It was a nice Christmas surprise that Warner's 2007 direct-to-video revisit to the Tom and Jerry franchise made little effort to modernize the material and actually does some honor to the immortal melodies of Tchaikovsky (here rendered by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia) and the fairytale visions, seemingly drawing not only from E.T.A. Hoffman's source material but Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland.
Some parents might want to know the property stays faithful to the infamous Tom and Jerry "cartoon violence" antics of yesteryear (gorily burlesqued on The Simpsons cartoon-within-the-within Itchy & Scratchy); no woke/revisionist making-up-trying-to-be-friends stuff here. A narrated prologue explains that (non-speaking) perennial foes Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse happen to dwell near a ballet theatre, and Jerry adores The Nutcracker.
What follows may or may not be interpreted as an extended dream sequence, as Jerry finds himself in the heroic role of a Nutcracker-type fantasy universe. Tom and his feline street crew, lead by a comic-gangster King of the Cats (whose production-number theme, an in-joke for grownups, riffs on the raunchy "Master of the House" song from the musical Les Miserables), invade the theater, tormenting Jerry's newfound friends amongst a box of misfit toys come to life.
The cats imprison the miniature dancing princess from a music box. Jerry and a few allied playthings escape to a variety of Tchaikowsky-inspired environments, Tom in relentless pursuit - and relentlessly being mutilated and tormented by violent slapstick, very often in sync to the music. That a Mouse King was actually the villain in the original ballet does not seem to enter the picture (alas).
As opposed to a cast of smarty-pants all-star celebrity cameos, specialty-voiceover performers with no marquee value provide the dialogue, which is a pleasant throwback. A Nutcracker Tale provided the final project for legendary animation producer Joseph Barbera (of Hanna-Barbera fame), and the short feature is dedicated to his memory.
The addition of two Tom & Jerry short subjects, the MGM-released theatrical short "The Night Before Christmas" (1941, when the characters were only a year old), and "Santa's Little Helpers" (2014) makes this 50-minute title into a 79-minute omnibus.
Viewers can compare-contrast the painstakingly hand-drawn material of yesteryear with the modern, CGI-assisted animation (which isn't bad at all, actually). A solid addition to J viewing collections. (Aud: P)