Release Date:

January 28, 1956

Main Character(s):

Sylvester, Hippety Hopper, Sylvester Jr.

Summary:

Hippety Hopper has escaped from the zoo. Meanwhile, Sylvester, unable to teach Sylvester Jr. how to catch mice due to the lack of mice in the house, is dismissive towards Jr.’s idea of using a pipe like “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” to bring in mice. When Jr. adjusts his makeshift pipe to six holes, he realizes this attracts Hippety, with him and Sylvester believing it brings in giant mice.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1337 and was released as a Looney Tune.

As McKimson’s unit was still being rebuilt (his new unit would be fully formed in the next cartoon, “Weasel Stop”), he animated a good number of scenes from this cartoon, with he and Keith Darling being credited for animation. However, there is also some animation here done by George Grandpre, who would become one of the mainstays in McKimson’s late 1950’s and early 1960’s unit, as well as Ben Washam, marking the only time the latter animated for McKimson and the last time outside of Jones’ unit.

Sylvester himself would dress up as a pied piper in Freleng’s “The Pied Piper of Guadalupe” (1961).

Warren Foster wrote this one rather than Tedd Pierce.

Richard H. Thomas did both the layouts and backgrounds.

The title is a pun for “too hot to handle”.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

This is the only time where either of the cats (Jr., in this case) finds out Hippety’s actual species as well as the only time Hippety is referred to by name.

This is also the only non-Freleng (and one of the few non-Tweety) cartoon where Sylvester gets attacked by numerous bulldogs.

I love the music over the opening credits as well as the image on the title card of Sylvester using a pogo stick to go after Hippety.

While not the official start of McKimson’s new unit (that again starts with the next cartoon), this is the first to use what would become a running phrase throughout McKimson’s late 1950’s and early 1960’s cartoons: a character exclaiming, “Sheesh!”, “Jeez!”, “Yeesh!”, or “YEEEEEEE!” whenever they’re disgusted among other things (I myself say those a lot whenever I find something revolting).

Favorite Scene:

When Sylvester gets stuck in the wall, he has Jr. try to pull him out by the tail as he demands, “Harder! Harder! Give a GOOD yank!” Hippety pulls him out effortlessly, causing Sylvester to fly backwards and destroy the fireplace. He initially believes that Jr. has “a lot of strength in those puny little muscles”, only for Jr. to inform, “I didn’t do it. The mouse did”.

What Happens in This One:

At the City Zoo, the kangaroo cage is open, with its inhabitant, Hippety, having escaped. From the exterior of his office, the zoo superintendent is heard on the phone, “Hello? What’s that? The baby kangaroo got out again? Well, get going! Find him! Get him back here!” Hippety is seen hopping his way through the city park and unknowingly ending up causing trouble for a few citizens. He jumps on the back of a nurse minding a baby, causing said nurse to assume a man minding his own business on a bench reading the newspaper touched her inappropriately. She repeatedly wallops him with her umbrella, to which the confused man asks, “What’d I do? What’d I do?” Hopping into a playground, where a father is gently moving his son on a teeter board, Hippety jumps on the other end, causing the teeter board to propel the boy up into the air, and hit the father in the chin. The boy then lands on the other end, causing the father to get hit in the chin a second time. Hippety then jumps onto the head of a worker smoothing out wet cement, knocking the worker’s head into it and him coming up with his head covered in it. A passing dog is frightened by the sight of the man’s cement-covered head and runs away (animated by Keith Darling).

Meanwhile, at their house, Sylvester is explaining to Jr., “For the thousandth time, I’m telling you, it’s impossible!” Jr. laments, “Some father I’ve got! Neglecting my education as a pussycat!” Not appreciating the drama, Sylvester reasons, “Oh, sufferin’ succotash, son! How can I teach ya how to catch mice when there ARE no mice in the house?” Jr. answers, “Well, an INGENIOUS father would figure out SOME way to attract some mice!”, to which Sylvester asks, “And just HOW pray tell could a cat attract a mouse?” (animated by Ben Washam)

Jr. replies, “Well, like it says in my storybook. That’s one way to attract mice”, as he leaves and comes back with a book. The book in question is “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, with Sylvester reading the title aloud but saying “Pie-Eyed” instead of “Pied” (animated by McKimson). Sylvester dismisses it, “Ah, that’s just a story! That never really happened!” before he leaves. Jr. makes another lament, “Now, he’s disillusioning my childlike faith in books-s-s-!” (animated by Darling)

Jr. walks into the living room where Sylvester is napping on the rug and explains, “I bet if you made a pipe like the Pied Piper’s, a million trillion mouses would come stampeding in here!” (animated by McKimson) Sylvester scoffs at it with, “Oh, bushwa! You wanna make a pipe, go ahead and make it. I’ve got other things to do!” After Jr. leaves, Sylvester comments, “Kids! YEEEEEEEEEEE!” (animated by Darling)

Outside, Jr. has constructed a pipe out of wood and has carved four holes into it, “Well, it looks alright. But I can’t see how many holes are in the Pied Piper’s pipe. Well, I’ll try it with four holes”. He plays it and a pig enters while squealing. Realizing, “Uh oh! Four holes brings in pigs!”, Jr. decides, “Okay! We’ll try five holes”, before he carves a fifth one and plays it again. Oblivious to a cow approaching him, Jr. believes, “Nothing!”, before he is startled by the cow mooing. “Oops! Six holes coming up!” Jr. carves a sixth one and his playing this time causes Hippety to enter the scene. Mistaking Hippety for a giant mouse, Jr. runs back shouting excitedly, “Father! Father!” (animated by Darling)

Back inside, Jr. attempts to wake Sylvester up by mostly rapping him with the pipe, “Father! Father! Wake up, Father! Wake up! Father, wake up! Father!” He stops to confide, “My father’s a very heavy sleeper!”, before continuing to try and wake him up, “Father, wake up! Wake up, Father! Father!” Sylvester eventually wakes up and asks, “What’s all the fuss about, son?” Jr. exclaims, “Father! It works! It works! The pipe brings in the mice!” (animated by Darling) Sylvester is skeptical about it, “Huh? Why, that’s ridiculous!”, only for Jr. to contradict, “It does so, Father! Here. Try it and see for yourself”. Sylvester takes the pipe and agrees, “Okay, I’ll show ya how wrong ya are!” before playing it himself, oblivious to Hippety coming in behind him, “See? No mice!” Jr. points behind him, “But, Dad! There’s a mouse behind you!” Expecting a regular-sized mouse, Sylvester turns around, “Behind me? Where’s the little rascal?” Upon seeing Hippety, Sylvester does a quivering take and looks at the pipe, impressed. “Hmm. My! It brings in the BIG ones, doesn’t it!?” (animated by McKimson)

Jr. tells Sylvester, “Father, this is your chance to show me how to catch a mouse. Unless he’s too big for you”. Sylvester boasts, “Too big!? Ha! There’s no mouse too big for a pussycat! Now, watch, son! Cat-like, I’ll seemingly ignore him. Then, when he least expects it, I JUMP 'EM!” He walks into another room where Hippety is and proceeds to do exactly what he said, only for Hippety to jump up, causing Sylvester to miss. Hippety then picks Sylvester up and kicks him into the wall. Jr. comes up to Sylvester’s backside sticking out of the wall, “Father! Father! Speak to me! Speak to me!”, before realizing, “Oh, silly me! That isn’t the talking end!” He walks to the other side of the wall in the living room where Sylvester’s head is sticking out, “Oh, there you are! Father, wake up! Your honor is at stake!” Dazed, Sylvester begins slurring, “Yeah. Steak. Nice, juicy, porterhouse steak”, before exclaiming, “Who? What? Where? When? Who?” Upon coming to, he instructs Jr., “Quick, son! Run around and pull me out of this mess!”, to which Jr. goes back to the other side (animated by McKimson).

Attempting to pull Sylvester out by the tail, Jr. is told by Sylvester, “Harder! Harder! Give it a GOOD yank!” Hippety pulls Sylvester out instead, causing the latter to fly backwards into the fireplace offscreen (animated by George Grandpre), destroying it. Piled up, Sylvester believes this was Jr.’s doing, “Not THAT hard!” He then tells Jr., “Say, you’ve got a lot of strength in those puny little muscles!”, before Jr. reveals, “I didn’t do it. The mouse did”. Jr. then eggs Sylvester on by attempting to shove him, “Come on, Pop! Go get him! That’s the old spirit! Show that mouse who’s boss! Go get him, Pop! Sic ‘em!” Sylvester brushes him off, “Okay, okay, stop rushing me for Heaven’s sake! I’ll get him THIS time! I haven’t been watching the wrestling matches for nothing, ya know!”, before boldly walking towards Hippety. Jr. becomes excited, “Yes, sir! THERE goes my pop!” (animated by McKimson)

Sylvester comes up to Hippety, threatening, “Okay, you asked for it!” and grunts while giving him a headlock. “Now I got ya! Now what are ya gonna do about it, huh?” Hippety begins bouncing around all over the room with Sylvester hanging on like a bucking bronco and shouting, “I knew I shouldn’t have asked him that!” With Sylvester still hanging onto him, Hippety jumps out the window and out into the distance. Going up to the window, Jr. watches as he reiterates, “Yes, sir! There goes my pop!” (animated by McKimson)

Upon coming to the end of the fence, Hippety bucks Sylvester off of him, causing the latter to fly over the fence, get flung off of a plank sticking out of a truck like a diving board and fall into the roof of a shed, sending him on a wild ride on the back of a terrified pig. During his time on the pig’s back, Sylvester ends up getting his back fur removed when ducking under a low fence, and his rear end dragged across a metal tube while the pig goes inside it. He eventually catches onto a telephone wire, which flings him backwards while the pig continues running away. Sylvester falls into the bucket of a well that sends him all the way to the bottom. Jr. gets him out, but then sees Hippety being escorted back to the zoo delivery truck that has arrived to take him home. A worker tells him while putting him in the back, “Well, back to the kangaroo cage for you, Hippety!”, which causes Jr. to accidentally drop Sylvester back into the well upon hearing this (animated by Grandpre).

Realizing, “So, that wasn’t a mouse after all”, Jr. decides, “Well, there’s only one thing to do. And let’s try seven holes in this thing and see what we get”. He carves a seventh hole into the pipe but before he can play it, Sylvester comes out of the well and takes it away, “Oh, no ya don’t! You caused enough trouble with this thing! It’s too big! To bring in little mice, you need a little pipe, like this”. He snaps it in half for it to become a seemingly appropriate size for mice, “Now, watch”. Sylvester begins playing it (animated by McKimson) while dancing away. This instead attracts hundreds of bulldogs who appear out of nowhere and begin attacking him (animated by Grandpre). Watching this, Jr. makes one final lament, “I wonder if anyone would be interested in adopting a fatherless kitten” (animated by McKimson).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½