Cats A-Weigh!

Sylvester's cartoons with Sylvester Jnr. and Hippety Hopper were reasonably entertaining, but got increasingly limp and the later ones lacked the energy generally of the earlier ones. Cats A-Weigh! is one of the earliest and also one of their best and funniest.

Not the most exceptional or surprising of stories for anybody familiar with the basic formula of the Sylvester-Hippety Hopper series (Sylvester believing baby kangaroo Hippety to be a big mouse), sure, but the energy and production value are high and so is the quality of the humour. The animation is excellent and one of the best-looking of the series, being typical of Robert McKimson's late 40s/early 50s energy. The colours are rich, vibrant and bold, the backgrounds are incredibly detailed and the characters are all well-designed and move smoothly, movements and gestures are big and brilliantly done too which make the characters' actions and reactions even funnier. Carl Stalling's music is a perfect fit and is fabulously and cleverly composed music in its own right, with lush orchestration, lively style, energetic rhythms and how it matches so well with everything and makes enhance gestures, expression and the action.

Cats A-Weigh! is also one of the funniest of the series, with hilariously witty dialogue that feels fresh and even more hilarious sight and physical gags. The story while structurally formulaic is fresher than most cartoons in the series, goes at a very energetic pace and the interplay between the three main characters sparkles. Sylvester Jnr. (at a period where he wasn't too much of a bratty character) and Hippety Hopper are cute and amusing characters, and Sylvester carries the laughs as if the laughs come naturally to him and few other Looney Tunes characters can play cunning so charmingly and empathetically. Mel Blanc's voice work is super as always.

All in all, one of the best and funniest of the Sylvester/Sylvester Jnr/Hippety Hopper cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Fun Sylvester short directed by Robert McKimson. This one has Sylvester getting a job as a mouse catcher aboard a ship. His son Junior comes along to help out (and winds up doing most of the work). The two eventually meet baby kangaroo Hippety Hopper and, as always, mistake him for a large mouse. The animation is very nice with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lively music from Carl Stalling. Great voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. It's a funny short with many good gags and lines. They may seem a little familiar if you've seen many other shorts with Sylvester and Hippety, but I think they still work. I'm a huge fan of Sylvester, Jr. so any cartoon with him in it is entertaining to me.

'Cats A-Weigh' is the third Sylvester/Sylvester Jr. cartoon and the last truly good one.

Starting with 'Pop 'Im Pop' in 1950 and continuing with 'Who's Kitten Who' in 1952, each of these 3 cartoons managed to find a funny angle on the baby kangaroo-mistaken-for-a- mouse plot. There had also been 3 Sylvester solo cartoons with the baby kangaroo (Hippety Hopper) starting in 1948 which were equally funny ('Hop, Look and Listen', 'Hippety Hopper' and 'Hoppy Go Lucky')

'Cat's A-Weigh', like these other 5 cartoons, still displays director Robert McKimson's early energy and wit. The dialogue is funny and the animation still uses McKimson's detailed late 40s/ early 50s style --- lots of movement, big gestures and wide-open mouths when talking (you also see this in his early Foghorn Leghorn shorts). His more appealing earlier character designs for Sylvester/Sylvester Jr. are also on display here ---- bigger heads and noses and more exaggerated side-tufts of facial fur. This cartoon still feels fresh.

Unfortunately the next Sylvester/Hippety Hopper cartoon 'Bell Hoppy' in 1954 showed the concept abruptly running out of gas and laughs. There were 6 more Sylvester/Sylvester Jr. shorts stretching to 1964 but they were all limp, tired retreads that never regained the energy of 'Cats A-Weigh' and its predecessors.