLE cartoon, but one with a lot of wasted potential. What I really think Tom & Jerry need is one group of people working on the cartoons that are given time to handle the characters through many different shorts until they really have a handle on the duo. I personally think the earliest episodes of Duck Dodgers are incredibly lame. It's the later episodes I find incredibly funny, as if a full season of clunkers was what that crew needed to really get a bead on how to handle the material.

[Jack]

I also didn't think the music score was very good. Nobody can seem to duplicate (or try to duplicate) Scott Bradley's Tom & Jerry-type music. Most modern Tom & Jerry effort sound like the composer is trying to imitate Carl Stalling.
I too find the scoring hurts these new productions a lot. The score didn't have that "presence" that Bradley's scores had and didn't really add much to the cartoon - it sounded weak (as did Tom's yells and laughs).

[Treadwell]

Crud, I missed it. :(

[Barb Herholzer]

So how did it open? With the WB sheild? Obviously, the MGM lion was not an option.

Can anyone post some screenshots? Or better yet, is the cartoon itself available for viewing anywhere online yet?

[Jack]

So how did it open? With the WB sheild? Obviously, the MGM lion was not an option.
Imagine the MGM open (with the blue background) but with the MGM logo replaced by a static WB shield. Kinda Like:

(WB)
CARTOON

This was followed by a newly made version of the red T&J title, followed by the title card for the short, followed by the credits. The director credits appeared on the cartoon's title card, as they did in the original shorts.

The end titles more or less were patterened after the late 40's/early 50's red titles (a "The End" card followed by a "A Tom and Jerry Cartoon made in Hollywood" card).

Basically, imagine a re-creation of the original titles with strange music. They did have a sort of degital feel to them, though.

[Jack G.]

I missed the beginning.

I think the limited animation of the characters snapping from pose to pose is a problem. While the designs on Tom & Jerry are good, everything else, the backgrounds, etc... look kinda generic.

I pretty much agree with what you all have said above: Too fast, not up to par music, timing needs work, plot nicked from The Bodyguard, and it's not really funny.

It could of been much worse though.

[ThePeterNetwork]

Imagine the MGM open (with the blue background) but with the MGM logo replaced by a static WB shield. Kinda Like:

(WB)
CARTOON

This was followed by a newly made version of the red T&J title, followed by the title card for the short, followed by the credits. The director credits appeared on the cartoon's title card, as they did in the original shorts.

The end titles more or less were patterened after the late 40's/early 50's red titles (a "The End" card followed by a "A Tom and Jerry Cartoon made in Hollywood" card).

Basically, imagine a re-creation of the original titles with strange music. They did have a sort of degital feel to them, though.

I missed this cartoon entirely as I was watching Monster's Inc on Disney Channel West. :(

Will this cartoon be featured on a DVD sometime in the near future? I would have liked to see this new opening title card.

[JDWeil]

I missed the beginning.

I think the limited animation of the characters snapping from pose to pose is a problem. While the designs on Tom & Jerry are good, everything else, the backgrounds, etc... look kinda generic.

I pretty much agree with what you all have said above: Too fast, not up to par music, timing needs work, plot nicked from The Bodyguard, and it's not really funny.

It could of been much worse though.

Not just The Bodyguard, but there were also shades of Fit To Be Tied, and Jerry's Cousin as well. It's like deja vu all over again.

[Jack G.]

Not just The Bodyguard, but there were also shades of Fit To Be Tied, and Jerry's Cousin aswell. It's like deja vu all over again.
I've seen those, but not for quite some time. I'm thinking of finally purchasing the recent T&J DVDs despite the fact they are cut and the Mammy dubbing thing.

[Dan Porceddu]

So how did it open? With the WB sheild? Obviously, the MGM lion was not an option.

Can anyone post some screenshots?

http://store.goldenagecartoons.com/danstuff/karate1.pnghttp://store.goldenagecartoons.com/danstuff/karate2.pnghttp://store.goldenagecartoons.com/danstuff/karate3.pnghttp://store.goldenagecartoons.com/danstuff/karate4.png

[Barb Herholzer]

Thanks for the screen caps, Dan (I'll take more, if you got 'em). The titles look very nice, I'm impressed. Too bad they have to have that horrid
"TV Y7" pasted over them...
Geez, don't people know what's in a T&J cartoon by now? Do we really need that rating?

[Sogturtle]

Thanks for the screen caps (I'll take more, if you got 'em). The titles look very nice, I'm impressed. Too bad they have to have that horrid
"TV Y7" pasted over them...
Geez, don't people know what's in a T&J cartoon by now? Do we really need that rating?

Barb~

I'm SURE that there will be any number of people making screen caps of the titles and then running them through a photo program and painting out that blasted "TV Y7" label shortly... And then editing the cleaned up titles back into their recorded copy...:tweety:

[cbrubaker]

Geez, don't people know what's in a T&J cartoon by now? Do we really need that rating?
I think this is required by the orders of the FCC, although I don't think the logo needs to be this big.

If the rating was an option, then we won't see the TV-MA box on "South Park".

[ThePeterNetwork]

It's kinda weird to see the WB shield where the MGM lion should be. Wouldn't it be interesting, now that WB is handling most of Turner's acquired classic animated characters that a LT/T&J crossover would be imminent.

Y'alls are probably thinking "GOD NO!", and personally, it doesn't really matter since studio execs will do whatever they want, and if the public doesn't like it, they'll just stick their fingers in their ears and go, "LA LA LA LA LA I DON'T HEEEEEEEEAR UUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So, did the MGM cartoon fanfare play over the WB Cartoon title logo?

[Dr. Killpatient]

So, did the MGM cartoon fanfare play over the WB Cartoon title logo?A new, alternate version of the MGM fanfare was used. Wouldn't it be odd to hear the LT theme in a Tom & Jerry cartoon?:p

[Debbie]

Honestly, I can't say it impressed me much, other than the design work. This was a nice looking short. If only it would convince more animatin houses to get away from the flat, ugly style many new cartoons use... The plot seemed derivative of a lot of other Tom and Jerry shorts, (the part where they were flying around in airplanes was starting to give me Filmation flashbacks :eek: ), the pacing seemed too fast, and they seemed to have this take place in too many locations. Spike as the "karateguard" really wasn't a very funny character. The formula seems a bit stale here. Maybe I've watched too many Tom and Jerry cartoons to find this funny. From 1940-1968 theatrically, with numerous short-lived revivals from 1975 up to 2006 has been quite an impressive run, but as much as I like them, perhaps it's time to let the cat and mouse retire and live on in repeats of their classic theatrical episodes.

[FleischerFan]

Maybe I'm easy to please, but I enjoyed it.


Sure the plot was basically a remake - but Chuck Jones and Text Avery frequently remade their own plots back in the Golden Age as well.

After years and years of mishandling ("The Magic Ring" "Tom & Jerry Kids," etc.), it was nice to see a cartoon that at least had the characters behaving "in character."

I laughed out loud at a few of the gags (and I was watching by myself). Yes, the music track didn't seem quite right, but I still thought this was step in the right direction.

[J. B. Warner]

A little hectic at times, but very well animated, and it made me laugh. At least they're attempting to stick by the tried-and-true "Tom and Jerry" methods here (the old opening and ending, the classic Tom scream, etc.)...sure wish the same could be said for WB's new "Looney Tunes" projects.

[Matthew Hunter]

I missed it, but I have a couple questions if you'll forgive my ignorance:

1. Why would they change the theme music? If WB doesnt own it, who does?

2. How come they put a WB logo on it? Does WB completely own Tom and Jerry now?

[Duck Dodgers]

2. How come they put a WB logo on it? Does WB completely own Tom and Jerry now?


for what I know the answer is : Yes .

[J Lee]

Sony now owns MGM while Warner Bros. owns the MGM cartoon characters, so the only way you could put the MGM titles on a new T&J cartoon would be through some deal between the two companies. Given how hard it is to get any decent shorts animation done these days, I'd rather see Warners spent money on the artwork than on a licensing deal for Leo.

[Barb Herholzer]

I also wonder why they re-created the "Tom and Jerry" title card instead of using the original?

[Jack]

I also wonder why they re-created the "Tom and Jerry" title card instead of using the original?
It may have been because the original couldn't be cropped for widescreen presentation (in the event that this new T&J short got a theatrical release).

[Leviathan]

1. Why would they change the theme music? If WB doesnt own it, who does?


According to ASCAP's Database, It's apparently owned by EMI ROBBINS CATALOG INC

http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=208005578&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1

From what i've gathered through an ASCAP search for "Scott Bradley" (http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=2377200&search_in=c&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1) (http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=2377200&search_in=c&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1))
Most of his MGM cartoon scores apparnetly have been copyrighted as "cues" for specific cartoons, along with the Tom and Jerry, Droopy Dog, and Barney Bear opening themes (I can't, however, find anything for Tex Avery's 1949- cartoon theme on the search page :( )

[Martin Juneau]

Thanks for the screen caps, Dan (I'll take more, if you got 'em). The titles look very nice, I'm impressed. Too bad they have to have that horrid
"TV Y7" pasted over them...
Geez, don't people know what's in a T&J cartoon by now? Do we really need that rating?

Hey! That's not on Disney! That's Cartoon Network! :p

[JPox]

Unfortunatly, I never had the chance to view the new 'toon here in Canada. I was hoping that maybe our 'toon network, "Teletoon", would pick it up.
Teletoon does however air the new Looney Tunes cartoons once in a while. The network usually uses shorts to fill up air-time if a movie or show ends early. I should keep an eye out for it.
The screen grabs only highten my curiousity.
:tomcat: :jerry:

[Vdubdavid]

I haven't managed to see this yet, but what does the music sound like? I realize it isn't in Scott Bradley's style (could anything match him?), but does it at least sound like they got a real symphony orchestra like the old days, or is it more like Bill Lava's cut-rate scores?

[Barb Herholzer]

Okay, so is THE KARATEGUARD online for viewing anyplace yet? Or does someone have an mpeg of it? Please pm me if you do. (I really want to see this!).

[Mr. Toona]

Sony now owns MGM while Warner Bros. owns the MGM cartoon characters, so the only way you could put the MGM titles on a new T&J cartoon would be through some deal between the two companies. Given how hard it is to get any decent shorts animation done these days, I'd rather see Warners spent money on the artwork than on a licensing deal for Leo.
If WB owns T&J and they made the cartoon, they can't pretend they are another company. Actually, the only thing we can miss of the MGM logo is the roaring lion.

[AardvarkDog]

Well, at first I had my doubts when I read the comments about this short. But after finally seeing it (Thank U, YouTube) I kind of enjoyed it. The animation, agreed, is a LOT better than the Feature Lengths and even more so from The TOM & JERRY TALES Series. But I did agree that the pacing was a little off and fast at times, and some parts that I cringed at (The Awards going to the Garbage Truck Scene and Tom loosing his tale. Boy, those sounds were gross!)

However, all in all, it was a lot better than I hoped for. The animation I loved most of all; it felt very 1940-ish as did the Title Cards. And personally, I didn't mind the reused gags as most cartoon directors did just that anyway. I reckon they done because for two possible reasons:

A) Whilst going through the script, Spike Brandt and Joe Barbera must have decided to reuse a few earlier T&J gags because they were too good to be used for just once seeing as they were proved to be their favorites.

B) Or that they did so to give True T&J Fans a taste of Golden Age nostalgia and to remember the earlier Theatrical Cartoons. (So the next time you say: "Hey! I remember that gag from the cartoon..." it'd be a good time to find that cartoon you haven't seen in years and laugh your socks off!)

[Barb Herholzer]

Well, at first I had my doubts when I read the comments about this short. But after finally seeing it (Thank U, YouTube) I kind of enjoyed it. The animation, agreed, is a LOT better than the Feature Lengths and even more so from The TOM & JERRY TALES Series. But I did agree that the pacing was a little off and fast at times, and some parts that I cringed at (The Awards going to the Garbage Truck Scene and Tom loosing his tale. Boy, those sounds were gross!)

However, all in all, it was a lot better than I hoped for. The animation I loved most of all; it felt very 1940-ish as did the Title Cards. And personally, I didn't mind the reused gags as most cartoon directors did just that anyway. I reckon they done because for two possible reasons:

A) Whilst going through the script, Spike Brandt and Joe Barbera must have decided to reuse a few earlier T&J gags because they were too good to be used for just once seeing as they were proved to be their favorites.

B) Or that they did so to give True T&J Fans a taste of Golden Age nostalgia and to remember the earlier Theatrical Cartoons. (So the next time you say: "Hey! I remember that gag from the cartoon..." it'd be a good time to find that cartoon you haven't seen in years and laugh your socks off!)

I basically agree with everything you said. I enjoyed the short more than I thought I would (thanks, Jon, for the heads-up, and for the link!). I thought the animation was very good, the gags and timing were pretty strong. Michael Giacchino's music worked well, though not on a par with Scott Bradley's scores (but then again how could ANYBODY match Bradley?). I wasn't crazy about the "mystic spirit," if that's what you want to call him, or for Spike's ability to materialize from out of thin air. And they could have given him some dialog! But I'm not griping. I'm glad I finally got a chance to see it.

Now how about LITTLE GO BEEP? :coyote::beepbeep:

[JPox]

Just watched the short, and I thought it was great! True, some of the timing of gags are a little off, but it has been one of the best reincarnations of Tom & Jerry in a long time!
One plothole I noticed though, when Jerry calls for his bodyguard he appears and disappears, but for some reason he's sleeping in one spot while Tom plugs his ears? That would work better if the audience didn't know he was some kind of mystical being ...
The one gag that seemed unnessary was the second time Tom is hit with the plane. The first sight gag does the job.
The music was well orchastrated, very "golden age" feeling!
The animation during the Exterimators scene is very well done! The anticipations and follow throughs of the head nods and walk cycles look like they were done for an unfinished golden age short!
Thumbs up!