A Tom and Jerry story featuring, you guessed it Sherlock Holmes. Jerry lives with and to some extent works as an assistant to Holmes and Watson. They are hired by a music hall singer named Red (with Tom serving as her valet), who is being blackmailed over her occupation, threatening her impeding marriage. It quickly transpires that this is part of a cunning ruse to frame Red for a diamond robbery. Holmes and Watson set off, trying to find the thieves, while Tom, Jerry and Red try to stay one step ahead of the police, only to find themselves uncovering more clues to the Evil Plan of the culprit.
The voice cast includes Michael York as Holmes, John Rhys-Davies as Watson, Malcolm McDowell as Professor Moriarty, Jeff Bergman as Butch and Droopy, and Grey DeLisle as Red.
Tropes:
- Aroused by Their Voice: Just about everyone when Red is singing.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Red and Wolfie getting married at the film's end, seven decades since the characters debuted and then first co-starred together.
- Beard of Evil: Moriarty has a prominent goatee.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Tuffy, when he knocks out one of the cats with a brick.Tuffy: What? He was asking for it.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Moriarty doesn't harm his prisoners and smugly lays out his plans to them.
- Bound and Gagged: Red, at the hands of Moriarty.
- The Bride with a Past: Red doesn't want her fiancee to know she works in music halls.
- By-the-Book Cop: Droopy, who insists a good policeman is always thorough.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The bear setting up mirrors across town.
- Crazy-Prepared: Moriarty has a cage at the base of his chimney to scoop up intruders, and his horse carriage rigged to run on steam if he ever loses the horse.
- Creepy Mortician: Moriarty's sinister cat minions also work as the local gravediggers.
- Disney Death: With a brief Disney Villain Death scare. Like in the short stories, Holmes and Moriarty go plummeting for a great height into the water (and from an unfinished bridge in a possible reference to the 2009 film) but Holmes grabs onto the edge and is pulled to safety, while Moriarty surfaces, alive but soaked, below.
- Dude Magnet: Red easily draws in many an amorous fellow, such as Jerry and to a lesser extent Watson.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Holmes has one about the local eclipse being related to Moriarty's crimes.
- Evil Is Petty: Moriarty admits to deliberately getting Holmes involved in the investigation just for the satisfaction of being able to pull off the crime of the century right under his nose.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Tyke is unable to get his father to notice the theft, he starts frantically biting down to pull on the cord setting off the alarm. Spike races over to stop him, lecturing Tyke that their only supposed to do that when there's been a robbery. Then he glances at the now-empty jewel case, gapes and starts frantically pulling that alarm rope himself.
- False Friend: Professor Moriarty to Red, and Butch to his police partner Droopy (who he is scrambling to ensure won't get any of the reward).
- Freudian Slip: At one point, Butch yells out "Stop in the name of my reward."
- Forceful Kiss: A lovesick Jerry jumps over to Red and plants a big ol' wet one right on her ruby lips before Tom pries him off. She isn't offended by this though, claiming that "her admirers often act like that."
- Great Detective: Holmes, as usual, doing a Sherlock Scan at every turn. Even when he goes get led on a Snipe Hunt he figures it out in time.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Red, both literally and figuratively. (Expected, considering who she's an update of.)
- Hidden Depths: Butch and Droopy are both good pipe organ players.
- Idiot Houdini: Lampshaded when Spike talks about how lucky he and Tyke were to get a chance at guarding the crown jewels after "that fiasco at the embassy" when they failed to prevent that theft (although that was mainly Spike's fault and he does redeem himself at the Tower of London).
- Inspector Javert: The London police, many of whom are more motivated by the huge reward for Red's capture.
- Inter Species Romance: Red's fiancee turns out to be an anthropomorphic wolf.
- Irish Cop: Butch.
- Irish Priest: This version of Tuffy, who provides sanctuary and aide to the fugitives.
- The Jeeves: Tom in this role, as the dedicated, and somewhat aloof manservant to Holmes's client. He proves to be a reliable presence throughout the investigation.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tom doesn't hesitate to antagonize Jerry but shows concern for him and Tuffy on occasion and is a dutiful, loyal friend and servant to Red.
- Lampshade Hanging: The story begins with Moriarty declaring that he's created the perfect plan (literally) on paper. After his plan is foiled, he laments that it all worked so perfectly on paper.
- Le Parkour: Tin, Pan and Alley display some of this (especially during the opening robbery) and Holmes is fairly nimble during the climax.
- Malaproper: Spike is always mangling his words when he talks.
- Mythology Gag: From this movie on more MGM cartoon characters besides Droopy and Butch began appearing more often. Red Hot Riding Hood and Barney Bear play roles in the plot while the pub scene features various cameos including Tex Avery's The Cat That Hated People.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When the cat burglars escape fails and they end up back in the tower of London with Spike and Tyke.Spike: Well, well, pussycats, looks like you's and me have got a rendes-vous with pain.
- Not Now, Kiddo: A literal version when, while Spike and Tyke are serving as guard dogs, Tyke keeps noting elements of the theft and trying to alert his father, who doesn't understand him and thinks that Tyke is just getting confused about everything.
- Offhand Backhand: When the cats go flying at Droopy with their artificial wings after just having knocked Butch around, he just calmly stand there, and knocks out those wings with a karate chop.
- Quirky Mini Boss Squad: Shifty street cats Tin, Pan and Alley make their first appearance in this fashion.
- Proud Beauty: Red isn't the least bit ashamed of being a gorgeous sexpot, enjoys acting playfully flirtatious and is flattered by Jerry's crush on her, giggling in approval of his Wolf Whistle.
- Public Domain Canon Welding: The premise has Tom and Jerry interacting with and solving a crime with Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty.
- Public Secret Message: Red searches the Twisted Lip Inn for signs of the criminals and then sings a song that directs her friends on where to look for them as the patrons stare none the wiser.
- Running Gag: Tom falls butt first onto the pitchfork in Tin, Pan and Alley's hay cart three separate times.
- Say Your Prayers: When Tuffy accidentally gets stuck inside a hamburger one of Moriarty's hench-cats is about to eat, Jerry yanks him out to find him in a praying position, with his eyes closed.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: When Butch is chasing them through some streets and windows in an alley.
- Shout-Out: The story contains many references to Holmes mythology.
- The Rathbone Inn, the Bruce Nigel Music Hall, and the Twisted Lip Pub are all London drinking establishments.
- Similarities to the case of the Redheaded League is pointed out by Holmes.
- Holmes questions a tailor named Brett Jeremy in one scene.
- When Tom, Jerry, Red and Tuffy investigate the cemetery, they pass the grave of someone named Doyle.
- Spoiler Cover: The cover shows Professor Moriarty in a clearly villainous pose, even though he initially seems to be an innocent friend of Red when he appears in the movie (albeit only for a minute or two before revealing his true colors).
- Steampunk: Professor Moriarty's inventions fall under this.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Tom and Jerry, unsurprisingly. This time, it's less because Tom wants to eat Jerry, as it is that Jerry keeps pulling painful pranks on Tom, who repeatedly seeks revenge. They can work well together when the chips are down though.
- Token Good Cop: Most of the beat cops and guards in the movie could be better at their jobs: between how Butch is preoccupied with trying to screw his partner out of the reward they’d get for solving the case, plenty of unnamed cops spend the movie unhesitatingly pursuing the innocent Red as a suspect, and Spike gets some The Guards Must Be Crazy failures. However, Spike's son and apprentice Tyke notices a robbery that Spike overlooks, and Droopy is a thorough and dedicated officer who captures two of the villains.
