Release Date:

August 9, 1952

Main Character(s):

Sylvester, Hippety Hopper, Benny

Summary:

Accompanied by a large dopey cat named Benny who wants a mouse for his very own, Sylvester attempts to catch one in the warehouse for him. He instead encounters Hippety Hopper and mistakes him for a giant mouse.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1213 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is the first of four Hippety Hopper cartoons after “Pop ‘im Pop” to not feature Sylvester Jr. The other three include “Bell Hoppy” (1954), “Lighthouse Mouse” (1955), and “Hoppy Daze” (1961).

Benny is another character based off of Lennie from “Of Mice and Men”. He would also appear in 1953’s “Cat Tails for Two” (also directed by McKimson), where he is paired with a cat who actually IS named George and that cartoon is also the debut of Speedy Gonzales.

The title is a pun for “happy go lucky”. Other media that use this pun include the Tom and Jerry cartoon, “Happy Go Ducky” (1958) and the Angry Birds Toons episode, “Slappy Go Lucky” (2013).

This is the first McKimson cartoon to have layouts by Robert Givens.

Benny also shares Lennie’s trait of not knowing his own strength.

Two respective warehouses are named “Givens” and “Thomas”, referring to Robert Givens and Richard H. Thomas, respectively.

The cartoon contains a “Hippety Hopper and Sylvester in” title card that is exclusive to this cartoon.

Part of the animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

Favorite Scene:

This exchange at the beginning:

Sylvester: “Okay, so we’re gonna catch mouses in the warehouse. And stop calling me ‘George’! My name’s Sylvester!”

Benny: “But I can’t say ‘Sylvester’, George!”

Sylvester: “Okay, so I’m George!”

What Happens in This One:

At the dock, Benny is excitedly asking Sylvester, who’s holding a bag as they walk along, “Will ya, George? Will ya? Will ya tell me about how we’re gonna catch mouses in the warehouse, George?” Sylvester answers, “Okay, so we’re gonna catch mouses in the warehouse”. He then tells Benny, “And stop calling me ‘George’! My name’s Sylvester!” (animated by Phil DeLara) Benny replies, “But I can’t say ‘Sylvester’, George!” (animated by Charles McKimson) Sylvester decides to put up with it, “Okay, so I’m George!” Benny continues talking as they walk along, “And when we catch a mouses, can I have one for my very own, George, to love him and pet him, George?” Sylvester sarcastically replies, “Yeah, Benny. Sure, sure” (animated by Herman Cohen).

They soon approach “ACME Warehouse No. 1” as Sylvester realizes, “Ah! Here’s the place! There ought to be lots of mouses here!” (animated by Cohen) Benny is delighted, too, “Goody, goody, George! Let’s go in and get me a mouse to have for my very own! I will hug him and hug him and pet him and pet him!”, as he hugs Sylvester very hard, and also strokes him very hard. Sylvester gets down and yells, “Stop it, ya knucklehead!” Benny apologizes, “I’m sorry, George” as Sylvester removes a metal bar from a small hole in the warehouse wall in order to enter in through that way. Sylvester instructs, “I’m going inside, YOU’RE staying OUTside! Here, take this bag!”, giving the bag to Benny before going into the hole (animated by DeLara). Inside, Sylvester adds, “You hold the sack over this opening, and when I stampede a mouse out, catch him in the bag! Ya understand?” Benny confirms, “Yes, I do, George. I understand real good”. After putting the bag over the hole, Benny confides, “George is my friend” (animated by Charles).

As he’s inside the dark warehouse, Sylvester spots a box of “Imported Cheese” and hears some chewing noises followed by hiccuping. He chuckles, “Where there’s cheeses, there’s bound to be mouses!” A mouse with a very large stomach from eating the imported cheese comes out, and runs off upon seeing Sylvester, dribbling his stomach like a basketball. Sylvester jumps on him twice, but he escapes his grasp both times. The mouse is then confronted by Sylvester standing in front of a crate, only for the mouse to shoot his stomach like a basketball and fly into a hole in the crate (animated by Charles). When Sylvester looks into the hole, he gets poked in the eye by Hippety, as it’s revealed to be Hippety’s crate, intended to be shipped to Australia. Sylvester pries the crate open with a crowbar and screams upon seeing Hippety. Sylvester confides, “Sufferin’ succotash! Something’s happened to my eyes! That little mouse looks as big as a house to me! And I know he’s just a little bitty pip-squeak about so long!” (animated by Cohen)

Hippety jumps out of the crate as Sylvester attempts to confront him, “Alright, ya little bitty pip-squeak about so long!”, before realizing his hand measurements are a lot smaller than Hippety. “About…so long. About so-so-well, so long!” and runs off (animated by Cohen), into the bag Benny is still holding. Thinking he’s got a mouse in the bag, Benny starts getting excited, “I got him! I got the little mouse, George! Caught for me for my very own! I will hug him and squeeze him and pet him and pet him on account of I love him!” Realizing he’s petted what’s in there to resemble several bricks, Benny dumps them out, revealing a disheveled Sylvester. Benny scolds, “George! Now you stop fooling around, George and give me the mouse! Come on, George! Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme the mouse!” Sylvester comes to and starts stammering, “The mouse! Th-th-th-the mouse! M-monster! It’s-it’s-it’s huge! It’s-it’s-it’s giant! K-k-k-k-king-sized mouse! It-it-it- jumps around s-s-s-snarling!”, before imitating hopping. Benny doesn’t believe him and becomes threatening, “Shame on you, George! You’re just trying not to get me a mouse, George! If you make me angry, I’ll do mean things to you, George, like I’ll stroke your fur the wrong way! Like this!”, and does so by holding him upside down by the tail and violently moving all of the fur down to his head. “So, you go right back in there and get me a mouse, George!”, Benny continues as he throws Sylvester back in. Although he clearly just did something a friend would not do, Benny again confides, “George is my friend!” (brilliantly animated by Rod Scribner)

Sylvester slides towards Hippety and flies upward from his feet being held out in a kicking position before Hippety kicks him back towards the opening. Seeing this, Benny holds a trash can lid over the opening, so that Sylvester crashes into it headfirst. Dazed and talking incoherently, Sylvester regains his senses and becomes angry at what Benny did and decides to get back at him by intending to hit him on the head with a sledgehammer (animated by DeLara). “Oh, Benny. I got something to show you”. Once Benny peeks his head in, Sylvester hits Benny on the head with the sledgehammer, which only breaks upon impact and disintegrates. Not feeling the hit due to his hard head, Benny asks, “What did you want to show me, George? Did you get me a little mouse, George?” (animated by Charles) Seeing this backfired, Sylvester chuckles awkwardly, “No, uh, heh. I, uh, just wanted to let ya know that I’m, uh, I’m hot on his trail!” (animated by Cohen)

Sylvester runs off (animated by Cohen), hides behind a crate and hears Hippety’s bouncing. When he looks around the crate’s corner, he encounters Hippety again and screams upon seeing him. He starts to run away before making a realization: “Say! What am I scared of!? Cats aren’t afraid of mice! And I’m a cat. I think. (meows) Yep, I’m a cat! So, (evil laughs), mouse! I’m not a-scared of you! Just start something!” (animated by Scribner) Coming up to him, Sylvester bobs up and down in the same way Hippety does, and moves around very fast, while swinging his fists, only for Hippety to kick him and send him flying backwards into one of several nude (!) female mannequins displayed with only their heads and arm-less torsos. Getting hit by the mannequin when it leans forward at him, Sylvester starts talking incoherently before coming to and telling Hippety, “Listen, mouse! I’ll fight YOU but I ain’t fightin’ no dames!” (animated by DeLara)

Sylvester charges towards Hippety, attempting to tackle him, only for Hippety to kick him around like a wheel and swat him with his tail back towards the opening. Seeing Sylvester’s tail in the bag, Benny takes him out and shakes him while he’s upside down, “George! You didn’t get me a mouse again! YOU hold the sack, George, and I’ll get my very own mouse, George! Cause you wouldn’t get me one!” Benny enters by opening a large sliding door on the warehouse (animated by DeLara). Sylvester decides, “Well, I suppose he’s gotta find out the hard way”, as he puts the bag over the opening (animated by Charles).

Unable to see inside the dark warehouse, Benny realizes, “Gosh, it’s awful dark in here. I will light me a candle to see where I’m going at”. He mistakenly grabs a dynamite stick instead, and him lighting a match lights up the warehouse, but once he lights the fuse, it becomes dark again. Unaware it’s TNT, Benny shushes it, “Shh! You’ll scare the mouse away, candle! Shh!” and tosses it aside where it bounces into the bag. An oblivious Sylvester believes he got the mouse and mistakes the hissing fuse for breathing noises. Suddenly, he hears Benny say, “I got him, George!” (animated by Cohen) Hippety comes out bouncing around, while dragging Benny, who’s hanging onto his tail as Benny announces, “I got me a little mouse for my very own, George! And I will love him and pet him and squeeze him and hug him, George! And love him and hug him and (animated by Scribner) pet him and squeeze him, George!” Sylvester realizes, “The mouse! Then I’m left holdin’ the bag. I think”. He looks in, just as the dynamite blows up, destroying the bag, and blowing most of Sylvester’s fur off. “Yep. I’m left holdin’ the bag” (animated by Charles).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕