Tom and Jerry Have The Weirdest Crossovers

When you think of Tom and Jerry, you probably think of the titular cat and mouse duo causing all kinds of chaos as they chase each other… and Tom subsequently suffering grievous bodily harm. You also probably consider them to be icons in the same way that Scooby-Doo and the Looney Tunes are, given that the duo has been entertaining audiences for over 80 years. What you probably don’t think of when you think of Tom and Jerry is about Kamen Rider…but that’s about to change.

A new collaboration between Kamen Rider MY-TH and Tom and Jerry was recently announced, centered on specialized X-Eggs – the devices that new Kamen Riders MY-TH and Rid – utilize to transform into their armored forms. Promo art also features Tom as MY-TH, Jerry as Rid, and baby mouse Tuffy in his own mini MY-TH suit, which is admittedly adorable. Some fans of both franchises might be scratching their heads at the collaboration, while others feel vindicated that their comparisons of MY-TH and Rid’s color and dynamic to Tom and Jerry is now officially being recognized.

Believe it or not, Kamen Rider MY-TH is far from the biggest franchise that Tom and Jerry have been involved with. Looking across their history, specifically more modern direct-to-video films, it turns out that the destructive duo have been part of some extremely strange crossovers.

For starters, there’s Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes. As you’d expect, the movie has Tom and Jerry crossing paths with the legendary detective and his archnemesis, Professor Moriarty. What’s weird about it is that they serve as assistants to Holmes, rather than getting into their usual antics. In fact, that’s a trend that seems to continue throughout these crossovers: while most of the fun of watching Tom and Jerry is in seeing how Jerry outsmarts Tom, Jerry is just…here while Tom constantly falls into injury after injury.

The problem is only compounded in Tom and Jerry & the Wizard of Oz and Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. As you might have guessed, both of these movies retell the events of The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, respectively, but with Tom and Jerry tagging along for the ride. It begs the question, “why can’t I just watch the original movies?” Watching Tom and Jerry trapped in the tornado that brings Dorothy to Oz or falling into the same chocolate river as Augustus Gloop adds nothing to the story; neither does making Tuffy one of the Munchkins or an Oompa-Loompa. Their presence should disrupt the story thanks to their slapsticks, which would be genuinely interesting.

In fact, the most interesting crossover that Tom and Jerry has ever done is arguably in the Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest movie, where the duo joins forces with none other than Jonny Quest! Not only does it make sense, given that all of the characters involved are from Hanna-Barbera, but the chaos that comes with Tom and Jerry is intact as Tom’s blunder leads to Jonny’s father, Dr. Quest, being kidnapped…and Tom and Jerry having an actual reason to set aside their rivalry since the world’s at stake. It begs the question of why more of these crossovers haven’t been produced – Tom and Jerry Meet Scooby-Doo is a layup, especially given that Scooby’s a dog and Tom’s a cat.

The Tom and Jerry crossovers won’t stop anytime soon, as the duo are slated to appear in a Fortnite update (proving that the first-person shooter is determined to swallow every intellectual property under the sun.) But in the future, here’s hoping that creators stop and think before throwing Tom and Jerry into random stories.