Release Date:

July 11, 1953

Main Character(s):

Pepe Le Pew

Summary:

A red-haired female wildcat escapes from the zoo, and in order to avoid being recaptured, paints herself to look like a skunk. Pepe Le Pew mistakes her for a king-sized female skunk and pursues her, only for her to maul him up wildly every time he attempts to make love to her.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1249 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is a standout Pepe cartoon in that his object of desire is a wildcat, so he ends up getting some significant abuse in this one. In typical Pepe fashion, though, he is still undeterred.

This is the first Pepe cartoon to have layouts by Maurice Noble.

This is also the first cartoon to have animation by Abe Levitow and Richard Thompson (both of whom would become more prominent in 1955).

The cartoon features a “Pepe Le Pew in” title card that only appears in this one and in his next appearance, “The Cats Bah” (1954).

This is the only Pepe cartoon after “For Scent-imental Reasons” where Pepe does not pursue Penelope.

This is the first time where Pepe obliviously kills flowers with his odor.

At one point, a warning sign reading, “No Pate de Fois Grass” is shown. While the sign is there as a warning to keep off the grass, this is actually the name of a French delicacy.

I love the rendition of “The Latin Quarter” over the opening credits.

Favorite Scene:

While hiding from Pepe in a fortune teller’s palace, the wildcat soon encounters Pepe disguised as the fortune teller who informs that she will meet “a small, dark male who will bring romance into your drab existence”. She runs out, only for Pepe to appear next to her disguised as the gentleman he was talking about. “Amazing how those fortune tellers know, is it not?” After she attacks him and runs away, Pepe just says, “Flirt”.

What Happens in This One:

At “Le Exposition Paree d’ 1900” with subtitles translating it as “The Paris Exposition of 1900”, a tour guide is calling attention to various citizens for a tour of “Le Grande Tour du Zoo”. He announces, “See les animals tres ferocious. Rowr-rowr. Le giraffe tres tall. Le pygmy tres short” (animated by Richard Thompson).

The first animal presented is “ Le Animal Unique: Le Hyena Ha Ha”. The hyena replies with a literal and hilariously flat, “Le ha ha”. The tour guide then approaches the wildcat’s cage, “Caution! Attende Le Animal Ferocious. Le Wilde Catte”. He turns around to find the cage broken open, revealing that the wildcat has torn her way out and escaped, much to the tour guide’s horror. He exclaims something in French, and then says, “Le wild pussee escapee vous!” Everyone runs away screaming in fear, while a paperboy announces while holding a newspaper about the wildcat’s disappearance, “Le extray! Le extray! Reade vous all about it! Le extray! Le extray!” The headline reads, “Catte De Wilde on Le Loose!” (animated by Thompson)

The next scene fades in to where the wildcat has left a path of destruction in her way as the camera pans to a sign reading “No Pate De Fois Grass”. The wildcat peeks out three times from behind the sign before sneaking off behind a tree and then into a bush. She silently panics upon seeing a French animal control man and his dog looking for her with a net to take her back, but then gets an idea upon seeing a can of black paint and a can of white paint next to a freshly painted guard house. The animal control man and his dog make a frightened take upon seeing the wildcat who has painted herself to look like a skunk. They mistake her for “Le giant skunk de pew!” and run off (animated by Abe Levitow up to here). The wildcat sighs in relief before napping in a bed of flowers (animated by Ben Washam).

Meanwhile, Pepe is walking along singing “Billy Boy” with altered lyrics and obliviously killing flowers with his odor while doing so, “Can you kiss a pretty girl, Pepe boy, Pepe boy? Can you kiss a pretty girl, charming Pepe?” He stops to chuckle to the audience, “That’s silly”, before continuing, “I can kiss a pretty girl before she shake a pretty curl. I’m a young thing and cannot leave my mother”. With a very beautiful rendition of “Cherie, I Love You” playing in the background, Pepe spots the wildcat and mistakes her for “Le king-sized belle femme skunk”. He ecstatically declares, “Acres and acres of her and she is mine, all mine!”, with the pink smoke from his dashing off forming into a heart with an arrow in it. The wildcat is woken up by Pepe embracing her and making love, “Ah, my great bundle of sweetness. It is love, love, love at sight first, no, is it not, no yes? Ah, ze mad rush of hot blood to ze tempas! Ah, golden girl, you are ze corn beef to me, I am ze cabbage to you!” He begins kissing hard, so the wildcat mauls him. Slightly disheveled, Pepe just says happily, “I like it”, before getting up and walking after her, “Come back, small one, come back! Ze corn beef do not run away from ze cabbage!” (animated by Washam)

The wildcat turns a corner and hides in the fortune teller “Ali Zaza”’s palace as Pepe is heard saying, “Where are you hiding, pigeon? I am seeking it to find you!” Pepe then passes by the fortune teller’s palace as he says, “Un-secrete yourself, queen bee! Wherever you are!” The wildcat lets out a “Le (sigh of relief)” when he passes by, only to immediately see Pepe disguised as a fortune teller, leaning over the crystal ball, “You are a very fortunate woman. You are going to meet a small, dark male who will bring romance into your drab existence”. She runs out, only to encounter Pepe disguised as the very gentleman he was talking about. “Amazing how those fortune tellers know, is it not?”, he asks. Pepe catches her in another embrace, “Ah, you fortunate, lucky girl, you” and begins smooching, only for her to maul him again. After she runs off, an undeterred Pepe remarks, “Flirt” (animated by Ken Harris).

Pepe next walks into a wax museum singing a variant of “Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be”: “Oh dear, what can ze matter be?; Oh dear, what can ze matter be?; Oh, dear, what is ze matter?; My love is so long at ze fair; She promised to bring me a bunch of big kisses; She promised to bring me a bunch of kisses”. The wildcat is shown posing as a fur around the neck of the statue of Marie Antoinette. Pepe is then seen as the raccoon-skin cap atop the head of the statue of Daniel Boone, “Annie, I am waiting but WHERE are those kisses?” The wildcat runs off when Pepe continues singing, “My love is so long at ze fair”. Pepe confides to the audience, “All is love in fair and war” (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

The wildcat then hides in a knight’s armor in the hall, “Le Hall De L’Armour To Jour L’Armour”. As she is heard panting from inside the helmet with only her eyes visible, Pepe suddenly appears next to her, “Hello, baby. Close quarters, no?” She mauls him from inside the armor, causing it to fly up into the air and come back down incorrectly arranged. Pepe comes out dazed, “I hope I hold out” (animated by Vaughan).

The wildcat next hides in “Tudor-Sedan de Madame Pompadour”, a replica of Madame Pompadour’s carriage (animated by Thompson), only to find Pepe already in there in disguise, “I am Little Bobe Romelle, no?” He then runs up to her and starts making love to her offscreen, “Oh, my darling. Oh, ze amour. Ze beautiful musics. Ah, ze-”, but he gets mauled once more by the wildcat, who runs out again. A beaten up Pepe ponders to himself before indicating it drove him wild with his change of tone, “I ask myself, ‘Pepe, is it worth it?’ I answer, myself, ‘Yes! Yes! It IS worth it, Pepe! Vive l’amour!” He dashes off with his smoke forming the shape of Cupid about to shoot an arrow (animated by Washam).

Pepe does his hopping on all four’s after the wildcat, who gets more and more tired from running. The wildcat enters a hot air balloon and slices the ropes holding it down with her claws, allowing her to escape in it (animated by Levitow). She sighs in relief, but her relief is short-lived as Pepe suddenly appears in the basket next to her, “Lovely view, is it not?” He starts romancing her once more, “Come, darling. This thing is bigger than we are. We must fight it no longer!” and begins smooching her very hard. The wildcat gives him one final mauling. Pepe, with a black eye, asides, “If you have not tried it, do not knock it”, before he continues getting mauled as the balloon continues soaring up into the sky (animated by Washam).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕