The real Royal Gate Hotel New York from the Tom & Jerry Movie

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Although we are sorry to say that the hotel doesn't exist in real life, the buildings and designs that inspired the set do exist.

The Royal Gate Hotel in New York featured in the new Tom and Jerry movie was almost entirely filmed in England, at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden. Several other parts of the comedy film were filmed on location in London.

The Tom and Jerry Hotel

The movie, simultaneously released by Warner Bros in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, features a mixture of cartoon animation and live-action.

This time cat and mouse end up in a hotel where the main character Kayla, played by Chloë Grace Moretz (Dark Places, Suspiria), is tasked with one job: to get rid of the mouse. The main cast is completed by Michael Peña, Colin Jost, Jordan Bolger, Ken Jeong, and Pallavi Sharda.

Atlas of Wonders has found the real places and locations that inspired production designer James Hambidge to create the magnificent New Yorker hotel. Here is our guide to the filming locations of Tom and Jerry:


The real Tom and Jerry hotel

The set at Leavesden studios
The street and the lower section of the facade with the revolving door were set up in a big backlot at Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden.

As you can appreciate from the lower pic taken from a pre-VFX production video, the rest of the building was made entirely using digital effects.
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures - Map


The Royal Gate Hotel NY
The centerpiece location of the movie is the interior hall, recreated on a soundstage as well as the rooms, corridors, and elevators.

The Royal Gate Hotel architecture and fittings are of the Art Deco style, the lovely design that flourished in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s.


Waldorf Astoria New York Lobby
The spacious and bright space of the hall shares many elements with the Park Avenue lobby of the legendary Waldorf Astoria New York. Located in Midtown Manhattan, this is one of the world's most prestigious and best-known hotels.

This Art Deco masterpiece was completed during the glamor days of the 1930s. The grandiose facade of the Astoria also seems to be the source of inspiration for Tom and Jerry's hotel.
Image courtesy of Alan Light - Map


Glass atrium Royal Gate
The glass atrium, the "crowning jewel of the Royal Gate", is a CGI reproduction of the decorative glass dome at the Palm Court of the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Overlooking Central Park at 768 5th Ave, this colossal luxury urban resort was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century.

The original stained-glass ceiling of the Plaza was installed in 1907. Modeled on the Winter Garden at London's Hotel Carlton, this was one of the most impressive glass projects at the time it was designed.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros - Map


The Plaza stained glass dome
Today, the stained glass dome at the historical Plaza Hotel is a replica created in 2007 of the original one.

The roof was erected in a way that was not durable, causing leaks and other problems. The original iron frame and glass structure was removed in the 1940s.
Image courtesy of David Wilson


Madison Belmont building
The decorative interior panels and window motifs are based on the fountain design found on the ironwork that adorns the facade of the famous Madison Belmont building in New York.

This is one of the earliest examples of Art Deco elements on an American building.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros and Eden, Janine, and Jim - Map


Where was Tom and Jerry filmed?

Central Park fountain sequence
The establishing shots of the city of New York and the scene at the beginning of the movie in Central Park were filmed on location in the iconic Fountain and Bethesda Terrace.

Yahoo Movies visited the set of the opulent Indian wedding scene, shot in the London studios, which is one of the key scenes in the film.

However, some footage of the movie’s final scene was filmed at Battersea Park, located in the Borough of Wandsworth in London.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros - Maps: Central Park / Battersea Park


Alexandra Palace dome
The dinosaur museum and the fish market scenes were both filmed at the Palm Court in the Alexandra Palace in London.

Opened in 1873 as a public center of recreation, this splendid Victorian complex still serves today as an entertainment and sports venue.
Image courtesy of Alan Stanton - Map


Drehorte
By the way, there is a continuity error regarding the buildings across the street from the hotel. In the earlier scenes, when Jerry and later Tom arrive at the hotel, the storefronts are completely different from the ones that appear later in the movie.

Can you help to improve this article about the filming locations of Tom and Jerry? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!

NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
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5 comments:

1- Anonymous - March 16, 2021 at 3:19 PM
Can't believe there are no comments when this is the top result on google for royal gate hotel, I guess no one cares to notice that stuff and/or look it up when watching the movie, anyone else feels the need to look up the real hotel after they saw it in the movie???

Also whoever made this comments system you are awesome for not forcing people to use their Facebook/Google account, or worse sign up for the website just to leave a comment :)

Although that can make the discussion more civil when it's exclusively among registered members, allows you to talk to people who know their topic and are interested, and invested in how they come across instead of spamming random hate comments or ads; mostly though it's a too high barrier to entry when one simply wants people to easily leave a comment/say what they think without hassle - anonymous or randomly generated username is the best way :))

2- Anonymous - March 30, 2021 at 3:29 AM
I actually looked the hotel up during the movie. It's definitely the main character. Thank you for your research.


3- Anonymous - July 24, 2021 at 10:51 AM
We looked it up as well. It does resemble a few of the hotels mentioned. I think we watched Tom and Jerry for the 7th time now cause we love it.

4- Mr. Moon - Feb 3, 2022, 9:12 AM
I would like to say that I love my last name. I'm a Moon and I'm a royale. It's a lovely name and I'm trying to meet all my siblings with the Moon the last name. I love vintage buildings and liked watching Tom and Jerry when I was young.

5- John Doe - Aug 4, 2022, 4:30 PM
Great article, lovely to see fellow film buffs going after location details. A harder one for me to locate but along the same lines as this is the hotel used in the latest Dr. Strange film (Universe of Madness).

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