- Joined
- Jun 8, 2015
That's kind of a recent thing, though. "Classic" T & J kinda had a... Wile E Coyote/Roadrunner relationship, with Jerry as the prey that doesn't really NEED to be captured (Yeah, he's technically a household pest, but is rarely shown hurting anyone/anything ) , thus, Tom's failure to catch him is more of an obsession that can be played for laughs since he, in theory, could stop at any time. We usually don't feel bad when Tom falls in a bear trap/blows his scalp off with a shotgun because he brought it on himself, he didn't have to catch the mouse. Occasionally, Jerry did play the jerk when Tom was given an ultimatum to catch him or else, but, most of the time, the trigger for their fight is him annoying Tom's sleep, or there being an innocent 3rd party that Tom wants for self-serving means, requiring Jerry to play the role of rescuer.....I dunno. Jerry's kind of a Gary Stu. He's beloved and cute despite being a jerk.
The reason T & J have never successfully been "modernized" is because the original dynamic is one that, well, is ruined if you add any characterization. And anyone given them just can't help but try to "improve" on them. Even Chuck Jones fell in this trap of trying to do more than the characters give you.
Attempts to translate them to the big screen, or direct-to-video movies, or reboot them as hip "modern" characters have failed time and time again for over 40 years now because they keep trying to give them personality that never existed. Going back to the top, It's like trying to do a 2 hour Road Runner movie... the dynamite and ACME gags can't go on for 2 hours straight, so you'd have to "pad" it with characterization that wouldn't fit with either RR or Wile E.... since they don't have any beyond "stubborn predator fails to catch clearly uncatchable prey"
It's the same reason that Saturday Night Live sketches or characters existing as a bit in Stand-up Comedy don't work as stand-alone movies. There isn't enough "meat" there to stretch out for two hours, 5-7 minutes tops is all they're good for. It's why Larry the Cable Guy utterly failed as a movie-caliber star, he can show up as a bit part, but he can't be THE part.
Same with Tom and Jerry, they cannot carry a feature-length film because five minutes of anvils and custard pies and "Ow-a-wow-a-wah-hoo-hoo!" is all they've got. Accept that and work with it, not against it, and you'd be successful. They'd still be viable as a modern theatrical short, but brain-dead Hollywood can't break it's rigid (and of ever decreasing returns) formula of take-hot-property and put it into this 120 minute pop-culture music-video, no matter how much has to be trimmed off or pulled like Silly Putty to make it reach those tent pegs! And those two aren't even "hot" right now! Who was clamoring for them in the first place?
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