Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse Blu-ray Movie Review

Tom and Jerry team up... again. Am I the only one who sees a problem here?

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 4, 2013

The problem with the recent string of Tom and Jerry original animated movies comes to bear on Shiver Me Whiskers (2006) and Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (2012), despite their productions being separated by six years. The cat and mouse duo simply aren't the stars of the story. Shiver and Hood are better than most, I'll grant you, offering the pair more screentime and a more crucial role to play in each adventure. But like the classic characters' latest outing, Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure, both movies struggle to connect and, ultimately, justify their feature-length existence. (At 58-minutes, Merry Mouse is barely even feature-length.) I'd even go so far as to say each one is little more than an extended episode of a cartoon. In place of "extended," though, put "stretched so thin it tears apart within minutes," and in place of "a cartoon," put "a cartoon loosely based on the Tom and Jerry shorts of old."

Decades of animosity settled with a friendly shake...

He stole from the rich, gave to the poor and desperately needs the help of Tom and Jerry! Now the famous outlaw Robin Hood (Jamie Bamber) has been captured by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Charles Shaughnessy), and Robin Hood's true love, the fair maiden Maid Marian (Grey DeLisle), faces grave danger at the hands of greedy Prince John (John Michael Higgins). Can sworn adversaries Tom and Jerry set aside their differences long enough to save the day? With high-flying action, daredevil stunts and rollicking songs, your favorite Cat-at-Arms Thomas and Merry Mouse Jerry take furry aim at the medieval tale in a new, full-length original movie. It's all for one and fun for all in Sherwood Forest's most madcap swashbuckling adventure yet!

Between Sherwood Forest and the High Seas, the Merry Mouse and Shiver Me Whiskers opportunities seem endless, and that's because they are. Imagine Tom as the vile Sheriff and Jerry as the consummate Prince of Thieves, stealing cheese for the starving mice of his village. The original cartoon would suddenly become the inspiration for a viable and faithful Tom and Jerry movie. And yet, silent and stagnate, Tom and Jerry are shoved into the middle of stories that hinge on human characters. Human adversity. Human comedy. The beloved cat and mouse are dragged along for the ride, betraying their adversarial natures in yet another team-up buddy comedy. (And the singing... oh God, the singing.) It doesn't help that each movie's production team expends enormous energy riffing on familiar tales but rarely riff on the Hanna-Barbera icons or employ either one to clever ends. Kids will certainly have a blast. Of that I have no doubt. Both movies are bright, colorful and full of sword-slinging action, sneering baddies, slapstick laughs and heroic deeds. Sadly, longtime Tom and Jerry fans won't be nearly as ecstatic, wondering why oh why the thrill has gone away.

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse bound onto Blu-ray with a bright, bouncy 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation sure to delight children and leave parents rubbing their eyes. Colors are commanding, primaries pop, and black levels are pleasing. Contrast is a touch overbearing, but only insofar as the moviemakers intended. Detail is quite good as well, with crisp line art and nicely resolved backgrounds. Some aliasing and pixelation creep in -- an issue that isn't nearly as prevalent in the Scooby-Doo! movies thanks to their animators' use of thicker lines -- and banding and macroblocking is apparent throughout, particularly in night skies and darker settings. That said, each distraction is largely a product of the source and, on the whole, relatively minor. As animated releases go, Merry Mouse is nothing special. Warner's encode is pretty reliable, though, eliminating any cause for concern or potential for serious disappointment.

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is certainly merry... it's also flat, front-heavy and about as two-dimensional as they come. There is a good amount of activity in the rear speakers when Hood and his men (or mice) leap into the fray, or when the music swells and songs commence. But most scenes involve dialogue in the center channel, effects to either side, and a hollow soundfield in between. Even so, it's unlikely that the movie could fare any better, given its pedestrian cartoon sound design. Voices are clean and clear, smacks and slaps are sharp, dynamics are decent, pans are slick and LFE output packs some punch (even if it's a bit one-note). All in all, Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse earns a pardon and a pass, but little more.

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse offers three appropriately themed bonus cartoons: "Medieval Menace," "The Two Mouseketeers" and "Robin Hoodwinked."

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse isn't much of a Tom and Jerry adventure. It's fun, even a little funny, but once again, Tom and Jerry are side acts. Hood, Marian, the Sheriff and Prince John are the main attractions, which is fine since Tom and Jerry merely team up to fight evil rather than face each other in a chase to the... next chase, a la the original animated shorts and cartoon series. Warner's Blu-ray release is decent too, with solid video and audio, although each one could use some more care at the production level. Kids will get a kick out of the whole thing, though, making this an easy one to recommend, even if it isn't all that great.