Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up!

There is something strangely comforting about the fact that, despite the world spinning into a chaotic digital abyss, a cat is still trying to hit a mouse with a heavy object. We’ve seen Tom and Jerry in space, Tom and Jerry meeting Sherlock Holmes, and Tom and Jerry somehow navigating the plot of Willy Wonka. By the time Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up! trotted onto digital platforms in early 2022, the formula was so well-worn it practically had its own set of grooves. Yet, in an era of high-concept multiverses and grim-dark reboots, there’s a rebellious simplicity in a 75-minute Western romp that refuses to be anything other than a Saturday morning cartoon with a slightly better lighting budget.

I watched this while aggressively failing to assemble a flat-pack bookshelf, and I’m convinced that Jerry’s smug grin is much more infuriating when you’re currently being defeated by an Allen wrench and a piece of particle board.

A Fistful of Fur and Slapstick

The setup is as classic as a dusty spur: a greedy land-grabber named August Critchley (Chris Edgerly) is trying to snatch a ranch from a plucky cowgirl named Bentley (Justin Michael) and her brother Duke (Trevor Devall). It’s the kind of plot that was already a cliché when John Wayne was in diapers, but here, it serves as a skeletal frame to hang a series of increasingly frantic sight gags. What’s interesting about this specific entry is the "team-up" dynamic. The era of Tom and Jerry being pure blood-enemies has largely been supplanted in modern direct-to-video features by a sort of "frenemy" truce where they unite against a common, human antagonist.

The comedy remains rooted in the laws of "Cartoon Physics 101." We get the requisite iron-to-the-face squashes and the accordion-style body stretches, but the Western setting allows for some fun variations. Tom’s attempt to "round up" a posse of prairie dogs is easily the highlight. These little guys are essentially the Minions of the Tom and Jerry universe—high-pitched, destructive, and clearly designed to sell plushies that probably don't exist. The timing, handled by director Darrell Van Citters (who has spent years at the helm of the Tom and Jerry Show), is crisp. It doesn't have the orchestral, cinematic weight of the original 1940s shorts, but it understands the rhythm of a punchline.

Streaming Staples and Digital Dust

Released during the tail end of the pandemic-era streaming boom, Cowboy Up! is a prime example of "safe" IP management. It’s a film that exists because the algorithm knows that "Tom and Jerry + Western" will result in a predictable number of clicks from parents needing 75 minutes of silence. However, just because it’s a product of the streaming machine doesn't mean it's soul-less. The background art is surprisingly lovely, evoking a stylized, Technicolor version of the frontier that feels like a nod to the classic backgrounds of the Maurice Noble era at Warner Bros.

Unlike the 2021 live-action/CGI hybrid film that tried to "modernize" the duo with a New York City setting and a soundtrack full of hip-hop, Cowboy Up! feels more honest. It embraces its status as the narrative equivalent of a juice box—sweet, contained, and gone before you can overthink it. It doesn't try to make Tom and Jerry "relevant" to Gen Z; it just puts them on horses and lets the chaos commence. There's a refreshing lack of meta-commentary or self-aware winking at the camera that plagues so many modern animated reboots.

The Posse in the Booth

The voice cast does some heavy lifting here, especially since our titular stars are (mostly) silent. George Ackles brings a fun, gravelly authority to The Marshal, while Georgie Kidder’s Scruffy adds some much-needed chaotic energy to the mix. It’s always a bit jarring to see Jerry’s nephews—Tuffy and his crew—rendered in modern digital 2D, but they serve their purpose as the "precocious" element of the story.

One of the more interesting trivia bits for the animation nerds: Darrell Van Citters is a veteran who actually started at Disney during their transition period in the early 80s before moving to Warner Bros. You can feel that old-school sensibilities are fighting against the constraints of a modern, likely modest, budget. While the animation can occasionally feel a bit "flashy" and puppet-like in its movements, the character expressions are still hand-keyed with enough love to keep the characters from feeling like stiff vectors. It’s a far cry from the lush, hand-painted cels of the Hanna-Barbera years, but in the landscape of 2020s digital TV animation, it’s remarkably solid.

Ultimately, Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up! isn't trying to win an Oscar or redefine the Western genre. It’s a film that knows its place in the world: a colorful, loud, and occasionally clever distraction. It’s the kind of movie that will eventually become a "half-forgotten oddity" for kids growing up today, something they’ll remember vaguely as "that one where Tom was a cowboy." For the rest of us, it’s a harmless reminder that some things—like a cat getting his tail stuck in a swinging saloon door—are truly timeless. It’s a rootin’ tootin’ decent time, provided you don’t expect anything deeper than a prairie dog hole.