Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my second analysis on an installment of Tom and Jerry, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale".

Here's the summary of this tale:

During the Christmas season, Jerry and his cousin Tuffy find themselves in the midst of a magical development at a theatre. There, an enchanted kingdom forms, and an assortment of toys come alive, among them being a beautiful ballerina, an ornament elf named Paulie, and a toy horse named Nelly. Along with that, Jerry discovers a newfound talent for dancing.

However, when a group of cats barges into the theatre, they takeover the kingdom. With Nelly, Paulie, and Tuffy accompanying him, Jerry follows the brightest star in the sky on a journey to find a man called the Toymaker in order to defeat the cats and take back the kingdom.

Will Jerry and his friends find the Toymaker and beat the cats? Or will it all be for naught?

I'm not gonna lie, when my family and I used to have Cartoon Network, this very special would come on every Christmas season. I remember enjoying it so much as a child because of how much of a fanatic I was for Tom and Jerry, which I still am, so I had quite a nostalgia rush running through me that made analyzing it all-the-more tantalizing.

After finally seeing this short by renting it on iTunes recently, I'm pleased to announce that "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale" was as enjoyable as I remembered it being.

For instance, the direction by Tony Cervone and Spike Brandt, the screenplay by Brandt, and the story by Joseph Barbera, were nicely worked.

I will admit that the comedy may not have had the kind of bite that other Tom and Jerry installments had, but the gags were still wonderfully executed, fun, and very true to the original shorts. Along with that, the episode had a surprisingly vast amount of heart, emotion, and moral.

The animation was amazing, if I may add. It didn't have the same sort of visual beauty that "Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring" had, but it was still appealing in its own way. The greatest thing about the animation was that Cervone, Brandt, and their army of animators, were still able to capture the overall visualization of the originals with an entirely different style.

The music by Dirk Brosse was magnificent as well. He did a brilliant job mimicking the melodies by Pyotr Ilyich, and each melody and tune beautifully matched every scene. Even the comedic moments. I can definitely see why Barbera wanted to make a Tom and Jerry episode based on the Nutcracker, because the melodies of the Nutcracker and Tom and Jerry mixed together perfectly.

Finally, the voice acting, characters, and character development were lovely. Every vocal performance carried a strong sense of heart, personality, and emotion, because the performers played their parts like they were born for them. They sounded like they were very passionate for their material too. Plus, the genuine character growth throughout the special caught me by surprise.

In the end, "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale" is a remnant of my childhood that I'm proud to have come back to and do an analysis for. It may not be the feistiest Tom and Jerry installment, but it's pretty genuine and fun. As the final installment to have the involvement of Joseph Barbera before his death, I found this to be a fitting goodbye for and from him.

So, I rate "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale" five out of five stars.