For Scent-imental Reasons

Pepe Le Pew chases a female cat through a perfume shop, until an unexpected event reverses their roles. Sometimes, I interpret Pepe Le Pew as the sort of person whose attitude turns people off without him realizing it, much like Pepe can't help that he smells terrible. After all, isn't it good enough that he at least tries to strike up relationships with women? But even ignoring that, "For Scent-imental Reasons" is still a classic cartoon. I will say that there's a scene - you'll know it if you see the cartoon - that seems a little strange to put in a cartoon. But on the other hand, these cartoons weren't really intended as cute entertainment for children; they always had an edge. Anyway, this one definitely deserved its Oscar win.

Le meow. Le purr. Ha!

Chuck Jones's 'For Scent-imental Reasons' is a brilliantly witty cartoon for which Pepe Le Pew won a well earned Academy Award on only his fourth outing. As a child I hated the Pepe Le Pew cartoons for several reasons. Of course, I thought love was yucky but also the pseudo-French gags and more verbal approach to comedy went completely over my head. Bearing in mind that these sexually charged cartoons were never meant for young eyes, it's hardly surprising that I have come round to loving Pepe and his straight-to-camera witticisms. Having said all that, even as a Pepe-hating child I still enjoyed 'For Scent-imental Reasons'. There was something about it that made it stand out over the other Le Pew shorts and clearly the Academy agreed.

Set in and around a perfume shop, 'For Scent-imental Reasons' finds Penelope the cat locked in with the amorous skunk after a bottle of white hair-dye bestows the obligatory deceptive markings down her spine. There follows a series of great gags, two of which involve aborted suicides! The best gag in the whole cartoon is when Penelope locks herself in a glass case causing Pepe to go absolutely insane with frustration until finally he pulls out a gun, puts it to his temple and walks out of sight. Hearing the shot, the guilt-ridden cat unlocks the case and leaps out straight into Pepe's arms. "I meesed" he tells her! 'For Scent-imental Reasons' is a lovely piece of work and undoubtedly one of the best Pepe Le Pew cartoons. From its familiar setup through to the table-turning ending, it's a classy and classic short.

I quite like the Pepe Le Pew cartoons, and I quite like Pepe himself for how unique and how he stands out among the rest. For Scent-imental Reeasons is a very classy cartoon and one of Pepe Le Pew's best. From the hilarious beginning and familiar set-up to the classic talking through the class gag and the ending which is a table-turner, For Scent-imental Reasons works so well. Complete with beautiful, elegant looking animation, lilting and amorous music that couldn't have been more perfect for the cartoon's tone, fresh dialogue, very funny gags and Mel Blanc's infectious vocals particularly as Pepe, you have a near masterpiece. Pepe is wonderful and gives one of his best performances, and Penelope is not shabby either. In conclusion, classy and entertaining, perhaps it could have been longer, but so much works you don't necessarily mind. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Like just about every Pepe Le Pew cartoon, there's a female cat who's mistaken for a skunk because of white paint that conveniently forms a straight line on the cat's back. As a result, Pepe falls madly in love with her while she is repelled and tries to escape with her running frantically and he just hopping along without a care in the world. That's the premise of the nearly whole series in a nutshell but this one has a twist at the end that makes For Scent-imental Reasons somewhat worthy of the Oscar it eventually won. In fact, I was pretty amused throughout most of the cartoon. And I always wonder how much of the French was real and how much of it was gibberish! Ah well, Say la vie!

I'll be totally honest. I was never a big fan of Pepe Le Pew. Every one of his cartoons is the same. For some silly reason a cat will end up a white stripe on it's back and Pepe, a smelly skunk, falls in love with her. His foul scent is so strong that when he grabs her and unleashes an endless barrage of kisses, she can only become like butter in his arms with a dazed look on her face. Occasionally she will try to escape and Pepe will fob it off with something like 'You are play-eeng hard-to-geet'. Blah, blah, blah, they are all the same.

Grant, this one was the first and it won an Oscar. But that was probably the reason they made so many more. This one does have a funny twist at the end when Pepe's love falls into a barrel of water and emerges like crack-addicted rat and the tables are turned. But it's still not really THAT funny. Pepe was only ever a supporting character and never strong enough to carry a whole cartoon.

He IS very cute though.