Release Date:

April 17, 1954

Main Character(s):

Sylvester, Hippety Hopper

Summary:

Sylvester wants to join the “Loyal Order of Alley Cats Mousing and Chowder Club”, but the Grand Poo-Bah keeps “blackballing” him (i.e., not wanting him as a member). Meanwhile, Hippety Hopper escapes from the zoo delivery truck and the Poo-Bah encounters him, mistaking him for a giant mouse. The club decides to put a bell on Hippety’s neck so they can hear him coming and gang up on him, but no one wants to do it. They decide to welcome Sylvester into the club if he can bell Hippety, only for them to repeatedly gang up on Sylvester instead, due to him always ending up with the bell around his neck.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1286 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. When it was restored for the Looney Tunes Super Stars Sylvester and Hippety Hopper Marsupial Mayhem DVD set in 2013, the original opening and closing rings were put back in.

This cartoon subverts the trope of attempting to bell the cat. In this case, it’s “cat attempting to bell the giant mouse”.

The club is sort of like the lodge Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton are members of in “The Honeymooners”. McKimson would parody this later in the third and final Honey-Mousers cartoon, “Mice Follies” (1960), before Hanna-Barbera would do so in “The Flintstones” (which is actually based off of “The Honeymooners”).

The title is a pun for “bellhop”. Hippety is even seen wearing a bellhop cap in the title card, although the actual cartoon has nothing to do with a hotel.

The cartoon was released in the same month as “Sh-Boom”.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

The cartoon was coincidentally released exactly six years after Hippety’s debut cartoon, “Hop Look and Listen”.

I love the rendition of “That Was a Big Fat Lie” over the opening credits.

Favorite Scene:

Sylvester hides in a cart with a tarp covering it to ambush Hippety, only for Hippety to cause it to start rolling downhill when he bumps into it with his tail upon hopping by. Said cart also turns out to have two bells on it, with it and Sylvester winding up getting pummeled by the Poo-Bah and some of the other cats using a very large club they’re all holding.

What Happens in This One:

Outside of the “Loyal Order of Alley Cats Mousing and Chowder Club” in the alley, the Poo-Bah is heard saying, “As Grand Exalted Poo-Bah of this great organization- the Loyal Order of Alley Cats Mousing and Chowder Club- we don’t want ya’s for no member! Now beat it!”, as he ejects Sylvester out by means of him sliding back-first out the “door” (a wooden plank in the fence with a button drawn on it labeled “Push” that enables it to open). The Poo-Bah adds, “And stay beated it!” before throwing a black 8 Ball at Sylvester. Dejected, Sylvester laments, “Blackballed again. And I did so hope those swell fellas would take me in this time”. He narrowly avoids getting hit by an oncoming truck (animated by Herman Cohen).

Said truck happens to be a zoo delivery truck for the “ACME Rare Animal Importing Co.” as the zoo worker driving it opens the back doors and into the building. “I come for the baby kangaroo”. The manager of the importing company informs him, “Oh, yes. He’s right here in this cage”, before Hippety kicks his crate open offscreen, “Oh, look out! He’s getting away!” Hippety jumps out of the building and hides in a trash can. The zoo worker goes out to find him, oblivious to where Hippety is. The importing company manager tells him, “I do hope you find him” (animated by Rod Scribner).

Meanwhile, the Poo-Bah is digging for leftovers in the trash cans and is disgusted at the lack of food, “Pickin’s ain’t what they used to be around this neighborhood. And am I hungry! Bet I could eat a mouse as big as a moose!” He soon comes to the very can Hippety’s in, “‘Course there ain’t no such of a thing! I just wish there was!”, as he obliviously pulls Hippety out by the neck before making an elated realization upon seeing him. “There is!” The Poo-Bah licks his lips and remarks, “What a BANQUET that mouse will make!” He attempts to lunge at Hippety only for Hippety to thump him up and down with his feet, toss him in the air, and kick him into another trash can. Piled up in said trash can, the Poo-Bah decides, “This calls for a special meetin’ of the Brotherhood!” (animated by Cohen)

The Poo-Bah has soon gathered the club together and is heard concluding, “So, fellow alley cats, there’s only one thing to do! One of us will have to put a bell around the monster’s neck, so we can hear him coming and gang up on him!” The crowd cheers (animated by Keith Darling) before one of the members asks, “Yeah, but who’s gonna do it?” The members then all argue indistinctly about them all not doing it. Sylvester walks back to the club for another try at becoming accepted, “I don’t suppose it’ll do any good. But I’ve GOTTA try just once more! They’re such SWELL fellas!” (animated by Charles McKimson)

Sylvester pushes the drawn button on the board and slides in chest-first. The Poo-Bah gives him an annoyed “what are you doing here?” stare, as Sylvester nervously chuckles, “Please, uh, sir. Uh, your Honor (chuckles awkwardly). Uh, sir… uh,…” The Poo-Bah grabs hold of Sylvester’s shoulders and begins to ask, “Hey, what are youse-” before realizing something and changing his tone, “Well, well! Welcome new member of the Brotherhood!” Pleasantly surprised, Sylvester asks, “Ya mean…?”, to which the Poo-Bah answers, “Sure, sure. If ya survi-, uh, I mean, eh, passes your initiation”. He then turns towards the rest of the club and winks at them, as they are heard laughing. The Poo-Bah continues, “All ya’s gotta do is catch a mouse and put this here bell around his neck”. Confused by this, Sylvester points out, “Why, it’s too big for that! You mean put it OVER him, don’t ya?” The Poo-Bah clarifies, “No! AROUND his neck! What you’ve gotta get is a BIG mouse!” as he opens the board to allow Sylvester to exit with the bell. The Poo-Bah then instructs the other cats, “Okay, boys. When ya’s hear the bell, we’ll gang up on the monster!”, which everyone is heard eagerly agreeing to (animated by Charles).

Walking along all over town while holding the bell, Sylvester says to himself excitedly, “Gosh! I just hope there are some really tremendous mouses around here! I GOTTA pass my initiation!” Hippety comes hopping in around the corner and bumps into Sylvester. Sylvester immediately believes he’s “A mouse!” (animated by Phil DeLara), before reacting to his size. “J-humpin’ Jehoshaphat! Look at the SIZE of that mouse! Oh, goody, goody for me! This oughta make me a big wheel in the brotherhood!” (animated by Charles)

Sylvester then attempts to bell Hippety, who keeps moving around and dodging the attempts. Frustrated, Sylvester shouts at him, “Stop jumping up and down like that! How do ya expect me to get this bell on ya!? Sakes!” Hippety leans back a few more times before Sylvester jumps at him and ends up chest-first on his feet. Hippety kicks Sylvester around like a wheel and into the air, before kicking him out into the street. As Sylvester ends up with the bell on his neck, the Poo-Bah and a few other members end up beating up on him instead. After Sylvester chuckles awkwardly at this, the Poo-Bah exclaims, “We thought you’s was the mouse!” before picking him up and ordering, “Now get back there and get ‘em!” Sylvester replies, “Oh, yes, sir! I will! I will do real good! (chuckles nervously)” (animated by DeLara)

Sylvester continues walking along and figures, “He’s right around here someplace!” Upon seeing Hippety hopping into view from the distance, Sylvester climbs into a cart with a tarp over it, “I’ll hide in here and ambush ‘im!”, before evil chuckling. Once Hippety passes by, his tail ends up hitting the back of the cart, causing it to roll downhill and the two bells on it to repeatedly chime. The Poo-Bah and three other members are seen waiting behind a corner all holding a large club, and end up destroying the cart and again pummeling Sylvester by mistake (animated by DeLara).

Walking into a junkyard, Sylvester demands, “Come out of there, ya cowardly little rodent! Wherever ya are! I see ya!” He stops on a makeshift teeter board and Hippety, who’s been standing atop a pile of junk, jumps off of it and lands on the other end. This causes Sylvester to fly up to the top of the pile as he decides, “A wise guy, huh? Well, two can play at that game!” He jumps off the pile himself, but instead of propelling Hippety up upon landing on the other end, Hippety’s weight results in Sylvester bouncing off and flying backwards into a brick wall. At this moment, a traffic signal makes a dinging noise when it changes from “Go” to “Stop”. Believing he’s going to get mistakenly beaten up again, Sylvester runs up to the traffic signal and clings to it, but the cats give him another accidental pummeling from there (animated by Scribner).

Carrying an old mirror that he puts in front of a hole in the fence where a board is missing, Sylvester realizes, “I can’t seem to overcome him with my mus-cles, so I’ll have to resort to a little chi-chi-chicanery”. He then hides behind the fence as Hippety hops past the mirror and sees his reflection. When Hippety passes by two other holes, he sees Sylvester hopping past and imitating him. Upon realizing this, Hippety goes back to the hole where Sylvester does exactly everything he does. Sylvester then puts the bell around his neck, to which Hippety takes it from him and puts it around his own neck. Excited that his scheme worked, Sylvester jumps out and shouts, “Ha! I did it! Hey, fellas! I belled the mouse!”, as he runs down the street to inform the club. Undeterred, Hippety hops down the street wearing the bell (animated by Scribner).

Sylvester continues running down the street elated as the zoo worker has come back to his truck and watches him in confusion. “I did it! I belled the mouse! I belled the mouse!” He has now caught up with the club and informs them, “Here he comes down the alley! Hear him, fellas? Listen! Hear the bell ringin’?!” The zoo worker turns around to see Hippety hopping up to him. “Aha! There you are, you little rascal! Come on now. In you go!” Hippety hops right into the back of the truck and continues to play with the bell as the zoo worker begins to take him to his new home. Oblivious, the Poo-Bah and the cats jump out to pummel Hippety, only to get hit by the oncoming truck! (animated by Charles)

In the end, since he was the only one not hit by the truck, Sylvester is now wearing the Poo-Bah’s makeshift tin can hat he was wearing. “Heh! Looks like I’ll have to be the Grand Exalted Poo-Bah, uh, being the only active member.” The Poo-Bah and everyone else are all revealed to have been badly injured to the point that they are completely still and nearly covered completely with bandages. Sylvester continues, “That is, uh, if nobody has any objections”. Upon getting no response, Sylvester declares it official with, “So ordered!” before hitting the Poo-Bah’s desk with a mallet. This causes the 8 Ball on the desk to fly up into the air and come back down, hitting Sylvester on the head. With a lump on his head, Sylvester sulks in annoyance, “Sufferin’ succotash! Blackballed again!” (animated by Cohen)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕