Musetta alla conquista di Parigi

seriously, I thought "Gay Pur-ree" is up there on par with Disney's greatest productions, even surpassing some of them. Sure it's no blockbuster, nor is it planned to be one. But it does manage a certain kind of epic magic, more akin to the impressionist style it emulates than to the "MTV video feel" behind most of today's standard animation works.

Gay Pur-ree (which aired in my country as "La Fair Mewsette", to my mind a MUCH better title) is a throwback to an age of innocence (corny as this may sound) in more than one sense; in those days, a simple, humane story was all the charm a story needed (my, that DID sound corny indeed). The movie had that special feel, in spades. And to me (a very impressionable 8-year old at the time), it was a true saga. I was taken to another world, cried for the characters, memorized their names and the song. And I dreamed of it for a month after watching it. I felt the magic. I felt as they said you should feel after watching an animated movie.

*sigh*

Maybe not a must see, but certainly a must remember. Watch it, and cherish the memory.

Although too long at 85 minutes, this animated musical from UPA is quite tuneful, with visual wit and flair to spare. Slim plot, about a French barnyard feline seeking adventures in Paris, is helped considerably by bright Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg songs, and of course by Judy Garland's incandescent speaking and singing voice as Mewsette. Never popular with children, the film's writing tends to place the accent on sophisticated conversation, less on animated hilarity. Consequently, it isn't a big crowd-pleaser, although students of animation would be wise to check it out (the humorous art history lesson on the Impressionists is worth the time alone). **1/2 from ****

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!

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.