El Gato Pájaro

Along with Max Fleischer, former Disney animator David Hand, and Japan's Hayao Miyazaki, Chuck Jones is one of my favorite animators, and this short is one of my favorite shorts from the late 1950s. An elderly mother eagle, in my opinion, raised a sweet-tempered kitten with maternal instincts. He flys by using his tail like a propeller. When he leaves the nest to explore the outside world, he falls in love with a lovely little girl kitten after rescuing her from a vicious bulldog.

I just love the backgrounds with their vivid colors. My favorite scenes are when our hero (The Flying Kitten) wants to join a chorus of blackbirds (tweet, tweet, tweet, meow). But when they see him, they are so frightened that they bump right into each other, even when they fly away. And also, when our canine nemesis tries to pounce on our hero but our hero is too quick for him, during the struggle he uses his propeller-like tail to get away, and the dog finds himself biting his own leg!

All in all, I love every bit of it. It has got tenderness, the love he shares with his adopted mother and his sweetie, and sorrow when he says goodbye when he leaves his first home and when he flies south every fall (being part bird). But every spring, he returns, and his girlfriend awaits him at the airport, as in the myth of Persephone and the origin of the seasons.

When I took a class about Alfred Hitchcock's movies, we talked about how a really good device in movies is when you can tell a story without words. While Chuck Jones's "Go Fly a Kit" has some narration, it consists mostly of imagery, and not surprisingly comes out very well because of that.

The cartoon tells the story of a cat adopted by a mother eagle. She teaches him to fly, and after initially plummeting off the cliff, he realizes that he can twirl his tail around to achieve aviation. Well, like all children eventually must do, he has to leave home so as to make his own way in life. That's when he lands on a telephone wire and sees a bulldog chasing a female cat. So, our feline hero springs into action in a manner that I never would have imagined.

I have to say that I really consider this one of the cartoons that only Chuck Jones could pull off. Aside from the facial expressions - ranging from bittersweet to zany - some of the POV shots are nearly mystifying. It just goes to show that there will probably never be another director like Chuck Jones (at least not our lifetime). I recommend this one.

There's a lot to like about this cartoon. For starters, it has an original and very imaginative story: a cat who's taught to fly by a maternal eagle. I also loved the sweet relationship between the two cats, which was unusual for a cartoon from this period. The animation was well-drawn, and the colours were rich and beautiful. The musical score was lovely and well-suited to the action.

But one thing ruined this cartoon for me: the ending. Although the bulldog was the villain in this short, his fate--stuck on top of a very high building with no way to get down again and nobody to help him (and how would anyone even SEE him up there?)--was far too cruel and mean-spirited. It really ruined this cartoon for me.

I wish I could reach through the screen and rescue that poor bulldog! No villain deserves this!

A cat who can fly -- can't get more original than that premise. While a lot could be done with the theme, this cartoon tells a story that gets better and better as the story is told, until, at the end, the most satisfying ending imaginable is provided.

Endearing doesn't begin to sum it up.

Odd little cartoon, even for Chuck Jones, about a cat, raised by eagles, who flies by whirling his tail around. Sort of like a reversed Pepe Le Pew, full of cute little bits and a large bulldog to torment. A treat for cat lovers.