Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring

In introducing Tom and Jerry to a new generation, the best that can be said for this produced-for-video animated feature--besides its scant running time--is that it is markedly better than 1992's Tom and Jerry: The Movie (in which Tom and Jerry actually talked!). But animation's most famous cat and mouse, who first began chasing each other in 1940, are ill served here by pedestrian gags and run-of-the-mill animation. When Tom's owner, a young wizard, leaves him in charge of his magic ring, it ends up getting stuck on Jerry's head, setting in motion a predictable chase as the latter takes off for the city, with the former in hot pursuit. Cameos by lesser-known MGM cartoon stars including Droopy and bulldog Butch will go over the heads of younger viewers and only further depress purists, and the wholesale lifting of a sequence from Tex Avery's masterpiece Bad Luck Blackie borders on the actionable. Not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)