Release Date:

December 20, 1958

Main Character(s):

Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot

Summary:

Marc Anthony, as the guard dog at a construction site, comes across Pussyfoot, and becomes attached to her after she proves unafraid of him. He gives her a sausage for a present, which a mangy cat attempts to steal, but Marc Anthony won’t let that happen on his watch. Marc Anthony continues fighting with the cat on the skyscraper under construction and also prevents an oblivious Pussyfoot from getting into danger.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1474 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

With this cartoon, Milt Franklyn is now back as the composer and would score every Warner cartoon from this point on up until late 1962 when he died of a heart attack.

This is the final Golden Age appearance of Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot.

The start of the cartoon is a reworking of “Feed the Kitty” where Marc Anthony, being a dog, attempts to scare Pussyfoot, only to become her best friend and guardian when she has no reaction to his loud barking other than affectionate purring.

For this cartoon, Marc Anthony has been redesigned considerably. His fur is now gray instead of brown and his ears are a bit shorter. However, there’s no denying that he is still very much Marc Anthony (when my brother and I first saw this cartoon in late 2013, he thought Marc Anthony had been dyed gray).

There is no dialogue in this cartoon.

The cat resembles the Grinch in a way and could be seen as a foreshadowing to when Jones and his unit would make the 1966 version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.

The title is an obvious pun for “cat food”.

This is the shortest Warner cartoon from the 1950’s as it clocks in at only 5 minutes and 51 seconds.

Favorite Scene:

The entirety of the scene of Marc Anthony controlling the electromagnetic crane.

What Happens in This One:

At the construction site, Marc Anthony is marching on all four’s gruffly. A paper bag seemingly moves out of the trash can on its own, which Marc Anthony notices and runs up to it, barking angrily. Pussyfoot comes out of the bag, jumps into Marc Anthony’s bellowing jaw and rubs her back against his upper teeth while purring. Seeing what this is, Marc Anthony stands up with Pussyfoot in his palm and attempts to scare her three times by barking in her face, but the first two are only met with a meow and the last by Pussyfoot rubbing up against Marc Anthony’s chin and purring. Changing his demeanor, Marc Anthony grows attached to her as she climbs onto his back. She begins making biscuits on his back, causing Marc Anthony to make several pained grunts. He is relieved when she goes to sleep on his back (animated by Abe Levitow).

Walking slowly so he doesn’t wake Pussyfoot, Marc Anthony has her sleep in a steel beam on the ground, gives her a sausage from a lunchbox as a gift, and kisses her. She gives him a lick, which makes him feel touched. Marc Anthony continues his marching, but with a happy expression. The sausage attracts the attention of the cat, who’s spotted it through a knothole in the fence. He climbs over the fence and into the construction yard (animated by Levitow), before going into the other end of the beam and attempting to swipe the sausage. Marc Anthony immediately grabs the cat by the throat and repeatedly punches him in the face before kicking him into the air. The cat flies up from the kick and lands chest-first on one of the beams (animated by Richard Thompson).

Marc Anthony resumes his marching with an irritated expression, only to turn around and see to his shock that the cat is hoisting up Pussyfoot’s beam with the levers for it. After failing to grab the beam, Marc Anthony takes the elevator just as Pussyfoot wakes up and upon seeing she’s being lifted into the air, grabs the sausage in her mouth, and begins to walk off with it, unaware that this will lead to her falling off. Marc Anthony reaches the level and puts himself in between this beam and the one he’s on, allowing Pussyfoot to safely cross. For the fun of it, the cat moves the levers around, so the beam keeps clanging against Marc Anthony’s head while he’s still holding on (animated by Thompson).

The cat slithers down the beams after Pussyfoot and hides in the one she’s passing under. Marc Anthony’s beam ends up swinging right into the cat’s, causing the cat and the beam to vibrate, and his eyeballs to bounce around a few times after this. Pussyfoot then walks off this level and slides down another beam. Marc Anthony, with his beam reversing back, swings a plank attached to a rope over to Pussyfoot, preventing her from falling again (animated by Thompson).

Marc Anthony’s relief at having saved her is short-lived as the cat is pulling up the plank with Pussyfoot on it, taking her in his hand after the plank has been hoisted all the way up to his level. Just as the cat is about to eat the sausage, Pussyfoot attempts to get tough and fight back for it. In response, the cat mockingly leans his face in and wags his finger. Marc Anthony swings another beam at the cat, hitting him right in the face and causing him to fall backwards and drop both Pussyfoot and the sausage. With his lower lip covering his mouth and nose, the cat sees Pussyfoot still attempting to put up her dukes, and believes the hit was her doing. He attempts to run away, only to be hit by another beam swinging towards him from this direction. This sends him rolling towards the edge of this level dazed (animated by Ben Washam).

Marc Anthony then witnesses the cat picking up a sledgehammer and running towards Pussyfoot in an attempt to pound her with it. Marc Anthony slides down a rope and goes over to the controls for the electromagnetic crane, which pulls the cat up to said crane due to him holding onto the sledgehammer. The cat and the handle part then fall off, ending with him landing face first back onto the level and causing two rivets to fly from the impact. Marc Anthony moves the lever that turns off the magnet, sending the hammer part falling. The cat holds up a hard hat in order to prevent the hammer from landing on his head, slightly denting it. He sticks his tongue out at Marc Anthony, who turns the magnet back on. This results in the cat being pulled up with the hard hat onto the magnet. Marc Anthony moves the control back and forth, so the cat and hard hat keep hitting up against the magnet from it being turned on and off repeatedly (animated by Washam).

Noticing Pussyfoot, who’s back to carrying the sausage in her mouth, about to walk off another beam, Marc Anthony quickly runs to the buttons for the elevator, which Pussyfoot walks onto right when it passes her level. Marc Anthony holds up his hand, so Pussyfoot is no longer in oblivious danger and in the safety of him. After kissing her affectionately, Marc Anthony spots the cat sliding down the beam and attempting to run away when he gets to another level. He goes back to the electromagnetic crane’s controls and moves the lever that also sends the magnet moving directly above the cat. The cat ends up tripping in a bucket and getting stuck in it, before both are pulled up to the magnet, which still has the hard hat stuck on it. This leaves the cat trapped in between the two magnetic items (animated by Ken Harris).

That night, the cat is still stuck in his predicament. Marc Anthony has settled into his doghouse and is grunting to “Rock a bye Baby” in a pained manner as Pussyfoot is again making biscuits on his back. When she curls up on his back to sleep, Marc Anthony sighs in relief and he too goes to sleep happily (animated by Harris with Levitow animating all shots of Pussyfoot).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½