Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie Review

Once thought canceled, this Warner Bros. Animation release is available exclusively at Walmart...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 30, 2010

My son, rapidly approaching his sixth birthday, is developing quite the cinematic palette. Twenty-five minutes into Furry Vengeance, without any prompting from me whatsoever, he whispered, "Dad? Can we watch something else? This movie makes my stomach hurt." Cue a giant grin on dear ol' dad's face, an irrepressible urge to hug the poor kid and, naturally, a surge of sweet relief (it was, after all, an unbearable film worthy of my colleague's drubbing). However, were my son to write a review of Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, it would be significantly different from mine. He laughed, bounced, clapped and cheered, and only took his eyes off the screen to see if I was doing the same. I was, but only because he was enjoying himself so much. Don't get me wrong, Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes is infinitely better than Furry Vengeance. As direct-to-video animated releases go, it's decent family fodder for a midweek movie night. But as an extension of the beloved Hanna-Barbera classic cartoon, it feels a tad forced; as a Holmsian mystery, even one prepackaged for children, it struggles to connect numerous dots; and as an animated adventure, it tends to neglect anyone over eleven and sets its sights squarely on the kiddies.

Holmes ponders his latest case, Jerry tempts fate and Tom is foiled yet again...

When three cat burglars begin pilfering rare jewels from London treasuries and museums, Sherlock Holmes (voiced by Michael York) and his dutiful friend Dr. Watson (John Rhys-Davies) set out to stop the criminal mastermind orchestrating the robberies. But they won't have to solve the case alone. Jerry Mouse, inexplicably cast as Holmes' pint-sized protégé and personal assistant, joins the hunt and starts following his own string of clues; Tom Cat, an impulsive but well-intentioned klutz, tags along and helps as best he can; and Tuffy Mouse (Kath Soucie), a local Irish Catholic priest and feisty fighter, lends his own expertise and know-how. Soon, Holmes, Watson and their anthropomorphic pals find themselves racing to clear a beautiful singer's good name, flush out the feline criminals, recover London's most precious jewels and eventually stop Holmes' sinister nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Malcolm McDowell). Toss in familiar favorites Spike (Phil LaMarr), Tyke, Droopy (Jeff Bergman), Barney Bear and others, and countless nods to classic Tom and Jerry cartoons and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories, and you might get an idea of the strange amalgamation that is Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes.

Unfortunately, it isn't a perfect pairing. Kids probably won't notice -- or for that matter care -- but Tom and Jerry's slapstick antics are often at odds with Holmes and Watson's methodical investigation. One minute, the two are chasing each other, intent on causing as much pain as possible; the next minute, they're working together to solve a case while the famous detective is led on a literal wild goose chase. Why weren't Tom and Jerry simply cast as Holmes and Watson? Wouldn't it be easier to toss out writer Earl Kress' stuffy Holmes and bumbling Watson in favor of the iconic cat and mouse that step into their shoes anyway? Too much time is wasted establishing unnecessary connections, too many subplots are shoehorned into what could have been a brisk, amusing tale, and too many Hanna-Barbera cameos amount to just that: aimless cameos. Sure, my son had a grand time watching it all unfold -- giggling every time Tom landed on a pitchfork, was flattened by a rolling barrel, or fell victim to Jerry's unrelenting abuse -- but when I asked him to explain the film's central mystery and the seemingly endless parade of clues it entailed, he had a hard time remembering specifics or understanding how the pieces of Moriarty's puzzle fit together.

And yet I've already sat through Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes three times. Why? Between the Cartoon Network, four Disney Channels, and at least half a dozen Nickelodeons, all of which deliver a steady stream of children's programming, Tom and Jerry doesn't wield the power it did when we were kids. Despite my best efforts, my son hasn't cared who Hanna, Barbera, Tom, Jerry or Droopy were. At least before this weekend. Now he desperately wants to be introduced to the characters I grew up with. Over the last three days, he's asked me to flip past SpongeBob, Superhero Squad and Phineas and Ferb (a fantastically clever Disney series, perhaps one of the finest of its breed), and introduce him to the animated gems of my childhood. In that regard, Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes is an unexpected success; one that encourages a whole new generation of kids to acquaint themselves with Hanna-Barbera's unforgettable shorts and characters. The film isn't pitch-perfect, it won't appeal to all ages, it doesn't recapture the magic of the original cartoon series... but it does entertain its target audience. And sometimes, just sometimes, that's all that matters.

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes crashes onto Blu-ray with a hit-or-miss 1080p/VC-1 encode; an initially striking presentation that doesn't hold up as well under close scrutiny. From the film's opening moonlit heist to its climactic afternoon carriage chase, colors are bright and cheerful, primaries pack a wallop, and blacks are rich and inky. Contrast remains consistent throughout as well, and the Warner Bros. Animation lineart is razor-sharp, often to a fault. Inherent imperfections in the hand-drawn art are apparent, but they serve as an unlikely testament to the transfer's clarity. No, my dear Watson, my issues lie elsewhere. Distracting aliasing, obvious pixelation and faint artifacting sent my pen scribbling, and severe and persistent banding only added insult to injury. (Viewers with large screens will be particularly disheartened by the frequency of each issue.) Just don't leap to conclusions and demonize the BD-25 disc the film calls home. The 50-minute movie doesn't take up much space -- a mere 8.17GB to be exact -- meaning Warner had more than enough room to create a beefier transfer. Would it have resulted in a cleaner, more proficient presentation? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether the various anomalies trace back to Warner Bros. Animation or overzealous compression. Either way, the Blu-ray release of Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes isn't a complete failure by any stretch of the imagination, and offers enough visual flair to keep kids and their nostalgic parents transfixed.

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tom and Jerry's underwhelming 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is flat, feeble and unreliable, and that's putting it kindly. Even after cranking up my receiver's volume, entire sequences remained thin and thorny, suffering from lackluster normalization and poor prioritization. Dialogue is clean and intelligible, but voices float above the soundscape. Music is unnaturally, at-times bizarrely subdued throughout the film, effects are often either tinny or mushy, and LFE output is weak in the knees. Likewise, while a number of elements seep into the rear speakers, the subsequent soundfield doesn't provide a satisfying 360-degree experience, even for a direct-to-video animated film. Cumbersome pans, superficial directionality, problematic separation and dull dynamics... there isn't anything here for fledgling elementary-school audiophiles to get excited about. It's a serviceable Dolby Digital mix I suppose, but I can't imagine it sounds much better than its standard DVD counterpart.

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray edition of Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes includes just one feature: a "How to Draw Tom and Jerry" tutorial (SD, 7 minutes) with animator Spike Brant.

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner has yet to announce whether the Blu-ray edition of Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes will receive a wide release. For now, it's available exclusively at Walmart, although how long it will be on store shelves isn't entirely clear either. How does it stack up to other animated releases? Despite several shortcomings, the film itself is decent family fare; its video transfer, though plagued by banding and aliasing, deserves more compliments than criticism; its Dolby Digital audio mix, while adequate, is terribly unremarkable; and its anemic supplemental package drums up a lone 7-minute short. Ultimately, kids will shrug off the disc's issues, but parents will be less forgiving. Approach this exclusive accordingly.