The Cat That Hated People is a 1948 cartoon directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby. The cat's voice was supplied by radio actor Patrick McGeehan [1]; incidental music was directed by Scott Bradley.
Plot[]
Borrowing elements from the Warner Bros. cartoon Porky in Wackyland, it begins with an antisocial alley cat complaining about his life in the city (a broom to the head stops his drinking freshly delivered milk; a thrown boot ends his serenade in one instance, two shots from a rifle in another), mentioning how he doesn't get along with children (who tie paper bags onto his feet) and babies (who flail him about a playpen), dogs (one uses him as a punching bag, then plays dead after giving the cat a ketchup-covered axe as the owner arrives), and other people.
Much of his opening commentary is done as he is walking or lying on a busy sidewalk, with people walking on him and providing an occasional kick, one of which sends him to the front of the Moonbeam Rocket Company (a sign in the window says "Any place in space - 5 minutes") as he declares that he wants to go to the Moon.
In the showroom of Moonbeam Rocket Company are rockets to Mars, Venus, Palm Springs (a miniature rocket), and a "Moon Special," which the cat enters. He pushes the start button (below it on the wall is "P.S. Hold on to your hats"), and the flight begins as buildings duck out of the way, "no vacancy" signs appear on planets as he passes them, and a succession of space-related sight gags ensue. Stars move out of the way of the rocket, which subsequently punches a hole in the Big Dipper before the Little Dipper moves to catch the leakage; the rocket then bounces pinball-style from star to star (with points being displayed for each "bounce") until it registers "Tilt" upon lunar impact.
After the crash, the cat revels in his newfound solitude, but the silence was only momentary as he discovers bizarre life forms on the Moon:
- A bicycle horn tooting itself
- A steam whistle blowing itself
- A disembodied mouth and hands repeatedly saying: "Mammy, Mammy, Mammy" in the style of Al Jolson
- A self-playing accordion
- A yo-yo going up and down with the sound of a slide whistle
- A manual fire engine with the siren sounding itself
- A tire repeatedly having blowouts by running over nails
- A hammer chasing a nail (the hammer pounds the cat into the Moon and pulls him out)
- A tube of lipstick chasing a pair of giggling lips (the tube applies the lipstick to the cat's mouth the lips kiss the cat's mouth)
- A hand and scissors chasing a piece of paper (the scissors quickly cut the cat into a paper doll chain, and a pair of hands stretch them out)
- An invisible dog with a visible collar barking and chasing a fire hydrant
- A diaper, a safety pin, a bottle of baby powder, and a milk bottle (which overtake and diaper the cat and shove a baby bottle in his mouth; when he has a temper tantrum his head is diapered as well)
- A shovel chasing a daisy-like flower (the shovel digs a hole in the Moon and plants the cat, and after the watering can waters the hole, the cat sprouts and quickly blossoms with a rose in one ear and a carnation in the other, and a hand pulls him out of the ground and puts him in a vase)
- A pencil sharpener chasing a pencil (which subsequently sharpens the cat's tail which he then writes "Chump!" on a rock)
The cat says: "Oh, Brother! Home was never like this! I'm getting out of here!" He pulls down a golf course backdrop, places himself on the tee and yells: "Fore!" and with one swing of the golf club, sends himself back to Earth. He returns to "The Good Old USA! Home Sweet Home!" (on the corner of 45th Street and Broadway in New York City) and expresses his newfound appreciation of people who continue to walk on him.
Voices[]
- Patrick McGeehan - Blackie Cat
- Colleen Collins - Woman
- Pinto Colvig - Lips
Trivia[]
- The cartoon's title is likely a play on the 1942 RKO horror film Cat People, but there is no connection to that film.
- This is the last cartoon that Heck Allen wrote for Tex Avery before he was fired from the MGM cartoon studio.
References[]
- ↑ The Animated Film Encyclopedia, Graham Webb, McFarlane, published 2000.
External links[]
- Template:IMDB title