Fin 'n' Catty

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Airdate:
23 October 1943 Blue Ribbon reissue: 11 December 1948

Series:

Merrie Melodies

MPAA Number:	Production Number:	Vitaphone Number:
8780	MM-21-12	1164

Runtime:

6 minutes, 31 seconds (reissue)

Copyright Renewed:

8 January 1976^[1]^[2]

Starring:

Claude Cat

Crew

Voice Characterizations:

Mel Blanc (uncredited)
Robert C. Bruce (uncredited)^[3]

Layout Artist:

John McGrew (uncredited)

Background Artist:

Gene Fleury (uncredited)
Bernyce Polifka (uncredited)

Musician:

Carl W. Stalling

Fin 'n' Catty is a 1943 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Title[]

The title is a pun on the Scottish dish "finnan haddie."

Plot[]

Goldfish need water to survive, and cats need goldfish to survive. However, goldfish hates cats while cats hate water. Wanting to get a meal, Claude Cat attempts to get the fish while staying dry.

Claude first tries rubber gloves, but is bitten by the goldfish with dentures. He tries to fish it out, but the goldfish steals the bait and sprays water onto Claude's face. Claude utilizes a hose which the goldfish uses to blow water and excess air back at Claude. The goldfish replaces the toilet paper with fly paper at one point, leaving Claude in a sticky situation. However, when he tries to return to his bowl, Claude has covered it with a plate.

Without water, the goldfish begins to slowly become thirsty. Claude attempts additional schemes to dry out the goldfish, which are all equally in vain. However, when the goldfish fills the shower with cold water, Claude locks the door and swallows the key to corner his prey, before realizing he's underwater. The cat tries to get out of the shower, but he finds himself swimming and enjoying being underwater. Claude steals the goldfish's bowl, and now sleeps inside of it, forcing the goldfish to reside in a smaller cup, much to the latter's dismay.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

This short continues to experiment with strongly graphic, nearly abstract backgrounds, seen throughout Jones cartoons from late 1942–1943. It is also the final Chuck Jones cartoon from that time period to use these experimental backgrounds.
The short has no dialogue other than narration, and consists of visual gags.
A cel of the original title, a black and white photo of the original title, and a cel of the credits was revealed on Facebook in 2021, revealing that the true name of the cartoon is Fin 'n' Catty. The film was re-released as Fin 'n Catty, dropping the second apostrophe.
- A film element of the original titles is presumed lost, as the cartoon was instead restored on HBO Max with its Blue Ribbon titles.