Release Date:

October 15, 1949

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A hungry cat eagerly awaits the annual return of the swallows in Capistrano, and ends up getting outsmarted by the swallows’ very clever advance scout.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1100 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is the only Warner cartoon released in 1949 to be a one-shot.

The cat resembles the Supreme Cat from “Paying the Piper”.

The title is a pun for “follow the leader”.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

The cartoon was originally titled “A Swallow Swallowed”.

This is McKimson’s first attempt at making a cat and bird cartoon. He would do so again the following year with his masterpiece, “It’s Hummer Time”.

This is one of the few postwar cartoons to utilize Robert Bruce as the narrator.

What I Like About This One:

After the narrator explains the strange manifestation of the swallows annually at San Juan, Capistrano, he explains about how they uncannily arrive on the same day every year- March 19. “Bird lovers come from far and near to witness this phenomenon. And no matter what time the swallows arrive, there is always a lover of birds waiting to greet them” (animated by Charles McKimson).

He is of course referring to the cat, who is scatting to “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano” while dressed up in a cook’s outfit along with a sign, “Welcome Home Swallers” and also using two glass bottles as binoculars. Upon seeing something, the cat runs so fast that he runs out of his outfit over to his radar and TV monitor, revealing that the advance scout is to arrive very soon (animated by Charles). Excited, the cat cartwheels backward several times and clicks his heels (animated by Phil DeLara).

The cat puts out several nests along with signs all claiming them to be taken (animated by Charles), and disguises his mouth as the only “vacant” nest, covering up the remainder of his body with a green blanket (animated by DeLara).

The advance scout lands in, finding all of the nests apparently taken, before walking up to the disguised cat (animated by Pete Burness). Noticing the strange mouth-like bottom of the “nest” complete with fangs, the advance scout puts a jack-in-the-box into the nest, which results in the cat swallowing it and said jack-in-the-box repeatedly popping around inside his mouth (animated by DeLara). Eventually, the jester from the jack-in-the-box pops out of the cat’s mouth as the advance scout emerges from it with a mallet, crowning the cat with it (animated by John Carey).

The cat chases the advance scout with a net, but doesn't pay attention to his surroundings and nearly falls off the flagpole, which the advance scout makes happen by means of putting a brick in the cat’s net (animated by Carey).

The advance scout then paints the metal swallow on the fountain to look like himself and after pushing it off and struggling to carry it, puts it out in the open where the cat will see it. The cat seems realizes immediately that he’s been tricked after swallowing it and it lands in his stomach with a clang (animated by DeLara). Using a super-magnet, the advance scout uses it (animated by Charles) to torment the cat further by having the attraction drag the cat up the stairs through one of the village houses, out the back door, through a garden fountain, up a ladder with the cat’s behind hitting each rung, across the roof, and down to the ground (animated by DeLara). The cat attempts to stop his body getting attracted to the magnet by holding a mirror in front of him, but the advance scout tosses the magnet to the other side (animated by Charles), where the magnet zooms up to the cat, attaching itself to the cat’s behind. The cat tosses it away and attempts to protect himself by standing in front of a ground flagpole but he ends up trapped when the magnet gets attached to him once more. The advance scout pushes several large rocks off a ramp and down onto a makeshift teeter board which causes the cat to be propelled up several times like a test-your-strength game (animated by Burness).

The cat later gives a “come here” gesture to the advance scout, but the advance scout, who’s perched on a wire, shakes his head no before making a wild take at what the cat is attempting next (animated by Charles). Said attempt is putting on makeshift wings to enable him to fly, but the advance scout blows him back with an electric fan, causing him to fall backwards off the roof. Chasing him up the ladder with a rifle, the cat’s shots all result in him falling back and forth on the ladder several times. He then chases the advance scout into a large bell which the advance scout strikes once the cat is inside said bell (animated by Carey).

The cat dresses up in a Superman outfit to go after the advance scout, but the advance scout attaches the hook to a rope for the spring in a well in the yard onto the cat’s costume. Once the spring reaches its limit, the cat is pulled into the well, with the advance scout cranking him out as the cat looks at him with an unamused expression (animated by Burness).

The cat sets up an electric floor and puts an ear of corn on it, but while he’s setting it up (animated by DeLara), the advance scout is there, ready to pull the switch (animated by Charles). Before the cat can step off, he gets an electric shock (animated by DeLara), causing the corn to pop into his face (animated by Charles).

The advance scout finds a random nest “for rent” and jumps into it, only to find it this was a booby trap for him to get stuck on a sheet of flypaper (animated by DeLara, with Burness animating the shot of the advance scout trying to get his feet unstuck). As the cat taunts him, a large shadow looms overhead (animated by DeLara), as the rest of the squadron has arrived, much to his horror (animated by Carey), as they initiate a power dive (animated by Charles). He attempts to make a run for it (animated by Carey), but the swallows zoom down (animated by Charles) and attack him live dive bombers. He ducks for cover under a bench but more swallows dive bomb him from the other direction (animated by Carey). With several forming the shape of a plane, one swallow flies out of it and drops tacks on the ground (animated by Burness), which the cat steps on while running away (animated by Carey). They next drop bulbs on him as he trips over a low fence, (animated by Charles) before they pick him up into the air (animated by Carey) and then drop him (animated by Charles).

Piled up by a sign announcing “You Are Now Leaving San Juan, Capistrano”, the cat comes to and angrily raves, “I came here for a swallow and I’m NOT leaving until I GET a swallow!” He then spots what he’s apparently looking for via a sign saying “Swallows 50 Feet” and goes over there- where he drinks at the bar, “Sloppy Jose’s”, labeled as “the best swallow in town” (animated by Charles). The cat ends up drunk and staggers past the city limits while singing and hiccuping to “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano” (animated by Burness).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½