Release Date:

June 19, 1943

Main Character(s):

Hubie and Bertie

Summary:

A rich and pampered cat is forced to care for himself after his childish pranks drive Meadows the butler to quit. Learning that mice are an essential food source, he doesn’t know what one looks like. Hubie and Bertie point him in the direction of what they claim is a mouse: a large bulldog named Rover.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “For You” played under the opening credits:

Supervision: Charles M. Jones

Story: Tedd Pierce

Animation: Rudy Larriva

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

In addition, the original titles are rumored to exist so hopefully they will be found one day.

This is the first appearance of Hubie and Bertie, a duo of Brooklyn-born mice who outwit their foes through mind games. Hubie is the smart guy who comes up with all the schemes while Bertie is the dumb one who is usually slapped around for his stupidity and often replies with “Yeah, yeah, sure, sure”. This is also the only cartoon where they are voiced by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, respectively as Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg would later take over. Hubie and Bertie would even get their own episode in HBO Max’s “Looney Tunes Cartoons” called “Frame the Feline” (2021).

In this and in their next appearance, “Roughly Squeaking” (1946), Hubie has brown fur while Bertie has gray fur. From “House Hunting Mice” (1947) onwards, their fur colors switch.

The title is a play on words for the term “aristocrat”.

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

The Internet likes to say that the cat in this cartoon is the same character as Hubie and Bertie’s later nemesis, Claude Cat (who was introduced in the 1949 cartoon “Mouse Wreckers”). I don’t know where that mindset came from, because this cat is clearly NOT Claude!

The cartoon is notable for its heavily stylized backgrounds from John McGrew.

“In an 18th Century Drawing Room” plays at the start of the cartoon while “Twilight in Turkey” plays during the fight inside the doghouse scene.

What I Like About This One:

The cat’s pranks which involve squirting Meadows in the eye with a grapefruit and then having him slip on a bar of soap while the cat takes a bath, the latter of which gets Meadows to quit (animated by Ben Washam).

When the cat finishes with his bath, he pulls on the curtain, ringing for Meadows to let him know he’s done. He gets no answer, so he rings it again, and becomes more and more agitated when he keeps getting met with no response (animated by Rudy Larriva).

Finally going downstairs himself, the cat finds a note from Meadows on the door “Madam, I’ve taken enough from that (several ink blots resembling curses) cat! I quit- Respectfully, Meadows”. The cat then walks away from the door before realizing he’s left to fend for himself (animated by Larriva). He keeps saying Meadows’ name over and over again with each cry becoming more and more desperate (animated by Ken Harris).

A book from the library then falls down in front of the cat, “Behavior of Cats by F. E. Line”. After learning mice are an essential food source, the cat practices his stalking expression in the mirror (animated by Harris).

Upon coming face to face with Hubie, the cat screams and runs away. Hubie also runs away but then stops upon realizing the cat is vulnerable upon seeing him cower in a curtain. He then scares the cat away by simply saying “Boo”, causing the cat to hide under a footstool. Hubie says “Boo” two more times causing the cat to hide under a chair and then under another chair further back (animated by Larriva).

The cat asking Hubie, “Who are you?” to which Hubie responds, “You mean you’re a cat and you don’t know who I am?” The cat shakes his head. “You don’t know WHAT I am?”, Hubie continues. When the cat shakes his head again, Hubie calls over Bertie to meet “a friend of mine”. Upon seeing it’s a cat, Bertie attempts to make a run for it until Hubie whispers to him that this cat doesn’t know what they are and gets easily scared by “boo”s. Bertie tries it, which startles the cat (animated by Robert Cannon).

Upon seeing Hubie and Bertie eating some cheese, the cat asks for some himself. Hubie tells him that cats don’t eat cheese and that what he should go after is a mouse. When the cat explains he can’t seem to locate one, they offer to help him. Hubie points outside: “There’s a mouse”- actually a large bulldog named Rover sleeping outside his doghouse. The cat is initially fearful since he’s “an awfully large mouse” but after Hubie reminds him “You’re hungry, ain’t ya? Go on, eat it!”, the cat goes after Rover (animated by Cannon).

The cat then actually tries to eat Rover by putting one of his legs in between two pieces of bread! Rover suddenly wakes up and angrily glares at him. Upon realizing Rover’s jaws are a lot larger than his own, the cat attempts to get away only for Rover to put him in between the bread pieces. The cat escapes anyway, crashes through the window, and skids to a stop in front of the same book from earlier which opens up to reveal pictures of a mouse and a dog, which are labeled “Food sources of the cat” and “Enemies of the cat” respectively (animated by Phil DeLara).

Realizing he’s been tricked, the cat chases Hubie and Bertie around the mansion, at one point accidentally mistaking his tail for one of them and taking a bite out of it. The chase leads them into Rover’s doghouse. Realizing the cat’s in there, Rover hangs a sign on the door “Caution: Dog at Work” as he proceeds to fight the cat (animated by DeLara).

The doghouse then fades into the cat’s bed. It was all a dream! The cat is relieved: “Gosh, what a terrible dream!” Rover, Hubie, and Bertie are also all in the bed with him! Rover gets in his only line of dialogue: “Yeah, wasn’t it?” (animated by Harris)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½