A Kiddies Kitty

Friz Freleng started his career in Kansas City with Walt Disney, and by the time he died almost three quarters of a century later, he had done almost everything in the field, including directing several Oscar-winning shorts. Yet, despite this, he never achieved the respect accorded directors like Chuck Jones, Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, because all he did was direct great cartoons, beautifully timed, with great gags. He also had a specialty in pure music cartoons like SKYSCRAPER SYMPHONY and PIGS IN A POLKA that are, I feel, among his best.

This is a very good Sylvester the Cat cartoon from his middle period, and if you look at it you might enjoy it a lot without noticing all the things he does to lift it out of the ordinary: the deadpan of the little girl who tortures Sylvester, the way he pauses occasionally to let the sound effects tell what is happening with a great payoff -- he does that with the washing machine sequence. Unless you look closely, you'll never see it. You'll simply enjoy it a heck of a lot.

This was among several Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts I hadn't seen in years. But once I watched it again online either earlier this month or late last month, that was when the memories of it really came back. I hardly had any favorite golden era Warner Bros. cartoons growing up, but I think this would be among my favorites from the 1950s, my favorite Sylvester shorts, and among my favorite WB cartoons in general.

After being pursued by a bulldog, Sylvester is taken in temporarily by a little girl named Suzanne. For most of the remainder of the cartoon, Suzanne is seen caring for the cat well-meaningfully but also improperly with hilarious results, such as giving him a bath via placing him in a washer/dryer and leaving it running until it's time for the setting to automatically switch to fluff-dry. In the end, after all he went through with her, Sylvester then decides being a pet (or being paired with a naive owner) isn't so worth it after all and he's had enough of that. This serves as something to provide a lesson on how not to care for a pet the wrong way. In addition to Elmer Fudd, she and several, other little girls from these cartoons just may have been possible inspirations somewhat for Elmyra Duff from Tiny Toons.

Friz Freleng, who directed this, would also direct A Waggily Tale, three years later, which parallels some moments in this and Boyhood Daze. I like this and A Waggily Tale equally, and I consider the latter to be just as good. Another thing this has in common is the voice actress of Suzanne, Lucille Bliss, also voiced the little girl in Junior's dream from A Waggily Tale. I'd like to own a DVD with both of those featured, I was hoping there would be a fourth volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection DVD sets, but I know for sure now that unfortunately no follow-ups will be planned for release. Maybe there will be yet another, new DVD box set series called Looney Tunes Diamond Collection or something as far as what will be done among other LT and MM featurettes that have yet to be brought to DVD. Despite the difference in art style by some point in the '50s, it's still just as good as the animation, the colors are well-balanced, the characters are great, the music by Carl Stalling is great as always. Everything about this is enjoyable. Recommended.

On the run from a bulldog, Sylvester seeks refuge with a little girl named Suzanne. He soon finds out the bulldog might have been the better option! A very funny short from Friz Freleng. The way the little girl handles poor Sylvester would be terrible in real life but in a cartoon it's hilarious. Wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. Lucille Bliss does the voice for little Suzanne and is just adorable. The music is energetic and fun. Lovely animation with bright colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. I especially love the range of expressions on the face of Sylvester in this. If the scene where she feeds him "liver and sardines" doesn't have you in stitches, I'm afraid you were born without a funny bone. This is a real underrated jewel in the crown of Freleng and the character of Sylvester. It had me laughing from the start to the finish.

Once again, our constantly physically abused feline returns. No Tweety here, but a bully dog who chases him right into the clutches of a square-headed, overalls wearing psychotic little girl. Having destroyed all her toys and scattered the pieces, she asks her mother for a real cat because "their heads don't come off"! Basically unwatchable and well beneath the quality cartoons Warner Brothers is famous for.