Directors: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon (DVD) – Movie Review
In 1940 two men, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, got together to make cartoon history. They created an eternal battle between a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry), a battle which continues even to this day. After this first success, the two of them would create other hits such as The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat, The Smurfs, Huckleberry Hound and The Jetsons. In 2006 Warner Bros. Animation took over the franchise. After two successful series and a couple of movies, they released Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon.
In Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon we find Tom and Jerry in a strange and far away land. The evil witch Drizelda (Vicki Lewis) is planning to destroy the village. Luckily she is halted by Kaldorf, the magician (cartoon voice legend Jim Cummings). Kaldorf banishes Drizelda from the village and takes care of Drizelda’s cousin Athena. Several years pass and Athena has grown up to be a young woman, who takes care of lost and unwanted animals in her small house. Tom and Jerry are two of the animals and are expected to help taking care of the others animals, something Tom tries to avoid as much as possible.
After a dragon egg finds its way to the shelter, Athena decides to raise the little dragon after it hatches. However, the villagers do not agree one bit. Already suspicious of Athena because of her relationship to Drizelda, they do not trust her to raise a dragon. The plot thickens when both Drizelda and the mother dragon start searching for the little baby. Can Tom and Jerry save the baby dragon from the evil Drizelda and will the mother dragon find her baby again? Will Athena finally find acceptance in the village? All this and more will be answered in Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon.
Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon continues the Tom and Jerry fun that we all know: fast-paced animation, tons of little gags and cartoon violence. It also offers a storyline that moves fast enough to keep the interest of the smallest and avoids boring the older kids. The three musicals numbers feel a bit contrived, especially in a Tom and Jerry cartoon (if it was a cartoon starring a certain mouse it would make more sense). Still, the songs are catchy and don’t really overstay their welcome.
Every scene with Jim Cummings is, voice acting wise, pretty stellar. He’s blowing away all his co-actors. Cummings, who you might know from Darkwing Duck, Winnie the Pooh or the Tasmanian Devil, is bring his A-game and it shows. He’s playing a slightly less effective version of Gandalf the Grey and excels in it. Kaldorf being based upon Gandalf isn’t the only wink to the Lord of the Rings series, the gold chamber of the dragon is eerily similar to the chamber were Bilbo Baggins first meets Smaug.
The music in the movie has its ups and downs. The background music is done pretty well, adding the little Tom and Jerry action sounds which everyone knows and loves. The three musical numbers are another story. As always, villains get the better songs, but there’s never the magic of having a really great song. The music isn’t awful or anything, but it doesn’t really add anything to the move either, which is a shame.
Scenes are well laid out and animated, but you can see that the money went to a couple of big scenes. Once the plot takes over and the gags stop, the animation gets less lively. There’s also less time for the funnies and focusses on the several dangers.
There is also an activity booklet that comes along with the DVD. It contains 13 color stickers, a coloring page and a puzzle page. The DVD also contains four bonus episodes of Tom and Jerry, which is a nice extra.
Conclusion
Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon is good fun for the family. A fast paced, action packed, funny cartoon with some good voice acting. The extras, both the bonus episodes and the activity booklet, are a nice touch. The story offers both adventure and silly gags, a winning combination.
Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon (DVD) - Movie Review,
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