Release Date:

December 18, 1948

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig, Sylvester

Summary:

Porky Pig and Sylvester enter their new home, a spooky-looking mansion that Sylvester is immediately terrified of. Sylvester finds out that the mansion inhabits murderous mice, who are trying to kill him and Porky. Porky is oblivious to the danger, however, and is only annoyed by Sylvester’s cowardice until he eventually finds out the hard way and Sylvester must save him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1056 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. In 1998, the original titles were put back in, with this same restoration also appearing on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 DVD set in 2003. This is also the latest cartoon to be given a credit less reissue, as every cartoon released afterwards that was given a reissue retain their credits. While “The Shell Shocked Egg” is currently the latest cartoon to not have its original credits found, it’s officially this cartoon where everybody can say, “Good riddance!” to the rule of opening credits being removed in reissues.

This is the first of Jones’ three Porky and Sylvester cartoons, with Sylvester as Porky’s cowardly pet trying to save him from potential danger. The other two are “Claws for Alarm” (1954) and “Jumpin’ Jupiter” (1955). Sylvester is also mute in all three as all of the dialogue is given to Porky.

This is also the first cartoon where Sylvester is finally given his name. While he was called Thomas in “Tweetie Pie”, the name presumably seemed unoriginal since in the Tom and Jerry cartoons over at MGM, that was Tom’s actual name. So it seems that with this cartoon, they were like, “If we’re going to make that lisping cat a recurring character, we’ve got to give him a more fitting name”. Clearly, “Sylvester” was the correct choice as it’s been his official name ever since.

The murderous mice share the same character designs as Hubie and Bertie.

The cartoon is in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

“Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals” plays during the scene where Sylvester fights off the mice, using a tree as a weapon to save Porky after being inspired by his conscience.

At one point, Porky says to himself that he should’ve settled on getting a dog which is ironic considering he doesn’t want to be Charlie Dog’s owner (even more ironic is that these are from the same director). Even more interesting is the fact that the very next Porky cartoon, “Awful Orphan” (1949) is Porky’s second pairing with Charlie (as well as Jones’ next cartoon).

What I Like About This One:

As they enter the house, Porky tells an already scared Sylvester that they were fortunate to find a new home as it was the only one the real estate agent had. Sylvester gets spooked by a bat and clings to Porky, who pushes him off in annoyance. When he sees the bat again, Sylvester hides in Porky’s jacket. Porky scolds him, “Oh, d-d-don’t be ridiculous. I-it’s just a little bitty old harmless bat! N-now you come out of there!” (animated by Ken Harris)

Although Porky instructs Sylvester to go into the kitchen to sleep, Sylvester clings to his back so closely that Porky doesn’t notice and also puts his pajamas over him as he goes to bed. Porky absentmindedly tells him, “G-g-goodnight, Sylvester” before realizing this: “S-Sylvester!” and booting him down the stairs. “And stay in that kitchen!” Sylvester pops out of an umbrella in a stand, and witnesses (animated by Harris) the mice marching in tune to Chopin’s “Funeral March” as they wheel a prisoner cat to his death followed by an executioner mouse (animated by Phil Monroe).

Beyond terrified at the sight, Sylvester’s pulse beats rapidly before he runs back up the stairs and ends up wrestling Porky in the bed, causing Porky to believe he’s being attacked by thieves in footpads. Realizing who it actually is, Porky says, “Sylvester. I thought I told you t-t-to-” before Sylvester acts out in pantomime what he just saw: imitating the executioner mouse by putting a sheet on his head and using a broom to imitate his ax, imitating their cat prisoner, imitating a beheading by putting a vase on his head and hitting himself in the back of the neck, causing said vase to come off, and finally imitating a trumpet rendition of “Taps”. Porky is not convinced, “What ridiculous histriono- histriono- what ridiculous acting. Get out!” Sylvester sadly points to the door to which Porky confirms, “Yes, out!” So Sylvester walks to the dresser, pulls out a pistol, and kisses Porky goodbye, threatening to shoot himself. Porky wrestles him to prevent this and upon seeing Sylvester sobbing, decides, “Well alright if you’re gonna be a big baby, you can-you can sleep up here!”, much to Sylvester’s delight (animated by Monroe).

With both in the bed, Porky tells Sylvester, “Goodnight, you c-c-cowardly Sylvester, you”. Just then the mice roll the bed out the window but it fortunately gets caught on the flagpole below said window. Unaware that they’re outside, Porky tells Sylvester to get up and close the window “l-like a good kitty”. The moment Sylvester gets out of the bed, the flagpole flings Porky and the bed back into the room. Not realizing he’s in mid-air, Sylvester shuts the window of a bird house before laying back down. It’s then that he realizes he’s in mid-air, causing him to fall and crash offscreen (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

Coming back with a lump on his head, Sylvester sees the mice about to push out an anvil from an opening hidden by a picture frame. He catches the anvil before it can land on Porky’s head, but Porky wakes up and asks, “And, uh, just WHAT were you g-g-going to do with that anvil?” Sylvester nervously looks up at it and shakes his head before Porky hits him with it offscreen and leads him back downstairs (animated by Vaughan).

Sylvester next sees the executioner mouse rolling a bowling ball down the banister (animated by Vaughan) and shoves Porky out of the way before it can hit him, only to take the hit himself. It’s revealed that Porky landed in the laundry basket, and he ends up missing it being taken down below to who knows where. Angry, Porky comes back in (animated by Monroe) and asks Sylvester why he pushed him at the exact moment Sylvester collapses from the hit. Porky assumes, “Oh, t-t-trying to work on my sympathies, huh? W-w-well, it will avail you not. You’re going back in that kitchen if I have-” He leans over to pick Sylvester up at the exact moment the executioner mouse fires a gun intended for him. Hearing the gunshot, Porky ironically assumes, “M-m-must be r-ra-r-mice!” (animated by Ben Washam)

Porky puts Sylvester in the laundry basket and ducks an arrow that was about to get him. As he walks back and comments, “I-I love this quiet old house. It’s s-so quaint a-and so quiet”, he obliviously and narrowly misses a hatchet coming out of the ground and several daggers getting stuck in the door. The laundry basket goes down with Sylvester to who knows where at 1:09 AM. Time passes and at 4:00 AM, Sylvester reemerges white as a sheet and walking in a zombie-like way, indicating the mice must have done something traumatizing to him (animated by Vaughan with Harris animating the zombie-like walk).

Hearing a realistic meow, Porky wakes up and is scared by Sylvester’s appearance: “Y-YIPE!” Porky scolds him that this is no time for comedy and to “you t-take off that disgui-disgui-you take off that makeup this minute!” As he drags Sylvester down the stairs, Porky says to himself that he should’ve gotten a “boxe-a Cockier spani-a ceili- a dog” just as the white from Sylvester comes off of him (animated by Harris).

With Sylvester clinging on to the banister and with Porky unable to pull him off, Porky has had enough: “Alright, okay. I’m g-g-oing into that kitchen by myself, and prove what a yellow dog of a cowardly cat you really are!” After Porky enters, Sylvester peeks from the corner and sees that the mice are doing another walk to the “Funeral March” and now have Porky gagged and bound as their prisoner about to be executed. As if to say “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you”, Porky holds up a sign, “You Were Right- Sylvester” (animated by Monroe).

Sylvester runs out of the mansion, scared, and stops to catch his breath (animated by Washam). His conscience appears (animated by Monroe) and with a magic wand, produces the word “Coward!” on a chart. He also reminds Sylvester of how Porky raised him as a kitten as well as a comparison between the sizes of a cat and a mouse. The reveal of the latter causes Sylvester to gain confidence, as his conscience produces the sign, “Now get in there and fight!”, another saying “FIGHT!” in large red letters and a final one saying, “FIGHT!” in even larger red letters. Fired up, Sylvester grabs a tree branch as a weapon before uprooting a whole tree to use and runs back to the mansion as his conscience waves a checkered flag. Sylvester fights off every last one of the mice with the tree as they all run away in fear with Sylvester’s conscience watching with a satisfied expression (animated by Washam).

A very relieved Porky thanks Sylvester for saving him. “You were magnifice-ce-ce-” He then sees the executioner mouse pop out of the cuckoo clock with a mallet and shouts to Sylvester to look out, but Sylvester is knocked out cold. The executioner mouse removes his hood to reveal he’s a Lew Lehr caricature and comments, “Pussycats is da cwaziest peoples!” (animated by Washam)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½