Tom & Jerry

image for Tom & Jerry

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 8 (violence, themes, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Tom & Jerry
  • a review of Tom & Jerry completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 1 April 2021.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to violence, themes and scary scenes.
Children aged 5–8 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and scary scenes.
Children over the age of 8 Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Tom & Jerry
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: Very mild themes, animated violence and coarse language
Length: 101 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Unable to find a suitable place to live in the bustling city of New York, Jerry runs into his ‘pal’ Tom who dreams of making it big as a piano player. When old rivalries ignite and Jerry accidentally breaks Tom’s piano, a violent chase begins that only ends when Jerry, being small, is able to sneak into the fancy Royal Palace Hotel while Tom is left out on the street. As Jerry makes himself a luxurious little home, Tom lives in a cardboard box in an alleyway and tries to get into the hotel any way he can. Meanwhile, the down-and-out Kayla (Chloe Grace Moretz), who just lost her job due to an unfortunate run in with Tom, deceitfully manoeuvres her way into a new role at the Royal Palace Hotel. When a mouse problem threatens to ruin the extravagant wedding of socialites Preeta (Pallavi Sharda) and Ben (Colin Jost), Kayla promises her mistrusting manager (Michael Pena) that she will handle the situation and hires Tom to help her do so. When chaos naturally ensues, Kayla must convince Tom and Jerry to work together to help save her job, save a wedding and ultimately save each other.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Loneliness; Focussing all your energy on how things appear instead of how they really are; Using violence to solve conflict; Using others to get what you want.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Frequent use of animated violence. Characters repeatedly crash into each other as well as walls and buildings. They are hit, kicked, grabbed, squashed, bitten, punched, slapped, thrown, repeatedly smashed with baseball bats and crushed with a bowling ball.
  • Tom is hit by a truck.
  • Tom is struck by lightning and otherwise electrocuted a couple of times while trying to reach Jerry.
  • Occasionally weapons, such as mallets, chainsaws and axes, are employed.
  • Ben tests a drone he bought for the wedding and terrifies hotel guests.
  • Tom and Jerry destroy a hotel room and later help destroy the hotel lobby, including the iconic glass ceiling.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • One dark and stormy night, Tom attempts to get revenge on Jerry. Tom crafts himself a suit to help him fly and looks very menacing and angry, against the dark sky, with his goggles and getup. Jerry looks really worried for a moment until Tom’s suit falls apart and he lands on the side of the windowsill where Jerry slams his fingers and Tom crashes to the bottom of the alleyway.
  • Tom and Jerry are captured and thrown into a cage at an animal facility. All the imprisoned animals appear evil and feral. One is muzzled to represent Hannibal Lector and others gang up on Tom and Jerry, reaching claws and paws through the bars to try to catch and scratch them. They have sinister voices and evil eyes that glow in the dark. They threaten to kill Jerry and try to force Tom to eat him, saying that if he doesn’t eat Jerry they will. The scene may upset or frighten some young viewers.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Aside from the above-mentioned scenes it is unlikely that children between the ages of 5 to 8 would be frightened by this film.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • A label for Martinelli’s Apple Cider is briefly shown.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Tom falls for the cat of the bride, serenades her and looks at her with love in his eyes.
  • When a bunch of preening peacocks are brought in for the wedding someone says: “They need time to socialize and mate. Put them in the staff room.”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Jerry takes photocopied images of himself including a closeup of his butt cheeks.
  • A couple hug and hold hands and share a kiss on their wedding day.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Various characters drink at parties, celebrations and in the hotel bar.
  • Champagne is served on numerous occasions.
  • Jerry eats olives out of a martini glass.
  • In one scene it looks as though both Tom and Jerry are sipping champagne.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Occasional use of the term, “My God!”
  • Some minor insults such as: “They would never hire you.” and “What a sucker!”

In a nutshell

Based on the iconic cat and mouse duo, Tom & Jerry is a live action movie featuring a variety of animated characters. The film is aimed at younger children who are likely to enjoy the farting humour, along with the crazy and violent relationship exhibited by the two rivals. However, it is important to note that some children may find it disturbing to see such intense animated violence depicted in real life situations. Therefore, this film is not suitable for children under 5 and parental guidance is recommended to 8.

The main messages from this movie are to do whatever you need in order to succeed; and that working together and cooperating can lead to wonderful results.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Taking responsibility for your actions and mistakes.
  • Maintaining a positive attitude.
  • Believing in yourself.
  • The power of teamwork and cooperation.
  • Determination and persistence.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Lying to get what you want.
  • Deceiving others to get personal revenge.
  • The use of violence to solve conflict.
  • Lack of communication and respect between couples or colleagues.