Release Date:

May 1, 1937

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

An old man keeps kicking his cat out of his cozy chair. Upon seeing the cat asleep, mice come out to have fun and steal food. They frame the cat for stealing, resulting in the feline getting thrown out. The old man realizes the cat is not to blame when the mice attack him with food. The cat refuses to come back until the mice taunt him. The cat chases them all out and wins the old man’s respect.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. A print with the original titles is rumored to exist at UCLA’s Film and Television Archive (hopefully, it will be unearthed one day). The title song played under the opening credits which were:

Supervision: Fred Avery

Animation: Charles Jones and Robert Clampett

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

This is a rare instance where mice are portrayed as the antagonists instead of cats.

What I Like About This One:

A mouse waving his hand in front of the cat’s shut eyes to make sure he’s asleep.

Three mice shushing the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock.

The cat thinking he felt a draft when the same three mice rush past him.

A granny mouse asking the operator of a makeshift elevator in the fridge where she can find the mousetrap!

Mice devouring the food in humorous ways (one gets fat from eating through a large loaf of bread, and peas are shot like balls on a loaf of bread used as a pool table).

Another mouse using his tail to open a bottle of wine but he gets blown into a bottle with his tail still attached to the cork!

The mouse who had been told to alert them if the cat wakes up is unable to whistle a warning after eating crackers.

“Give you a home and what do you do? You eat it!”

The lyrics of the title song being substituted with lyrics relating to food.

The cat chasing all of the mouse away after being taunted by four of them.

The old man letting the cat sleep in his chair, so he curls up on a rug. He then asks us, “I ain’t such a mean old man after all, am I?” and literally gets the book thrown at him.

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕 ½