Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

I will not say this movie is perfect, for me it is too short and I didn't care for the dialogue that much. That said, it is a very sweet and enjoyable movie for kids. Just for the record, I am 17 and I adore Tom and Jerry. The DTV movies have been mixed, some have been disappointing like Fast and the Furry but others have been surprisingly good especially Tom and Jerry Blast Off To Mars. Tom and Jerry:A Nutcracker Tale is for me one of the better ones, and perhaps the one I enjoyed most. The animation is impressive; it is colourful and fluid, and despite one or two forgivable stiff movements the character movements weren't too bad. The story, very loosely based on the story of the ballet and on the timeless story by ETA Hoffmann, is very sweet and I think original too. There is some great comedy, more to do with what's going on screen, rather than the dialogue. The voice acting wasn't bad either, Tara Strong is a great voice actress and her voicing of Le Petite Ballerina was no exception. Kathaleen Barr is another talented voice actress, and I really liked her as Nellie. And Garry Chalk seems to be having a ball with the King of the Cats. Speaking of the characters, they were still engaging with great personalities, Le Petite Ballerina is beautiful yet feisty and Tom and Jerry while they don't do enough of the hilarious antics that made the original series so enjoyable are still likable. For me though, the best part of the movie was the music. Tchaikovsky's music is always delightful, and it was put to surprisingly clever use here. They had my favourite parts in, though I did wish they had Dance of the Snow Fairies and the Pas De Deux, they could have been so effective. But the climax with the soldiers is inspired. All in all, a very enjoyable DTV offering. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This short had one problem it's only 45 minutes long. However the backgrounds feel like a modern Fantasia and the jokes are hilarious to look at.

This clever rendition of the Nutcracker brought the music alive for my four year old granddaughter. We watched this movie several times over the holidays- at her request. Later when she heard the music she could remember the action of the cartoon- the tie in helped her to enjoy the music throughout the season. The story was sweet and appropriate for young children- the target audience. Characters were plentiful with interesting personalities. There were enough clever jokes and asides to keep adults chuckling. Perhaps the most difficult thing for old viewers to this new version of Tom & Jerry is the talking! Whereas the older cartoons were mostly silent and easy to send around the world, this cartoon has the other characters talking. The Nutcracker music has been performed as ballet all over the world, as a horse-back production in Chicago and now as a Tom & Jerry cartoon for a new generation used to Little Einstein and his musical escapades.

Animation in our age imported the aggressive aspect of fringe Cartoon Network experiments from a decade or so ago. Gone the soft lines, the attention to detail that educates the children's sensibility and sense of beauty. Many cartoons feel like caricatures, and few new ones escape this curse. CGI deformed shapes fit the profile, too. That being said, this TJ movie is dancing on the edge of this issue, but manages to save its looks, and adds a great musical score to climb higher on the hierarchy. There is fine orchestration and perfect story/movements coordonation with the music - children and adults will hum the Nutcracker tunes for days after seeing this. It manages to be a good Christmas animation, with timely characters barely saved from the ugliness of modern animation.

This movie is as stunning as I watched The Cat Concerto many years ago.After Warner took over Tom and Jerry, the music feature of Tom and Jerry is the most retained one.I am really like it.