Tom and Jerry convince Robyn, an orphan girl who runs away from home to escape her evil aunt, to return and accompany her. Later, they chance upon a great secret that Robyn's aunt has kept from her.
The popular cartoon cat and mouse are thrown into a feature film. The story has the twosome trying to help an orphan girl who is being berated and exploited by a greedy guardian.—John Sacksteder <[email protected]>
Tom and Jerry (Richard Kind and Dana Hill) are together with their owners as they are about to move to a new home. The moving van is at their old house waiting, while Tom dozes in the back of the car, however when he notices Jerry, he puts him on a cue stick, and Jerry, noticing no escape and knowing that he will fly, grabs hold of Tom's whiskers so they fly together into the garden. Jerry quickly dashes into his mouse-hole and locks the door, Tom nailing wooden planks on the door. Tom leaves the house, but it is too late: The owners have left. When Tom tries to get in the moving car, he ends up with a bulldog and ties up his ears so he cannot see. Tom runs into the house for safety and stays there for the night. The next day, Tom notices that the house is being destroyed by a demolition crew.
He manages to escape but realizes he could not just leave Jerry, so he goes back in and saves him. The two manage to survive, but now they are homeless. The two traverse the streets looking for food and shelter all day, to no avail, they remain homeless. That night in an alley they meet a stray dog named Pugsy (Ed Gilbert) and his friend, Frankie Da Flea (David Lander). Tom and Jerry both introduce themselves, before suddenly realizing seconds later that the other spoke, a rarity in the shorts, as they have not spoken in over 50 years. Pugsy and Frankie encourage the two to be friends, as it would be difficult to survive in the streets alone. They agree, and they also all agree to have a 'feast' at their place and Pugsy makes a 'buffet' by collecting leftovers in the bin. When Pugsy's tray is full, two dogcatchers capture him and Frankie and lock them in their truck.
With Pugsy and Frankie gone, Tom is ambushed by a gang of mean singing alley cats who chase him, only to be saved by Jerry. Tom and Jerry then meet a girl named Robyn Starling (Anndi McAfee), whose mother died when she was a baby and is left behind with her evil guardian (or "Aunt") Pristine Figg (Charlotte Rae) when her father goes away to Tibet, but her father is now presumed killed in an avalanche. Figg has proceeded to take over the house with her sleazy lawyer, Lickboot (Tony Jay), even moving Robyn into the attic as her bedroom. Robyn had run away after her locket was thrown out of the window and that is how she began to run. Tom and Jerry, knowing what it is like to be homeless, attempt to convince her to return home, convinced that deep down, Figg loves Robyn.
Indeed, Aunt Figg is crying in the house, scared of losing Robyn and begging a local police officer to find her safely, but reverts to her cold, money-hungry self once the officer is gone. The officer finds Robyn, Tom, and Jerry, but Figg has Tom and Jerry sent to an animal shelter run by Dr. J. Applecheek (Henry Gibson), who is in secret the employer of the two dogcatchers and in charge of an abusive, prison-like pound. Tom and Jerry are reunited with Puggsy and Frankie, and with help from several other dogs (including Droopy) they stage an escape. Meanwhile, Robyn discovers through a telegram that her father is alive, and once reunited with Tom and Jerry, they run away to find him. Figg discovers this, and places a $1 million bounty on the three of them. Meanwhile, Robin's father, Mr. "Daddy" Starling (Ed Gilbert), is notified that his daughter has run away, and immediately returns to America to find her.
Tom and Jerry end up separated from Robyn after their raft crashes into a ship. Robyn is found by the owner of a local amusement park, Captain Kiddie (Rip Taylor), and his talking hand puppet, Squawk (Howard Morris), but Kiddie and Squawk see Robyn's face in an advert about the bounty and telephone Figg after trapping Robyn in a Ferris wheel. Applecheek overhears the telephone conversation and a race begins to reach Robyn first. Tom and Jerry find Robyn in the park just when Figg and Applecheek arrive.
The three of them trap the dogcatchers in the Ferris wheel and flee up the river in a boat, pursued by Figg, Applecheek, and Kiddie. Eventually, Applecheek falls off a bridge and crashes into Kiddie and Squawk in the water, and Aunt Figg and Lickboot end up with their 1955 Austin-Healey 100 stuck in the mud on a farm. The river ultimately takes Tom, Jerry, and Robyn to an old summer cabin belonging to her and her father, but they are ambushed by Figg and Lickboot, who attempt to forcefully take Robyn back home. In the ensuing struggle, an oil lamp breaks and starts a fire. Tom and Jerry climb onto the roof and get Robyn out of the cabin with a rope while Figg and Lickboot are stuck in the roof of the boat and it drives them away never to be seen again.
As the house goes up in flames, Daddy Starling (Ed Gilbert) finally arrives in a helicopter and rescues Robyn, but is unable to reach Tom and Jerry before the cabin collapses. Fortunately, the pair survive the wreckage and are taken to live with Robyn and her father in their home. Pugsy and Frankie see this in a newspaper and are satisfied that Tom and Jerry finally found friendship. However, old habits die hard, as once Robyn and her father are out of sight, Tom and Jerry resume with their old antics.
