Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale is a American animated holiday themed direct-to-video film starring Tom and Jerry produced by Warner Bros. Animation and directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone.

This film would be the last animated production for co-creator, Joseph Barbera, who died on December 18, 2006, and the film was dedicated to his memory.

Plot
The movie begins with Jerry and his little nephew Tuffy watching the Christmas ballet. Later, Jerry goes to the empty stage floor, where magic begins to happen. Toys come alive including Nelly the pony and Paulie the Christmas Ornament. The magic then makes a Music Box Ballerina come to life, and Jerry dances with her.

The stage is transformed into a wintry wonderland, where the toys are enjoying a dinner. Tom, hears this, and, with the other cats, raid the feast, trapping the toys. Jerry, Paulie, and Nelly try to stop this, but are stuffed into a can and shot out of a cannon to a faraway place. Tom as the Captain of the Cat Guards traps the Ballerina in a cage, then brings her to the Cat King, who asks her to dance for him but is shot down. The Cat King tells the Ballerina there is nothing she can do about it. Later on, Tom is called to gather other cats and stop Jerry. Tuffy gives the Ballerina a string attached to a ring of keys. He then goes to warn Jerry and stop the cats. Meanwhile, Jerry, Paulie, and Nelly decide to follow the star to a man called the Toy Maker. They stop in front of a frozen river. All make it safely, except Jerry who falls in, and becomes tangled in a weed. He is freed, and is pulled up by Nelly and Paulie. This makes Paulie unravel. Tuffy gets to Tom, and dresses up as an angel and a devil. He is found out, and ends up sticking a trident in Tom's eye, causing the tower of cats to fall off of a cliff. He continues on to Jerry, warning him of the cats. Tom and his friends, disguised as Christmas trees, surround Jerry, but Tom gets attacked by squirrels, and shredded in a tree shredder. The cats attack, but the heroes escape, inside a tree. The cats beat up Tom by mistake. The heroes then come to a hill, where Paulie's head is sent flying into another hole. They go into the hole, only to find a fiery world with lava pits and dragons (the Arabian Dance plays through this scene). A flame fairy gives Paulie his head back. A dragon wakes up, but is hypnotized by Jerry into lifting them out of the pit. They launch a cannon, which blasts Jerry and his friends into a house with clocks. Tom gives chase, but is pecked on by wooden birds. They are chased by the cats again, and run into a fairground. Tom is virtually destroyed here, being crushed again and again - of course, this being a cartoon, he always revives. They make it to a ridge, and Jerry blows up balloons with which they make it off safely. Tom, though, is blasted by cannons. One cat shoots an arrow, bursting Nelly's balloon. Tuffy grabs on to her, and unravels more of Paulie. Nelly is let down, and chased by the cats. Jerry saves her, but his grip fails him and her string slips out of his hand. The cats pull her string, and she tells them where the others are headed. The remaining three make it to the Toy Maker, who fixes Paulie and gives them a key which allows them to awaken an army of toy soldiers. The three depart with their newly attained army in order to take back their kingdom.

Later, when the cats attempt to escape the army of toy soldiers, the Ballerina appears with the other toys, and she leads them in an army in rebellion against the Cat King. Tom vacuums up many of the soldiers, but the vacuum explodes and they are blown onto the cats. Jerry and Tuffy are eaten by Tom, but Nelly returns, and throws a hammer, smashing Tom's teeth. Jerry then activates a toy train that knocks all the cat on top of it as it crosses the stage and exits through the backstage door (which magically opens and then closes after the train passes through it), hitting the wall of the building next door to the theatre and falling into a Dumpster. The Ballerina hugs Jerry, telling him that she never doubted him. Suddenly the wall next to them begins to crumble and collapses on Nelly as she shoves Jerry and the Ballerina out of the way, killing her. Seeing Nelly dead, Jerry, Tuffy and Paulie are in tears. However, the magic revives her and removes her string, allowing her to talk without a string. Jerry and the Ballerina dance after receiving their crowns back. The Toy Maker and the ballerina from the Christmas play are shown to be watching from the audience; the real ballerina throws Jerry a rose and the curtain is let down, ending the show.

Voice cast

 * Chantal Strand as Tuffy
 * Tara Strong as Le Petite Ballerina
 * Ian James Corlett as Paulie
 * Kathleen Barr as Nelly
 * Garry Chalk as King of the Cats
 * Trevor Devall as Lackey
 * Richard Newman as the Toymaker
 * Mark Oliver as Dr. Malevolent