Release Date:

January 31, 1953

Main Character(s):

Sylvester, Drunk Stork

Summary:

Too sloshed from partying at the Stork Club to deliver a baby mouse to its intended family, the stork leaves it at the house of Sylvester and his wife. Mrs. Cat is immediately won over by the mouse when he calls her “Mama”, but Sylvester wants to eat him, much to Mrs. Cat’s horror. When she leaves to go shopping, Sylvester attempts to eat the mouse in her absence, but he becomes won over by him when the mouse calls him “Daddy”. Sylvester then has to protect the mouse from numerous hungry felines after taking him out for a walk.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1239 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

This is the first of four cartoons (all directed by Freleng and written by Warren Foster) to feature the character of the Drunk Stork, who is usually delivering babies to the wrong parents due to being inebriated and constantly hiccups. He would also appear in “Goo Goo Goliath” (1954), “Stork Naked” (1955), and “Apes of Wrath” (1959).

Notably, this is one of the very few cartoons where Sylvester wins for most of the time, as he foils all of the cats’ attempts to abduct the mouse.

This is also one of the few times where Sylvester is married (although he is very disrespectful towards his wife near the start of the cartoon). The wife in this cartoon only appears in this one (and disappears for the rest of the cartoon after she leaves to go shopping). He would have a different wife in 1960’s “Goldimouse and the Three Cats” where they are the parents of Sylvester Jr.

Speaking of which, when Mrs. Cat says, “Isn’t it strange we’ve never had a little bundle from heaven?”, I had originally thought this took place before all of the cartoons with Jr. before I realized continuity isn’t a thing in cartoons and this was released after Jr. had already made his debut (finding this out in February 2015 when I got “That’s All Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation” and found out about the release order and release dates of every cartoon).

The title is a pun for the phrase, “a house divided”.

The cartoon was considered for an Academy Award but was not nominated (which is very questionable because not only is this one of the absolute funniest Sylvester cartoons, but also a genuinely touching cartoon).

The cartoon was used in the 1983 compilation movie, “Daffy Duck’s Movie Fantastic Island”.

Favorite Scene:

One of the cats attempts to enter through the chimney by posing as Santa, but Sylvester sees that it’s July, and in response, sends him a balloon with a dynamite stick tied to it. The explosion sends the Santa-disguised cat blasting out of the chimney and landing in the distance.

These two lines are also hilarious: “Cute!? He’s DELICIOUS!” and especially, “A fine thing! I’ve become the father of a breakfast!”

What Happens in This One:

A wild party is going on at the Stork Club in the heavenly clouds. The drunk stork exits announcing, “ (Hiccup) I gotta go, fellas. I gotta deliver this bundle. (Hiccup) Hold down the fort till I get back, will ya, fellas, huh? Attaboy. Ah, swell bunch of guys (Hiccup). Swell”. As he’s flying while carrying the sack the baby mouse is in, he laughs, “What a party! What a party! A million laughs (Hiccup)” (animated by Ken Champin).

Meanwhile, at their house, Sylvester is napping on the floor, much to the displeasure of Mrs. Cat who refers to him as “Lazy good-for-nothin’!” She then wakes him up in a singsong voice, “Oh, Sylvester”, to which he visibly cringes at. “Isn’t it strange we’ve never had a little bundle from heaven?”, she continues. Sylvester rudely dismisses it, “Sufferin’ succotash! Don’t start that ‘patter of little feet around the house’ stuff again! I’m busy!” Mrs. Cat does indeed do that as she sobs, “Boo-hoo-hoo. I work and I slave”. Sylvester then says it with her in a rude, mocking voice, “And what thanks do I get? I wish I was dead! Boo-hoo-hoo!” He then remarks in his normal voice, “Every day, it’s the same thing! Pitter patter of little feet! Eh!”, before going back to sleep (animated by Virgil Ross).

The drunk stork begins to suffer a hangover in the midst of flying, “(Hiccup)Oh, my achin’ head!” On the ground, he decides, “Let’s face it. I can’t fly any further”. Spotting Sylvester’s house, he staggers up to the front door as he says, “This place is as good as any. What’s the difference? (Hiccup) A baby’s a baby! It’s the environment that-that mows ‘em! (Hiccup)” After he rings the doorbell, Mrs. Cat sticks her head out of the pet door and is greeted by the drunk stork telling her, “Congra-(Hiccup)-con-(hiccup)-Congratulations, madam (Hiccup). You’re a mother”. Mrs. Cat watches the drunk stork walking away hiccuping before she excitedly takes the sack in (animated by Champin).

Mrs. Cat tells Sylvester, “Sylvester, look! Look! The stork was here and left us a baby!” Sylvester also becomes excited, “A baby!? Quick! Quick! Open it! Open it!” They begin to open it on an armchair as Sylvester comments, “Oh, boy! This makes me a father!”, but their excitement soon turns to confusion when they see it’s the baby mouse. Sylvester: “Eee! A mouse!?” Mrs. Cat: “A mouse!?” The mouse utters his first word towards Mrs. Cat, “Mama”, which wins her over, “Aw, he called me ‘Mama’. Isn’t he cute?” Sylvester has a completely different view towards him, “Cute!? He’s DELICIOUS!”, and attempts to pounce on him, before Mrs. Cat gasps in horror and grabs the mouse out of the way. “Sylvester, how could you? After all, he’s just a baby. Even if he IS a mouse, he’s ours!” (animated by Ross up to here) Sylvester takes these words literally, “Yours and mine?”, and returns with a wooden table and a meat cleaver, intending to chop the mouse in two, “You’re a gambling woman! What do you take? Heads or tails?” Mrs. Cat again gasps in shock and removes the mouse from his clutches, causing the table to fall atop Sylvester. She scolds, “You beast! You cannibal! How could you!? Mouse or no mouse, he’s YOUR son!” Sylvester sulks, “A fine thing! I’ve become the father of a breakfast!” (animated by Manuel Perez)

In a disgruntled manner and with safety pins in his mouth, Sylvester attempts to powder and diaper the mouse, “Hold still, ya little rodent!” Mrs. Cat leaves to go shopping as she tells Sylvester, “And after you’re through, take Darling for a walk. I’ll be back as soon as I can”. The second she shuts the door, Sylvester sports an evil smile, pushes the baby powders off the table and replaces them with sandwich items. He cranks pepper on the mouse, who sneezes three times at this, puts a drop of salad oil on him, and makes him a diaper out of lettuce before putting him in between two pieces of bread. After he licks his lips and is about to eat him, the mouse pops up from between the bread and calls Sylvester, “Daddy!” Sylvester chuckles, “Hee, hee! Aw! He called me ‘Daddy’!”, and looks at him affectionately, finally being won over by him (animated by Champin).

Having put the mouse in a stroller, Sylvester tells him in baby talk, “Coochy-coochy-coochy-coo! And now Daddy is going to take his wittle man out for a walk! Coochy-coochy-coochy-coo!” (animated by Ross) Sylvester happily pushes him down the street in the stroller in tune to “While Strolling Through the Park One Day”, before the music stops when he turns the corner. He then runs back into view, having caught the attention of numerous yowling cats, who want to eat the mouse. Sylvester makes it back to the house and shuts the door, causing the cats in pursuit to slam right into it. As Sylvester is attempting to catch his breath, the next shot reveals the house now surrounded by cats with a hilarious instrumental of “Pretty Baby” punctuating this shot (animated by Perez).

Sylvester notices one of the cats attempting to get in through the window, but he shuts said window, nearly slicing this cat’s tail off. The cat inaudibly rants at Sylvester, who then shuts the window’s shade (animated by Perez). Sylvester then answers to a knock on the door, which is from a cat disguised as a vacuum salesman talking very fast and in his “demonstration”, vacuuming up the mouse, “Good day, sir, I represent the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla, Washington, and if you watch closely, you will notice the powerful action of this machine as it removes completely and forever all foreign particles from around the room. I realize that you may not be ready to purchase the Little Giant right now, but if you ever do, just remember the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla, Washington”, before he leaves. Sylvester realizes that the “salesman” cat abducted the mouse and runs after him, beating him up offscreen. Returning back inside with the mouse, Sylvester remarks in disgust, “Cannibals!” (animated by Arthur Davis)

Hearing another knock on the door, Sylvester opens it and finds a cat with stubble dressed in drag as a babysitter, dancing while holding a record playing “Charleston”. Due to the wig coming off of his head and remaining in mid-air as he dances, speaking in his normal voice, “I understand ya need a babysitter!”, Sylvester isn’t fooled at all and shuts the door on him (animated by Perez). Sylvester sees a few more cats attempting to saw from the basement and get the mouse from there, so he takes the mouse out of the wooden cradle, and replaces him with a dynamite stick. After the explosion, the cats put the destroyed cradle back up, and then nail the circle they cut back into place (animated by Davis).

Sylvester hears “Santa” coming down the chimney wishing “Merry Christmas”, but then looks at the calendar and upon seeing it’s the middle of July, realizes this is another cat, so he sends him a gift: a dynamite stick attached to a balloon whose explosion causes the Santa-disguised cat shooting out of the chimney and landing far away into the distance. Looking through the mail slot, Sylvester sees a few more cats attempting to break the door down by using a log as a battering ram. He opens the door before they charge in, resulting in them running all the way up to the second story and out the window, before landing in a well below, with only the log sticking out (animated by Davis).

The drunk stork has come back to the house to correct his mistake with a fishing pole and a piece of cheese for bait. “What a fuss they made at the office! (Hiccup) Now I’ve gotta get the mouse to his real parents!", he says as he reels the line down. The mouse sees it, babbles in baby-like gibberish, and says, “Cheese!” before nibbling on it. Sylvester believes this is another trick and yells, “DON’T TOUCH IT!”, and then rants, “Those darn cats! Still at it! I’ll show ‘em!”, and tugs on the line three times to confront “them”. Seeing that he pulled a confused Sylvester out instead, the drunk stork remarks, “Boy! Did that mouse GROW!” (animated by Ross), and flies away with Sylvester in the sack (animated by Champin). In the last scene, a very peeved Sylvester is seen dressed in baby clothes and being pushed in a stroller by the mouse’s actual parents, who are equally peeved. The mother mouse tells her husband, “Well! Nothing like this ever happened on MY side of the family!”, to which the father mouse gives a look of confusion for the iris-out (animated by Davis).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕