Gay Purr-ee

In 1890s in the south of France, Mewsette (Judy Garland) lives a simple existence as a farm cat with her boyfriend Jaune Tom (Robert Goulet) who is often prone to mousing with his friend Robespierre (Red Buttons). When Mewsette learns of the glamour of Paris from her owner's sister, she becomes disillusioned with "plebian" existence and angrily rejects a mouse from Juane Tom that leaves him feeling dejected. Angered with Mewsette's outburst, Robespierre tells Mewsette to go to Paris if she's so miserable which she does by stowing away in the baggage of the departing buggy. When Jaune Tom learns that Mewsette has left he sets out for Paris intent on finding her with Robespierre in tow. Meanwhile Mewsette arrives in Paris and meets Meowrice (Paul Frees) who claims he can help turn her into a proper Parisian unaware he has his sights set on an underhanded and lucrative matchmaking deal.

Gay Purr-ee is a 1962 animated musical from UPA and distributed by Warner Bros. Which marked the second and final animated feature project of UPA as well as the first animated feature to be distributed by Warner Bros. UPA originally setup the project at United Artists but took it to Warner Bros. After financing was taking too long to get together. With Judy Garland cast as one of the leads at her suggestion Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg who wrote the songs for the Wizard of Oz were brought on at her suggestion. The male lead had initially been positioned for Gene Kelly who dropped out before production began and Elvis Presley had been considered as a possible replacement until Robert Goulet was secured who took a week long hiatus from performing in a Broadway production of Camelot to record the role. While the film received positive reviews at the time and was given an aggressive promotional push by Warner Bros., contemporary sources claim the film's box office was underwhelming and the financial failure of the film was a contributing factor to UPA to abandon animation. There's some good elements on display in Gay Purr-ee, but they come more from the strength of the art direction and voice work rather than the sum of the movie itself.

Artistically speaking while the movie features simpler shapes and more limited animation in comparison to the productions of Walt Disney's productions, the way in which Paris is realized is quite unique and colorful and you can see why the film was critically lauded for its art direction. One particularly standout sequence involves a scene where Meowrice is describing several paintings of Mewsette by notable artistic figures ranging from Vincent Van Gogh to Pablo Picaso where Mewsette is not only rendered in the style of each painter, but we also get some background on the artistic processes involved. With Robert Goulet and Judy Garland in the voice cast, it should surprise no-one that the music and voice acting is really on point with even comedic songs like "Bubbles" (a song about getting drunk on champagne) catchy and pleasing to listen to thanks to Goulet's voice. The actual plot of the movie is where I feel things start to unravel, from a worldbuilding perspective there's really no reason the characters are cats and when you have strange aspects like the fact these cats care about human currency or background gags of cats wearing clothes while the main characters act like real cats, it doesn't really create much of a sense of immersion. Character motivations also aren't especially well conveyed particularly with Mewsette herself and I think having Jaune Tom and Mewsette together at the beginning of the film undercuts the narrative to a degree.

While there's some solid work on display in Gay-Purr-ee especially in regards to its voice cast and art direction, on a story level it feels like it's lacking in polish and refinement. The movie's worth a look for fans of Goulet and Garland as well as animation fans but it's decidedly less than the sum of its parts.

There are a few excellent points about this movie. Garland's voice sounds great here. The animation is quite unique, in that most of the backgrounds and such look like something out of an Impressionist painting, and are very beautiful. Red Buttons is very cute as Jaune-Tom's (Robert Goulet) small sidekick. The Harburg/Arlen songs are excellent, and they work nearly as well with Judy here as they did in The Wizard of Oz (1939), that marvel that truly started her entire career. The story is a little low on magic, but is pretty charming, and small children will like it. All in all, a treat for fans of Garland, Goulet, Harburg and Arlen, and original animation style.

It has everything! Action, romance (well, between two cartoon cats!)and adventure, in a family viewable arena! The children will adore this classic, I can practically gaurentee that! And the adults will laugh and cry along with it, cheering on the little Robespierre with his small body and lion's heart. Jon-Tom's tail and whiskers twitching as "The best mouse catcher in all of Paris!" spots a rodent hundreds of feet away (but never actually kills one). The pretty Mewsette who wants more than she can handle and ends up getting into trouble for it. Madame Rubinschottz, the large, pink cat of ill repute with the long eyelashes and big, red lips who sends out the despicable Meowrice, the scoundrel who is to bring a lovely kitty (Mewsette) into her fold. And lest we forget the "Money-Cats" (the scraggly, silly, bumbling black alley cats who shake their cat-behinds on the rooftops to the tune of "The money-cat knows where the money-tree grows"!). This cartoon feature is like those famous potato chips that claim you cant eat just one. Once you see this film, you will *always* want to go back!

I personally absolutely love this movie. I do think the title is rather odd though, but everything else is simply terrific. Gay Purr-ee is sophisticated, witty and charming and I have never tired watching it. I love Judy Garland, and think her performances in The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St Louis and A Star is Born are timeless. Chuck Jones is a terrific animation director as well, who has directed some of the best cartoons in existence in my opinion. And I love cats, they are cute, clever and lovely animals, and asides from Gay Purr-ee other great cat movies are The AristoCats(a film I always see this film compared to) and especially Felidae which is quite a different kettle of fish.

Gay Purr-ee is simply terrific. The animation is lovely, the visual style is unique and colourful and I loved the character designs of especially Mewsette and Meowrice, Mewsette is beautiful and charming and Meowrice is quite sophisticated. The story is always engaging, it is a very simple story, but the simplicity works wonders, plus it is never devoid of charm. The dialogue has its fair share of wit too, very rarely does it feel forced or trite. The characters are likable, I have always had a soft spot for Meowrice myself and Robespierre is so cute. The pacing is brisk, and I loved the inspired scene with the impressionist painters especially Van Gogh.

My favourite assets though of Gay Purr-ee are the music and the voice work. The music is simply terrific. Harold Arlen and EG Harburg are one of the finest songwriting collaborations, and I loved their work here. The incidental music is very nice, and the overture is wonderful. Little Drops of Rain and Roses Red, Violets Blue are delightful, but my favourite is Paris is a Lonely Town which is quite touching. And of course the voice work is superb. This film is more than a showcase for Judy Garland's talents despite what some might think. She sings beautifully and she gives Mewsette a certain modesty and humanity that came through either when she was speaking or singing. Robert Goulet has a beautiful voice and Jean Tom avoids being bland thanks to the charm Goulet brings. Red Buttons is like his character Robespierre, cute and funny, while the wonderful Paul Frees is outstanding as Meowrice. And it was nice to hear Mel Blanc's distinctive voice again too.

Overall, charming, witty, sophisticated and I think unfairly underrated animated film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Animation historians may have heard of the studio called United Productions of America. They were best known for creating animated shorts such as the Oscar-winning Gerald McBoing-Boing, the suspenseful short adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart narrated by James Mason, and the Mr. Magoo television series. They've made two animated features during their run. The first was the 1959 loose adaptation of 1001 Arabian Nights released under Columbia. The second one became the 1962 film Gay Purr-ee, released under Warner Brothers and directed by Abe Levitow, who has worked on many a Looney Tunes short with his partner Chuck Jones prior to this.

Set in France in the 1890s, also known as the Gay '90s as the title implies, the film is about Mewsette (Judy Garland in her only voice role), a country feline living on a farm with the mouser Jaune-Tom (Robert Goulet in his film debut) and his partner, a small blue kitten named Robespierre (Red Buttons). However, tired of her farm life, she hears about the beauty of living in the city of Paris, and decides to run away and catch the train. She is introduced by a black-and-white schemer named Meowrice (I swear, I'm not making that name up), not knowing that he has some rather slimy plans for her. Jaune-Tom learns of Mewsette's departure from Robespierre and they head for Paris to try and find her.

Even though the film is animated, it is, at heart, a musical, on par with many other musical films released before this, including the ones that also star Judy Garland. In fact, all of the songs written for the picture were done by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, the same duo who wrote the songs for the beloved 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz. Even after 23 years, their songwriting still held water, with songs like the uplifting "Roses Red, Violets Blue", and the slower ballads like "Take My Hand Paris", "Little Drops of Rain", and my favorite one of them all, "Paris is a Lonely Town", to name a few.

For the animation, if you're familiar with the shorts made by UPA, the animation is limited, but visually appealing and influential in terms of design and style, with French expressionism being a large inspiration of how the final film is supposed to look. For an animated film made in the '60s, this is probably the most colorful and very much alive. This is further utilized in a later scene where the film's artists make parody portraits based on the works of Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet, and, yes, even Pablo Picasso. After watching the scene, you'll know why UPA was known for their unique style that other studios weren't doing in their heyday.

The sad thing about this film is that it is not as well recognized as a lot of other animated classics. Even the 1970 animated Disney film "The Aristocats", which also took place in France and focuses on...well...cats, became more popular. The only people that would remember this film is if they were film and animation historians or if you saw it via Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theatre back in the '90s. Thankfully, however, the film is being re-discovered, with airings on Turner Classic Movies and releases on DVD via the Warner Archive Collection. For me, this is an underrated piece of animated cinema that should've gotten more recognition over the years. If you enjoy classic animation, definitely pick this one up.