The Karate Guard (2005)

 

When I started this blog, my goal was to review every one of the theatrically released Tom and Jerry short films. Well, I have finally reached this goal because The Karate Guard marks the final theatrical Tom and Jerry short (it played before the animated feature film, The Ant Bully (2005)). Having reached this goal, this blog is now semi-retired. I may occasionally return to this blog to write about various Tom and Jerry TV cartoons and feature films, but this will not be on a regular basis. For the most part, the attention that has gone to this blog will go to my Three Stooges blog. 

In this final short film, Jerry's spiritual mentor prepares Jerry to fight Tom with karate. After Tom gets the best of Jerry, Jerry's spiritual mentor decides Jerry needs help. The spiritual mentor gives Jerry a gong. When Jerry rings the gong, a Karate Guard named Momo-sumo (Spike the Bulldog) appears and beats up Tom. 

Most of the revivals of Tom and Jerry have been hit or miss. Luckily this short is very much a hit. The slapstick gags are creative and a lot of fun. While some ideas are copied from the older cartoons, this film still manages to fit some new gags in here and have fun twists on the old gags to make them feel fresh. The character animation is often excellent. These characters say a lot with just facial expressions and sometimes these bits of character animation are even funnier than the gags themselves. The timing here is extremely good, even without Willaim Hanna (who had died in 2001). The whole cartoon has a great sense of comedic energy from start to finish and each gag lasts just the right length. The film also has a strong ending. 

I will admit while Tom and Jerry cartoons have always had their violent gags, the ones involving the toy plane can be a bit too unpleasant to look at.   

The credited directors on this film are Joseph Barbera and Spike Brandt. This marks the last directorial credit for Joseph Barbera as he would pass away in 2006. Joe would however provide the story for the direct to video movie, Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007), which was released after his death. Spike Brandt has a long history of reviving classic cartoon characters back, often with his cartoon partner Tony Cervone.  He co-produced and (sometimes) co-directed (with Cervone) the TV series Duck Dodgers, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated and The Looney Tunes Show. Brandt and Cervone also produced and directed many of the Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo direct to video movies. Joseph Barbera also receives a writing credit. Barbera and Iwao Takamoto were the film's storyboard artists. Iwao Takamoto worked as a storyboard artist and production designer on many of the TV shows for the Hanna-Barbera studio. Michael Giacchino is credited as the composer. Michael Giacchino is a well-established film composer who worked on such movies as The Incredibles (2004), Mission Impossible III (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), The Batman (2022) and Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) along with many more. 

The credited animators on this film are Spike Brandt, Darlie Brewster, Tony Cervone, Gary Mouri, Michael Nickelson, Barry O'Donoghue, Wendy Perdue and Jeff Siergey. The credited clean-up artists are Mi-Han Ha, Sun-Hee Hong, Eun Kyung Kim, Mi-Jeong Kim, Min-Jung Kim, On-Kyung Kim, Tae-Yun Kim, Young Joo Kim and Young-Hee Kim. The credited background painters are Mi-Young Choi, Dennis Durrell, Louis Gonzales, Michael Humphries, Mi-kyung Kim, Sun-Hee Kwon, Sun-joo Lee, Eric Semones, Jesse Silver, Dennis Venizelos and Mi-Jin Yoo. Gary Mouri is the credited background layout artist. Doug Ninneman is credited as animation clean-up key. The credited final checkers are Jan Browning, Teri N. McDonald and Denise M. Mitchell.

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3 and Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection. 

The idea of Spike being Jerry's bodyguard is similar to the classic short The Bodyguard (1944). The scene where Tom hires Butch and some other cats to take care of Spike is reminiscent of the cartoon, Jerry's Cousin (1951). The designs for Tom and Jerry used here are the same ones that would be used for the duo's direct to video movies as well as the second season of TV's Tom and Jerry Tales. 

This is a very strong cartoon that often feels like classic Tom and Jerry. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

-Michael J. Ruhland