It happened. In 2017, Warner Bros. decided that the world didn't just need another remake of Roald Dahl’s classic; it needed a cat and a mouse shoved into the middle of the chocolate river. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Tom and Jerry is a movie that shouldn't exist, yet it sits there in the digital catalogs, staring back at us with a mix of nostalgia and pure, unadulterated chaos. Honestly, when you first hear the premise, it sounds like a fever dream or a YouTube parody from 2008.
You've got the 1971 musical—the one with Gene Wilder’s iconic purple suit and those slightly terrifying tunnel scenes—and then you’ve got a cartoon cat and mouse running through the background. It’s a shot-for-shot remake in many places. But with slapstick. If that sounds weird, that’s because it is.
The Weird History of This Mashup
Animation fans know that Warner Bros. has been doing this for a while. They did it with The Wizard of Oz. They did it with Sherlock Holmes. It’s a specific strategy: take a legendary IP that people already love and inject Tom and Jerry into the narrative like they were always there, hiding behind the curtains.
The film was directed by Spike Brandt, a veteran in the animation world who worked on Space Jam and various Looney Tunes projects. He’s a guy who knows timing. But trying to time a mouse-trap gag with the "Pure Imagination" song is a tall order. It’s not just a retelling; it’s a parasitic narrative. Tom and Jerry aren't just cameos. They are integral to the plot of getting Charlie Bucket that Golden Ticket.
How the Plot Actually Works (Sorta)
We all know the story of Charlie Bucket. He's poor, he finds a coin in the gutter, he buys a Wonka Bar, and he wins a trip to the most secretive factory on Earth. In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Tom and Jerry, the stakes are weirdly higher.
Charlie is still the heart of the story. However, Tom and Jerry are his pets—or at least, they live with him. They want to help him get that ticket because they see how much he's struggling. It adds this layer of "animal companions" that wasn't in the Dahl book or the Wilder film.
There’s also a subplot with Spike the dog and Tuffy. They’re trying to stop Slugworth. In this version, Slugworth isn't just a corporate spy; he’s a full-on villain with a more active role in trying to steal the Everlasting Gobstopper. Tom and Jerry basically act as Charlie's secret security detail. While Charlie is marveling at the chocolate room, Tom is getting his head flattened by a mallet or stuck in a pipe. It’s a lot to process.
The Animation Style
The creators chose to mimic the 1971 aesthetic. It’s a very specific look. The colors are muted compared to modern CGI, leaning into that 70s technicolor palette.
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They even kept the songs. "The Candy Man," "I've Got a Golden Ticket," and "Pure Imagination" are all there. It’s surreal to hear the original arrangements while a cartoon cat is being chased by a meat cleaver in the background. It feels like a "Director’s Cut" gone horribly wrong—or right, depending on how much you like chaotic crossovers.
Why Do People Still Talk About It?
It’s the "Cringe-Watch" factor. People love things that feel out of place. This movie is the definition of "who is this for?"
- Kids: They might enjoy the slapstick, but they might be confused by the 1971 references.
- Adults: They watch it for the sheer audacity of the concept.
- Animation Nerds: They study it as a case study in "IP recycling."
Critically, the film didn't set the world on fire. It has a 5.2/10 on IMDb. That’s not great, but it’s not a zero. There’s a strange competence to the animation that keeps it from being unwatchable. You can tell the animators actually cared about the source material. They didn't just slap the characters on top; they tried to integrate the physical comedy into the existing beats of the movie.
The Gene Wilder Factor
The biggest hurdle for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Tom and Jerry was always going to be Gene Wilder. His performance is untouchable. He brought a sense of danger and mystery to Wonka.
In the animated version, Wonka is voiced by JP Karliak. He does a decent job mimicking Wilder’s cadence, but you can’t replicate that "spark" of madness in a voice booth. The movie highlights just how much the 1971 film relied on human nuance. When you turn Wonka into a cartoon, he loses that edge of "is this guy going to kill these kids or give them a factory?"
The Oompa Loompas are also there, of course. Their designs are lifted directly from the 1971 film—orange skin, green hair. Seeing them interact with Tom and Jerry is probably the peak of the movie's absurdity.
Comparing the Three Versions
If we look at the 1971 film, the 2005 Tim Burton version, the 2023 Wonka prequel, and this animated mashup, the Tom and Jerry version is easily the outlier.
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The 1971 film is about wonder and morality.
The 2005 film is about daddy issues and weird teeth.
The 2023 film is a whimsical musical about origins.
The Tom and Jerry version? It’s about survival. It’s about a cat trying not to get drowned in a chocolate river while a mouse mocks him.
The Legal and Business Side of Things
Why did Warner Bros. do this? It’s simple: licensing.
They own the rights to the 1971 movie (through Turner Entertainment) and they own Tom and Jerry. Putting them together is basically free money. You don't have to build a new world. You don't have to write a new script. You just storyboard some chases over an existing screenplay.
It’s a business model that works for the direct-to-video market. Even if it only sells a few thousand copies or gets a few million streams, the overhead is so low that it’s profitable. It’s the "Sharknado" of the animation world—designed to be searched for, stumbled upon, and watched out of curiosity.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of people think this was a theatrical release. It wasn't. It was a direct-to-DVD and digital release. It was never meant to compete with Pixar.
Another misconception is that it’s a sequel. It’s not. It’s a "parallel" movie. It takes place at the exact same time as the 1971 film. Think of it like The Lion King 1 ½, where Timon and Pumbaa are behind the scenes of the first movie. Tom and Jerry are basically the "hidden" helpers of the Wonka factory.
Actionable Steps for the Curious Viewer
If you’re actually going to sit down and watch this, here is how to handle it so you don't lose your mind:
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1. Watch the 1971 Original First
You need the context. Without the 1971 film fresh in your mind, the animation beats won't make sense. You won't realize that they are literally tracing the movements of the original actors in some scenes.
2. Look for the "Slugworth" Changes
Pay attention to the Slugworth scenes. Since Tom and Jerry need a physical antagonist, Slugworth gets much more screen time here than he does in any other version of the story. It’s the only part of the movie that feels "new."
3. Check Out the Wizard of Oz Version Too
If you find that you actually enjoy the "Tom and Jerry in a classic movie" vibe, they did it with The Wizard of Oz first. It’s arguably a better-integrated movie because the fantasy elements of Oz lend themselves better to cartoon physics than a chocolate factory does.
4. Track the Music
Listen to the vocal performances. It’s fascinating to hear modern voice actors try to hit the notes of songs that were written for a very different era of cinema.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Tom and Jerry is a strange artifact of 21st-century media. It’s proof that if you own two famous things, someone, somewhere, will eventually try to smash them together like two action figures in a sandbox. It’s not "fine art," but it is a fascinating look at how brands are managed and mashed up in the modern age. It’s weird, it’s loud, and it’s purple.
Basically, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a cat-and-mouse chocolate factory adventure. Just don't go in expecting Roald Dahl's prose or Gene Wilder's soul. Go in expecting a cat getting hit with a frying pan while an Oompa Loompa sings about greed. That's the real value here.