The Last Hungry Cat

Failing to come up with a parody name for Alfred Hitchcock, a silhouetted bear has to suffice without an introduction. This nameless narrator presents a story of ‘Birder': While Granny is across the hall visiting with Mrs. Bitts, Sylvester the alleycat grabs his chance to break into her house and get that Tweety bird. The clumsy cat knocks himself cold and comes to with a yellow feather stuck in his mouth. For some reason this makes him believe he actually got rid of that helpless little blue eyed menace to society (as the narrator puts it).

Back in his dump of a home where everything is run down and askew. (I love the triangular chair), the voice of Hitch keeps reminding Sly of his horrible crime. Newspaper headlines involving a criminal nicknamed ‘the cat' and ominous radio announcements only add to the confusion. The guilty conscience forced upon Sylvester by the bear ensures a greater reliance on verbal gags than usual, but this allows the viewer a deeper insight into the felines tormented soul.

It becomes a bit of a guilty pleasure to see poor Sly being manipulated like this. After all he is only a pussycat. He takes up smoking, drinks pots full of coffee and swallows buckets of sleeping pills. Where he gets all this from no one knows (but I suspect the narrator). He even rubs the little green pills all over himself before giving us his patented 'I'm weak, I'm weak' routine from "Bird Anonymous" (1957). Tweety Pie is hardly in it, but is never missed. When the pussycat finally does decide to give himself up, both he and the silhouetted bear end up with a headache.

8 out of 10

One of the final Sylvester and Tweety shorts of the classic era for Looney Tunes. This one parodies Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with a Hitchcock-inspired bear narrating a story where Sylvester believes he has killed Tweety and feels guilty over it. A clever and funny short that ranks pretty high on my list of favorite Looney Tunes from the '60s, which was not their best decade as quality was deteriorating across the board.

The animation is excellent with a lovely noirish style to it. I didn't even mind the sketchy backgrounds this time as it fit well here. Love the colors, particularly the purples and blues. The music is great and used fittingly throughout the story. The incomparable Mel Blanc does great work, as usual. Ben Frommer did the voice for the Hitchcock bear and I thought it was a poor job. I'm not sure why Blanc didn't do it as he did quite a few impressions and I doubt he could have done worse than Frommer, who sounds less like Hitch and more like a guy with a stuffy nose. The gags and dialogue are very funny, especially in the back and forth between Sylvester and the narrator. This is a different type of short than you likely expect from Sylvester and Tweety (who's barely in it), but it works well.

I've known for years that the people behind the classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons liked to spoof the popular culture of the era, but I never would have guessed that they made a cartoon parodying "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Friz Freleng's "The Last Hungry Cat" is it. It starts with a bear entering an outline and explaining what's about to happen. Then comes the story. After Sylvester sneaks into Tweety's room and through a mix-up mistakenly thinks that he's eaten the little guy, he proceeds to go about his normal life. Except that he hears on TV that the police are looking for a killer known as The Cat, and everything reminds him of this. A Hitchcock movie indeed! So, while it is true that the Looney Tunes era was winding down by 1961, they still managed to turn out some good ones towards the end. They knew how to have just the right amount of twisted sensibility without degenerating into bad taste. This is one that you should like. And also watch Hitch's "Blackmail" to get a good feeling for what this cartoon portrays.

Despite some very cheap looking animation and a running gag involving a dreadful Alfred Hitchcock impersonation, Friz Freleng's 'The Last Hungry Cat' is a fetchingly dark little offering. I always hated Freleng's version of Tweety (as opposed to Bob Clampett's wonderful original take on the character) and am always glad when Tweety doesn't feature much in his own cartoons. 'The Last Hungry Cat' is just such a cartoon as it opens with Sylvester mistakenly believing he has murdered Tweety in a parody of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Guilted by the Hitchcock voice-over into mistakenly believing the police are pursuing him, Sylvester experiences a long, dark night of the soul. 'The Last Hungry Cat' is largely a one character cartoon, offering a diversion from the usually dull chase formula of Sylvester and Tweety cartoons for a more satisfying glimpse into the pussy cat's psyche. While the execution of the cartoon may not match the inventiveness of the script, it doesn't entirely detract from the enjoyment and 'The Last Hungry Cat' emerges as an extremely engaging and enjoyable cartoon. If only it had been made during the Warner Bros. animation heyday instead of in 1961, it could have been a masterpiece. As it is, 'The Last Hungry Cat' is a flawed but compelling oddity.

It is Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat. There is a Hitchcockian narrator. Sylvester sneaks in and tries to eat Tweety. It goes badly and Sylvester gets knocked out. He wakes up and assumes that he did eat Tweety. The narrator accuses him of murder. At first, he is dismissive, but the guilt slowly overwhelms him.

I am fine with the Hitchcock narrator. It could have taken the horror path. Instead, it is going with existential dread which doesn't really fit a cartoon. I would have Sylvester surrendering himself to animal control and he could then be surprised by a visit from Tweety. That would work better.