Tom and Jerry: Back to the Sea

Tom and Jerry: Back to the Sea (originally titled: Tom and Jerry Meet The Little Mermaid: Return to the Sea) is a upcoming 2021 animated feature film and direct-to-video sequel to Tom and Jerry Meet The Little Mermaid and after the film, Tom and Jerry: The Emperor's New Groove. Directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Turner Entertainment and Tom and Jerry Films the story takes place over a decade after the original film, and focuses on Ariel and Eric's young daughter Melody, a human princess who first befriends Tom and Jerry and also longs to swim in the ocean despite her parents' law that the sea is forbidden to her (which it doesn't make any sense).

The film features the voice talents of Laura Onses as Ariel, Santino Fontana (guest star from Frozen) as Eric and Rachel Blooms brings Melody to life for the very first time in Tom and Jerry animation. The film was slated for release on Digital, DVD and Blu-Ray for the Summertime season of 2021.

Plot (Story)
Set some unspecified time after the events of the original film, the film begins with Tom (William Hanna) and Jerry both riding a log raft and meeting Ariel (voiced by Laura Osnes) and Eric's (voiced by Santino Fontana) 12 yr. old daughter, Princess Melody (voiced by Rachel Bloom/ singing voice by Tajja Isen), who sneaked out into the ocean to swim without her parents realizing. Melody has inherited a lot from her maternal mermaid heritage, including a few mermaid abilities and has developed a deep love of the sea.

However, Melody still remains unaware of her heritage and is banned from ever going into the sea, without an explanation. Due to the ban, she and her mother; Ariel have a rather rocky relationship as she appears to strongly disapprove of anything related to the sea. As she continues to explore the ocean, she soon finds the locket and shows it to Tom, Jerry, Sebastian and Scuttle.

Meanwhile, in the cold oceans of the South Pole, Ursula's sister; Morgana and her hench-tiny shark; Undertow have been in hiding in her icy fortress, ever since Melody was introduced to the undersea world since she is a baby years ago. Over 12 years, Morgana has been trying to turn Undertow back into his original form, but always fails. She again tries to turn him back and is almost successful, but the power of the trident from King Triton is too strong for Morgana to overcome.

When Undertow openly expresses his opinion that Ursula would have been able to break the spell, it is revealed that Morgana has always been jealous of her and is tired of living in her sister's shadow. Undertow and Morgana then start to argue more until Morgana's magical crystal ball reveals that Melody has found her locket with Tom and Jerry, revealing that Morgana has been keeping an eye on Melody ever since her birth celebration. She takes this as the perfect opportunity, as when Melody uncovers the secret of the locket, she will want answers, which will lead Morgana to finally succeed at something her sister never could; Total control over all of the oceans.

Sebastian tries to warn Melody that if Ariel were to ever find out about her sneaking off and swimming in the ocean she would be very angry and disappointed. Melody, however, doesn't understand her mother's "hatred" of the sea and longingly wishes she could tell her how she feels, but believes that Ariel would never understand. Melody then remembers about her birthday party her parents are planning and gets back to the castle without Ariel noticing.

As Melody, Tom and Jerry sneak into the castle, they comes across some of the guests, but quickly leaves them, however shortly after Melody leaves, the guests begin to talk about Melody behind her back revealing they believe her to be strange as they have heard of her ability of speaking with sea creatures. However, unknown to them, Melody overheard everything they have said about her and sadly walks back to her bedroom along with Tom and Jerry a side.

Later, Ariel and Max are in the front garden of the castle, close to the wall. Ariel is upset that her father couldn't be here to celebrate Melody's birthday with them. Ariel then gains an idea and after checking to see that no one is around, she puts her feet into the ocean, to remind her of home, much to her happiness. However, Melody sees her mother from her balcony and asks what she is doing. Ariel makes an excuse and assures Melody she's coming. Melody then quickly prepares for her mother's arrival while Tom and Jerry hid Melody's shells she collected, while Melody unknowingly tying Sebastian to her body as he helps her dress. Ariel then soon arrives.

In her dressing room, Ariel helps Melody prepare for the party. Melody confides in her mother that she doesn't really want to attend, revealing how she overheard some of the guests making fun of her. Ariel tries to reassure her daughter saying that everyone has trouble fitting in, but realizes that this is more than about the party. Ariel tells Melody that if she has anything troubling her, she can always tell her anything. Melody, now believing her mother will understand her true feelings is about to tell her her deep love of the sea, but are interrupted by Eric who takes Melody and Ariel into the ballroom for the party.

Arriving at the ballroom Melody is introduced and soon meets a young prince who asks for her first dance. It starts off beautifully, however it soon turns into a nightmare when Sebastian accidentally ruins the dance and destroys Melody's birthday cake. Melody checks to see if Sebastian is alright, but soon everyone at the party starts to laugh at her for talking to a crab. Louie then notices Sebastian and, remembering him from their last encounter, a chase ensures. Humiliated, Melody runs out of the ballroom. In her bedroom, Melody is in tears over what happened while Ariel comes in to comfort her daughter, Melody picks up the necklace and sees her name on the locket.

Furious, Ariel confronts Melody and learns that she has been sneaking out into the ocean without her permission. Melody tries to learn why she isn't allowed into the sea and asks about the locket. Ariel however doesn't answer Melody's questions, forbids her from going into the sea and warns her that the sea is dangerous. Angry at her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody runs out of her bedroom, but not before she takes back her necklace. Tom and Jerry, after overhearing Ariel's refusal answers underneath Melody's bed, furiously stared the queen in anger and storms off with Melody, not wanting to listen and be friends with her anymore.

Eric then soon arrives and sees Tom and Jerry ran off to catch up with Melody. Ariel feels awful and heartbroken as she has now made things worse for Melody and loses her old pals, Eric comforts Ariel and tells her that it's time that Melody finally learned the truth. Realizing that Eric is right, Ariel agrees and they both go and search for her and apologizes to Tom and Jerry. However, upset with her mother and seeing that she won't get answers by staying home, Melody, with Tom and Jerry, takes a boat and sails away, despite Sebastian's protests. Sebastian then soon returns to the castle and informs Ariel and Eric that Melody, Tom and Jerry are gone.

Melody is lured to Morgana's lair by her manta rays; Morgana acts courteously to Melody and explains that the locket shows her heritage and she can help her become part of it. Undertow believes that Morgana is lying again, but finds that she has a bottle of Ursula's magic. A drop from the bottle lands on Melody's foot and she is lifted into the air in a green vortex that transforms her into a mermaid, filling her with joy. Melody jumps into the water and begins swimming around to her heart's delight. Undertow gets angry with Morgana for not using the potion to change him back, but Morgana tells him she's still reeling Melody into her plot.

Later in the ocean, Ariel and Eric talk with Triton over the situation. He assures them that he has sent search parties all over the ocean to find Melody and informs them that he will soon be join them. Eric thinks that it's best that Ariel goes with them as she knows both Melody and the sea better than anyone and Ariel having finally realized that she shouldn't have kept Melody from the sea agrees with Eric. Triton uses his trident and transforms Ariel back into a mermaid to search for Melody, Tom and Jerry.

Once Melody has calmed down and thanks Morgana for fulfilling her dream, Morgana fakes crying and explains that the spell will only last a few days. The transformation can be made permanent if Melody, Tom and Jerry can get hold of the trident, which she claims was stolen by Triton. However, unbeknownst to Melody, Tom and Jerry, Morgana only wants the trident to make up for her own lack of magical talent and that he trident can only be removed from its resting place by Triton or a member of his family.

Melody gets a stone map from Morgana and leaves, signing about her situation. Soon, Tom accidentally crashes into ice and breaks Melody's map, losing any clue how to get to Atlantica. However, she, Tom and Jerry soon meets Tuffy Mouse with Tip the penguin and Dash the walrus, who seek to become heroes. She tells them that she needs to get to Atlantica and retrieve the Trident or Melody will change back into a human and Tom and Jerry will change back into pet creatures. Tip is untrusting of her, but Tuffy and Dash convince him to help out Melody, Tom and Jerry as she's depressed by becoming human again and as they're depressed by becoming pet creatures again. They begin signing and swimming away, bonding with each other.

They eventually get to Atlantica, where Melody temporarily loses sight of Tom, Jerry, Tuffy, Tip and Dash. She then meets three mer-teens (a blonde girl with a purple tail and seashell bikini top, a Hispanic boy with a blue tail and a blond boy with a green tail), who want to befriend her (but don't seem to notice her top is not a sea-shell bikini); Melody accidentally introduces herself as "Mel-Mel" due to stuttering from being attracted to the blonde mer-boy. Dash and Tip find Melody and pull her away, putting her back on track. They sneak into the throne room, where she sees Triton looking (unknown to her) at Melody's baby photo.

Triton then leaves, ordering his men to double their efforts to find her. Melody quickly takes the trident and leaves with Tip and Dash, accidentally losing her locket. Unbeknownst to Melody, her mother has just arrived and enters the throne room with Triton, where they see the trident is gone and her locket is on the ground. Ariel is confused as to how Melody could have gotten there with Tom and Jerry, but they focus on finding her as she, Tom and Jerry may cause trouble with the trident.

Melody, Tuffy, Tom and Jerry successfully returns to Morgana with the trident, but as Melody is about to hand it over to her, she is been stopped by her mother; Ariel and they are both shocked finding each other in their mermaid forms. After greeting Ariel and Flounder, Morgana tries asking Melody for the trident again, but Melody is still in shock over learning Ariel's secret and is deeply upset that she never told her. Morgana, trying to keep Melody's favor, agrees with her and "scolds" Ariel for keeping her origins hidden from her daughter.

Ariel then tries asking Melody to give her the trident, but Morgana begins convincing Melody to give it to her instead, reminding her, Tom and Jerry that she gave her everything she desired, while Ariel has only lied to her for her entire life. Ariel tries defending herself for her actions, stating she was only trying to protect her, but Melody, feeling too upset to accept, sees that all her mother has ever done was only keeping her from the sea and again asks why she never told her the truth.

Ariel tries to apologize, even admitting that if she could change one thing in her life for Melody, it would be her decision of keeping the truth hidden from her and betraying Tom and Jerry. However, Melody standing besides an anger Tom, Jerry and even Tuffy (who hears everything about the situation) a side, deeply hurt, feeling betrayed, refusing to listen and forgive her mother, angrily gives the trident to Morgana. With the trident in her grip, Morgana reveals her true intentions. She kidnaps Ariel and takes her to the surface, while imprisoning Tom, Jerry, Tuffy, Flounder and Melody behind a wall of ice.

She calmly mentions that the spell will wear off by sundown. Morgana uses the trident's magic to lord over the ocean, rising to the surface to gloat. Scuttle, Triton, Sebastian, and Eric arrive, and a battle ensues against Morgana and her minions. Ariel releases herself and rescues Eric from almost drowning while Sebastian clamps his claws down on the tails of Cloak and Dagger, mirroring what happened with Flotsam and Jetsam.

Soon, Morgana's spell wears off, and Melody, Tom and Jerry all return back to their regular forms. Because Melody is no longer a mermaid, she begins to drown, while Tom and Jerry were trying to save her. Melody, Tuffy, Tom and Jerry are freed with the help of Tip and Dash and an unlucky Undertow. Morgana uses the trident and puts every sea creature under her spell, forcing Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, King Triton, Tuffy, Tip and Dash to bow, but before Morgana is about to revive Ursula and Flotsam and Jetsam with the trident, Melody, Tom and Jerry look down and sees their feet, and realizes that, as Melody has reverted back to a human and Tom and Jerry as pets again, they are be able to escape the spell. Melody manages to grab the trident and throw it back to Triton by climbing up the cliff on which Morgana is standing and sneaking up on her. When Melody does so, Morgana tries to get the trident back, and throws her, Tom and Jerry off the cliff.

Just as Melody, Tom and Jerry fear they are facing death, Dash takes action and goes to Melody, Tom and Jerry's falling points; Melody, Tom and Jerry land on him safely, surviving the fall. Now having had his trident returned to him, Triton confronts Morgana and, saying that Morgana and her spells will not threaten Triton's family ever again, uses it to encase her in a block of ice, which sinks underwater with a picture of Ursula from her kingdom and the icicles began to collapse, trapping Morgana inside.

Having regained consciousness, Melody finds herself in her father's arms and reunites with her family. She then begins to apologize to Ariel, but Ariel says that she and Eric are the ones who are truly sorry, as they realized they should've told her the truth instead of keeping it from her. Ariel also apologizes to Tom and Jerry for betraying them during Melody's birthday party, in which Tom and Jerry accepted her apology with a friendship hug. Melody then explains to her mother that she never meant to hurt anyone, but believed she would be better as a mermaid than a girl. However, Ariel assures her daughter that it doesn't matter whether she has fins or feet, as she and Eric love Melody for who she is, their "brave little girl".

King Triton then appears where he and Melody officially meet each other; he offers his granddaughter the option of becoming a mermaid permanently and living with him in Atlantica or living with her parents on land. After looking at her parents (with Ariel giving her a knowing smile), Melody says she has a better idea.

The next day, she uses the trident to disintegrate the wall separating her home from the sea and everyone from Atlantica comes to the surface to swim with the locals from the village. Melody bumps into the mer-boy she met before, and shyly says "hi" to him. The humans and merfolk and sea creatures unite in a circle around Tom, Jerry, Tuffy, King Triton, Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle, Tip, Dash, Ariel, Eric and Melody. Then King Triton uses his trident's magic to form a rainbow in the sky. As the scene come to a close at the end of the song, Melody giggles.

Characters

 * Tom
 * Jerry
 * Melody: Ariel's 12 yr. old daughter, who is a young princess and Tom and Jerry's new friend
 * Ariel: Melody's mother, who betrays her old friends; Tom and Jerry after an argument and not telling Melody the truth
 * Eric: Ariel's husband and Melody's father
 * King Triton: Ariel's father, king of Atlantica and Melody's grandfather

Voice Casts

 * William Hanna - Tom Cat/ Jerry Mouse
 * Kath Soucie - Tuffy Mouse/ Red
 * Laura Osnes - Ariel/ Morgana
 * Jennifer Lee - Ariel (singing voice)
 * Santino Fontana - Eric
 * Rachel Bloom - Melody/ Baby Penguin
 * Tajja isen - Melody (singing voice)/ Mother Penguin
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Sebastian/ King Triton/ Undertow/ Dash
 * John Cusack - Scuttle/ Tip
 * Max Charles - Alex/ Handsome Boy
 * Seth MacFarlane - Grimsby/ Chef Louis
 * Helena Bonham Carter - Carlotta

Trivia

 * Running time: 75 Minutes - 72 Minutes
 * Rated G for mild threat, fantasy violence.
 * Ariel, age 28, resembles herself as Dorothy Gale from Tom and Jerry & the Wizard of Oz in the movie.

Song Number

 * 1) "Tom and Jerry Intro"
 * 2) "The Little Mermaid Intro"
 * 3) "Down to the Sea" - sung by Jennifer Lee, Santino Fontana and chorus
 * 4) "I'm Gonna Get my Wish" - sung by Laura Osnes
 * 5) "For A Moment" - sung by Tajja Isen and Jennifer Lee
 * 6) "Tip and Dash" - sung by Tajja Isen, Kevin Michael Richardson and John Cusack
 * 7) "Here the Land and Sea" - sung by Jennifer Lee, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tajja Isen and chorus
 * 8) "Part of Your World For a Moment" - sung by Jennifer Lee and Tajja Isen

Production
Fall 2022