Kiss Me Cat

Chuck Jones's 'Kiss Me Cat' is the first of his follow-ups to the masterpiece 'Feed the Kitty', starring bulldog Marc Anthony and his beloved kitten Pussyfoot. My first impression was that 'Feed the Kitty' was such a perfect film that it should have remained a one-shot and that I would spend the entirety of 'Kiss Me Cat' just wishing I was watching its predecessor. However, if you clear your mind of all presuppositions, 'Kiss Me Cat' is actually a very fine cartoon indeed and a worthy sequel to 'Feed the Kitty'. The plot has Marc Anthony attempting to fool his owners into believing that Pussyfoot is a champion mouser when in fact the kitten would rather act as the mouse's beast of burden, assisting the rodent in his acquisition of food from the fridge. With Pussyfoot's position as house cat at stake, this plot allows Marc Anthony to once again perform a pantomime tour-de-force of facial expressions and wild gestures. Also wonderful is the mouse character, who is completely mute but so hilariously designed and animated that he need not say a thing. Although it doesn't quite live up to 'Feed the Kitty' (and, to be fair, few things could), 'Kiss Me Cat' is another triumph for two of Jones's sweetest characters.

I saw this cartoon about on ABC once, and I laughed my head off. I'm not the type who scorns and says cartoons are kid stuff, but I have never laughed so hard at a 7-minute cartoon in my life!

This one stars Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot, the bulldog and kitten, respectively, and unlike most Looney Tunes these two are best of buddies, not enemies.

Big "Marc" really loves the little cat and is concerned when he hears his masters say that if that feline doesn't start catching mice in the house they will have to go out and get another cat. Yikes! He doesn't want to lose his little friend, so he tries to teach his little buddy how to be a "mouser." (This has to be the only cat in the world who instinctively has no clue.)

The results are funny, right off the bat as the opposite occurs: the mouse quickly trains the cat to help him get the food! Marc Anthony then does his football commentator John Madden impression, going to a chalkboard and diagramming what a cat is supposed to do.

The big dogs tries everything, and things turn worse. The mouse turns "kit-napper!"

Overall this is one of those cartoons that starts slowly, builds and gets really good the last few minutes.

Feed the Kitty is a classic, one of the best cartoons ever. While its follow-ups are not quite on that level they are still worthy and entertaining. And Kiss Me Cat is certainly that, it starts off slow but once it gets going, which is very quickly, you are thoroughly entertained for the whole duration. The animation is bright and colourful, with all the backgrounds and characters(that for the mouse is quite unique) really nicely drawn. You can always rely on Carl Stalling to provide great music, and Kiss Me Cat does not disappoint in this regard. It matches splendidly with the action, is very characterful and is orchestrated beautifully. The gags are very well executed and clever, the standouts were Marc Anthony calmly being slapped around the face with the newspaper and his dancing, not to mention the priceless final two minutes or so. His facial expressions and gestures also make for some of the funniest parts of the cartoon, while there is some witty dialogue to add to the entertainment value. You can't go wrong with the characters either, Marc Anthony sticks in the memory the most with his facial expressions, gestures and antics(his dancing has to be one of the hilarious things this character does in any of the cartoons we see him in), though Pussyfoot is very cute and the mouse almost steals the show without even saying a word. Mel Blanc and Bea Beanderet are without complaint with their vocals. In conclusion, a great follow-up to a classic if not quite a classic itself. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Fun short featuring Marc Antony and Pussyfoot, directed by Chuck Jones. It's their first after the classic Feed the Kitty. This time the master of the house lays down the law that, kitten or not, Pussyfoot needs to start catching mice or he'll have to find a cat who will. Marc Antony has no intention of losing his beloved friend so the bulldog tries to teach the kitty how to catch mice, with humorous results. The adorable quotient is always high for any cartoon featuring Pussyfoot. This one has lots of scenes that will elicit more "awwws" than laughs, although it certainly has lots of funny scenes too. I enjoy the cute factor but I know there are always those who disagree and are put off by these types of cartoons. If that doesn't bother you, this will likely be a short you'll enjoy. The animation is colorful and crisp. The music is whimsical and cheerful. Fun voice work from Mel Blanc as Tom, the frustrated master of the house. The characters are likable and well-drawn. I especially enjoyed the mouse in this. He was the MVP of the cartoon and his ransom note (signed the Kit-napper) is hilarious.