Time was you knew where you were with Tom and Jerry. He chases the mouse; catches the mouse; the mouse gets away; Tom is flattened, gets up dazed but determined; and then it’s back to the chase. The tone changed over time – Tom was originally more scary than he became later – but essentially the fun was in the rivalry that would never cease; the plot’s piquancy was that of David and Goliath, the little mouse always getting the better of the big cat.

I can only hope the Chinese audience buys it because I couldn’t

I can only hope the Chinese audience buys it because I couldn’t

But the old Hanna-Barbera scenario that began in 1940 has evolved and the franchise has passed into new hands. Now a little cartoon that once lasted only a matter of minutes has turned into a 3D, computer-animated, 90-minute blockbuster, Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass. It’s a Chinese-American production, and directed by Zhang Gang, and the premise........

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