The Tom & Jerry Movie You Didn’t Know Was Coming Just Debuted With a Record-Setting Rotten Tomatoes Score No One Wants

Unlike their spiritual descendants Itchy and Scratchy, Tom and Jerry nowadays aren’t guaranteed to just fight, and fight, and fight and fight and fight. Indeed, in their recent direct-to-video movies, they’re as likely to tag along on a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, or meet the Wizard of Oz, as they are to try to kill each other. In fact, in dual 2022 DTV releases, Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! and Tom and Jerry: Snowman’s Land, the duo wind up teaming up by movie’s end, and becoming friends.

Though they did the same in 2021’s live-action/animation hybrid theatrical movie (the one that costarred Colin Jost), by the end Tom and Jerry were at least fighting again. That was only the duo’s second theatrical movie, following 1992’s Tom and Jerry: the Movie. You might not have been aware that a third one just opened, because Warner Bros. evidently did not screen it for reviewers. And it definitely isn’t the Tom and Jerry rom-com we were promised in 2024.

Forbidden Compass Probably Wasn’t Made for You

According to IMDB, the original title for Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass is Mâo Hé Lâoshâ: Xîng Pán Qí Yuán. Directed by previously unknown director Gang Zhang, it’s an adventure that plunges Tom and Jerry into a Chinese adventure of gods and spirits, with the title duo mostly relegated to onlooker status, according to the reviews. It was intended for the Asian market, and released over a year ago in China – where some of the recent shorts have been produced – rather than domestic. Reviewers who have been able to see it ahead of its US debut were all confused, annoyed, and ultimately contributed to this new Tom and Jerry film — the first all-CG one — tying the record for lowest ever Rotten Tomatoes score at 0%.

Granted, the fact that there are just ten reviews might skew the numbers — among, say, 100 critics, maybe one might say it wasn’t terrible. But those reviews we do have are scathing. Variety‘s Caspar Salmon calls it a “casual use of deeply American IP in order to sell what is unmistakably a Chinese property — produced by the state-owned China Film Group in partnership with Warner Bros. and Origin Animation.” Then he adds, “it will only appeal to that rare subset who actively dislike their children.” Ouch.

Substack critic Peter Sobczynski exclaims, “woe unto any parent forced to explain what the hell is going on to their kids.” He notes the irony that Warner Bros. very nearly shelved the superior Coyote vs. ACME for a tax write-off; presumably, WB saw potential for this one in China. That said, it does beg the question: what could WB have possibly see in this movie that they didn’t in Coyote vs. ACME?

Across the board critics seem baffled by the plot. The official trailer, which even features English voice-over narration that ought to explain things, isn’t much help in that regard:

You most likely didn’t know this movie was even coming. Based on these responses, you may still not want to know. Maybe they can fight Wong Fei Hung in the next one.