Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993                   TAG: 9307310143
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Mike Mayo Correspondent
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

'MOVIE' DOESN'T MEASURE UP TO CARTOON

Why then, is there a "Tom and Jerry: The Movie"? There's no good reason, but if mediocrity were forbidden, we wouldn't have many movies. Actually, for younger kids, this one's not bad, but it's certainly not very good, either. The film is nothing more than a long-form Saturday morning cartoon without the commercials. The animation is bright and simple. The story's easy to follow, and there's nothing offensive in the violence department.

For this feature-length outing, the battling cat and mouse have been given voices (Richard Kind for Tom; Dana Hill for Jerry) and they've been taken out of the traditional environment. In the opening scene, their "owners" move away from their house, and Tom and Jerry have to shift for themselves on the street.

That development leads them to the other characters and to several pleasant but forgettable songs by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse. The plot concerns T&J's efforts to help a little girl named Robyn Starling escape from her wicked guardian, Aunt Figg, and to find her adventurer daddy who's lost in the Himalayas.

Producer-director Phil Roman, veteran of several Peanuts cartoons, gives Tom and Jerry the same bland treatment. Judging by the reaction of the younger set at a Friday afternoon screening, the kids were neither thrilled nor bored by the film. They watched; they squirmed; as soon as the lights came up, they were heading for the door.

\ `Tom and Jerry: The Movie': * A Miramax release playing at the The Grandin Theatre. 80 min. Rated G.