Release Date:

January 5, 1952

Main Character(s):

Sylvester, Hippety Hopper, Sylvester Jr.

Summary:

Hopping away in his crate intended for the zoo and upon it smashing against a tree, Hippety Hopper enters the house of Sylvester where he is teaching Sylvester Jr. “the mysteries of life”, showing him how to catch a mouse. Once again, Sylvester believes that Hippety is a giant mouse. Jr. however believes Sylvester is making this up and is embarrassed at his apparent inability to catch a little mouse.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1191 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is the first cartoon where Jr. gains his permanent voice.

This is also the first cartoon where Jr. puts a sack over his head in shame when embarrassed by Sylvester’s blunders.

The title is a pun for the phrase, “who’s kiddin’ who?”

Despite being credited, Emery Hawkins had already left the studio and therefore did not contribute to the cartoon.

In production order, this is the first McKimson cartoon to have animation by Herman Cohen.

This is the first cartoon to use the 1952-1953 blue rings with the red background.

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

I love the rendition of “Me-Ow” over the opening credits.

Favorite Scene:

Sylvester attempts to use springs from an armchair on his feet to bounce after Hippety, only for this to backfire when he follows him and jumps off of the sink, causing him to bounce up and hit the ceiling (Treg Brown’s sound effects for Sylvester’s springs and Hippety’s bouncing being heard simultaneously really stands out as well).

What Happens in This One:

Taking Hippety’s crate up to the zoo superintendent’s office, the delivery man notices an “Out to Lunch” sign on the superintendent’s door. “Out to lunch, eh? Well, I’ll just leave it right here. Heh, heh. Don’t reckon it’ll hop away” (animated by Phil DeLara). A short time afterwards, though, Hippety DOES hop away, still in his crate, bouncing down the street. A sober citizen sees the crate seemingly bouncing past him on his own, and silently smashes an alcohol bottle hidden in his jacket on the ground before quickly walking away (animated by Herman Cohen).

Still bouncing along in his crate, Hippety eventually hits a tree, which smashes the crate. He spots Sylvester’s house and hops over there, entering the basement by sliding down the coal chute (animated by Cohen). Meanwhile, Sylvester is telling Jr., “You’re getting to be a big boy now, son. And there comes a time when we must discuss some of the mysteries of life”. Misunderstanding what he means by that, Jr. asks, “Yes, Father. What do you wish to know?” Sylvester makes a take and awkwardly says, “Uh, yeah” before changing the subject back, “Uh, now, the first thing’s a cat’s gotta know is how to catch mice. And I’m just the kid that can show ya all the tricks of the trade. They don’t come tricky enough or big enough for your father!” (animated by Charles McKimson)

Jr. asks when they’re going to chase a mouse to which Sylvester looks around and shushes him. Jr. spots a mouse (“There’s one, Pop!”) exiting out of his hole and going into the kitchen. (animated by DeLara) He attempts to chase after the mouse, but Sylvester stops him, “Come back here! I’m showing YOU how to catch a mouse!” before whispering, “Now watch how I sneak up on him”. Sylvester goes into a pointer pose and walks on his other three’s (rather than all four’s) to the kitchen’s door frame (animated by Rod Scribner).

Around this same time, Hippety hops up the cellar stairs into the kitchen. He briefly spots Sylvester peeking his head out from behind the frame, so he jumps back into the darkness of the cellar where only his eyes are seen. Sylvester sees what he thinks are the eyes of a mouse hidden in the darkness and attempts to sneak up on him (animated by Cohen). Upon leaping into the cellar to get at him, Sylvester gets kicked out back into the open by Hippety who bounces into the kitchen. Seeing him fully, Sylvester believes, “I-I’m seeing things big! No mouse could be THAT big!” After Hippety dodges Sylvester’s attempts to grab him, Sylvester becomes frustrated, “Stand still! Will ya stop that bouncing around so as I can rush ya!?” Hippety pretends to comply by nodding so Sylvester gives a good running start towards him. Seeing that Hippety’s in a kicking position, Sylvester figures, “Oh, wanna fight with your feet, huh!? Well, okay! Okay!”, so he gets down on his own tail and gets into a kicking position himself. “No mouse is gonna make a monkey out of me!” Due to how strong and springy Hippety’s feet are, Sylvester’s attempt to kick him results in him flying backward (animated by Scribner) into a cabinet. Dazed, he literally imitates a monkey (animated by Cohen).

Upon regaining his senses, Sylvester runs toward Hippety again (animated by Cohen), only for Hippety to repeatedly kick him in the face (animated by Scribner). With Jr. listening in on the noise in the living room, Sylvester opens the kitchen door every time to tell him about his apparent progress after a few beatings. He first appears normal, “I’ll toss him out in a minute, son! I got him on the ropes!”, then bruised and with a partial black eye, “It’ll only be a minute now, son! He’s beggin’ for mercy!”, and then beaten up even further, “I-I got him right where he wants me now, son!” (animated by Charles)

Dazed, he staggers back into the kitchen and attempts to charge at Hippety once more, but gets kicked again and hits the wall underneath the ironing board, causing said ironing board to fall on his head, getting him dazed again. Sylvester tries to look around for Hippety but accidentally backs up against the ironing board, which flings him towards Hippety, who swats him away with his tail. This results in Sylvester being flown back into the living room (animated by DeLara).

Jr. is ashamed at Sylvester being “thrown out by a little mouse” and laments, “Wherever I go, people will point at me and say, ‘There goes the kid whose father was thrown out by a mouse”. Sylvester tells him, “Don’t talk like that, son. No mouse was ever a match for your father!” and then shakes his fist towards the kitchen, “I’ll show that bouncing upstart!” (animated by Charles) The word “bouncing” gives him an idea as he takes some springs out from an armchair and puts them on his feet. He then follows Hippety with the springs still on. After Hippety jumps off the sink, Sylvester does the same, only for the springs to cause him to bounce all the way up into the ceiling, bumping his head. Landing back on the ground, the springs then cause Sylvester to spring forward towards Hippety, who kicks him back into the living room (animated by Cohen).

Shocked, Jr. exclaims, “Father! What kind of a father have I that won’t back his little son up?” Sylvester dizzily staggers around after getting up, “Yeah. Sunup. That’s it. Sunup. Sunup”. Regaining his senses, Sylvester begins to explain, “No, no. Now wait a minute, son! (animated by Cohen) You don’t understand! This mouse is a monster! A giant king-sized mouse!” Jr. then laments, “Oh, now everybody will say, ‘There goes the kid whose father is a liar!’” (animated by Charles) Sylvester yells in annoyance, “I am NOT lying!” just before Hippety passes by the doorway. Sylvester has Jr. look for himself, but Jr. only sees the mouse from earlier sneak by (animated by Cohen).

Jr. shamefully puts a sack over his head. Sylvester asks, “Now what’s the big idea of THAT?” Jr. answers, “I’m ashamed to show my face in public!” Sylvester takes the sack off and yells, “Now cut that out!” before reverting to calm and giving him a lollipop, “Look, son. Let’s just forget about the whole thing, shall we? Here, have a nice juicy lollipop”. Before taking a lick from said lollipop, Jr. states, “First cowardice, then lying, and now bribery”. Deciding to be “the mouse-catcher for this family” (animated by Cohen up to here), Jr. spots the mouse he attempted to chase earlier and figures he can easily catch him with a sheet of flypaper. The mouse disappears into the basement with Jr. following with the flypaper. Hippety looks down to see what’s going on, which causes Sylvester to falsely believe, “Eee! The monster mouse is after my only son!” (animated by DeLara)

Sylvester shouts, “Oh, no ya don’t!” and grabs hold of Hippety, sending them both tumbling down the basement stairs. As Jr. wonders, “Now where’d that mouse go!?”, he sees Sylvester and Hippety rolling towards him before they land on him. Sylvester remains on the stairs at the bottom but Hippety finds Jr. stuck under the flypaper on his stomach, much to his shock (animated by DeLara). Upon getting up, Sylvester wonders, “Jr? Are you alright?” and lets out an overdramatic scream upon seeing Hippety bouncing around with Jr. and the flypaper on his stomach. Sylvester laments, “Now, people will point at ME and say, ‘There goes the cat whose only son was swallowed by a mouse’” and puts a sack over his own head, “Oh, the shame of it!” (animated by Scribner) Unbeknownst to Sylvester, Jr. pops out from the flypaper unharmed, licking his lollipop and sharing it with Hippety (animated by Charles).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½