Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot (sometimes called "Kitty," but in some of the Warner Brothers animation history books, she is referred to as "Cleo") are two animated characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons.
Physical appearance[]
Marc Anthony is a burly bulldog who is brown with a tan body and black ears. He is a gruff, tough bulldog whom is a softie at heart when it comes to Pussyfoot and is very protective of her.
Pussyfoot, in contrast, is an extremely cute kitten to whom Marc Anthony is utterly devoted. Chuck Jones has discussed the efforts to maximize the kitten's adorableness. She has black fur with a white face and body, big blue eyes, and a white tip on her fluffy tail.
History[]
Golden Age[]
Animator Chuck Jones first introduced the odd duo in his film "Feed the Kitty", first released on Groundhog Day, 1952. Prior to this, a brown bulldog similar to Marc had first appeared in the final Hubie and Bertie cartoon "Cheese Chasers", but he was never named. In the short, Marc Anthony adopts the interminably cute kitten, only to receive a stern warning from his owner not to " Bring one more thing into this house! Not ONE SINGLE SOLITARY thing!" Marc is forced to go to extreme lengths to keep his new pet under wraps. Meanwhile, the kitten's curiosity gets her into a series of life-threatening situations, which Marc Anthony must rescue her from harm. Most of the humor in this short involve Marc Anthony getting himself into various mishaps in his attempts of protecting Pussyfoot.
Jones would largely repeat the scenario in 1953 with "Kiss Me Cat", only this time, Marc Anthony tries to convince his owners that the kitten (now named Pussyfoot) is a good mouser so that they will let him keep her.
In "Feline Frame-Up" (1954), Jones pitted the dog and kitten against another of his lesser-known players, Claude Cat, with Claude as the antagonist causing trouble to the duo. In 1958, Jones paired the duo with Claude for one final film, "Cat Feud", in which Marc Anthony (with grey coloring, and a more fierce personality) must defend Pussyfoot (and her cat food) from Claude, who tries to steal it.
While Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot do not appear in "Go Fly a Kit", the short instead features an antagonistic bulldog and a flying male cat resembling them.
Post-Golden Age[]
The duo appears as a cameo in the background during the basketball game in Space Jam (1996). The duo would later make a cameo appearance in the ending scene of Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003).
Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot appear in the opening theme for The Looney Tunes Show, while Pussyfoot makes a brief cameo in Lola Bunny's quilt in the musical number "Christmas Rules!" in the episode "A Christmas Carol".
Marc Anthony appears alongside Tweety and Gabby Goat in the New Looney Tunes episode "Tweet Team" as a trio helping Speedy Gonzales save his mice buddies from Sylvester, Claude Cat and Pete Puma. He also appears in "Pussyfoot Soldier" and "From Dusk Till Dog", reprising his role from some of the original cartoons, being smitten by Pussyfoot and attempting to protect her from harm. Marc Anthony also appears in "To Be the Flea, You Gotta Beat the Flea", in which he is unexpectedly controlled by Mighty Angelo, who wants to enter the wrestling championship match despite his small size.
In Looney Tunes Cartoons, Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot make a brief cameo in "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!", and later appear in "Boarding Games".
Pussyfoot appears in three episodes of Bugs Bunny Builders.
Influence[]
Since their retirement, Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot have been somewhat forgotten due to the popularity of other Chuck Jones-created characters, such as Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, and Pepé Le Pew. Pussyfoot has appeared in some recent Warner Bros. merchandising, however, and the pair have been featured in various Warner Bros. productions, such as the third segment of the Twilight Zone movie, and a few Looney Tunes comic book stories such as "Bringing Up Baby", "A Skate with Desteny", and "Kit on a Kite".
Tiny Toon Adventures featured a similar character named Barky Marky who was a comparatively minor character on the show. The pair were also an inspiration for the Buttons and Mindy characters that were featured in the successor to Tiny Toons, Animaniacs.
Chuck Jones would later revisit the gimmick of a cute kitten with an unlikely protector in a Tom and Jerry short, "The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse", with Jerry becoming a kitten's friend and protector against a selfish and jealous Tom.
A segment of "Feed the Kitty", in which Marc Anthony believes that Pussyfoot has perished in the cookie baking (and unaware that she is actually perfectly safe), was the subject in the Pixar film, Monsters Inc. in which Sulley believes that Boo has fallen into a trash compactor, and he reacts nearly shot-for-shot as Marc did in his cartoon short.
Filmography[]
Cartoons[]
"Cheese Chasers" (1951) (Marc Anthony only)- "Feed the Kitty" (1952)
- "Kiss Me Cat" (1953)
- "Feline Frame-Up" (1954)
- "No Barking" (1954) (Marc Anthony only)
- "Cat Feud" (1958)
- "Another Froggy Evening" (1995) (Pussyfoot only)
In other media[]
The films:
- Space Jam (1996) - Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot cameo
- Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) - Pussyfoot cameo
- Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003) - Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot cameo
- "Cross Country Kitty" (1990) - Marc Anthony cameo
- "Citizen Max" (1990) - Marc Anthony cameo
- "The Acme Bowl" (1990) - Marc Anthony cameo
- "Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool" (1990) Marc Anthony cameo
- "Cat on a Hot Steel Beam" (1993) - Pussyfoot only
- "Parallel Porked" (2001) - Marc Anthony only
The Looney Tunes Show episode:
- "A Christmas Carol" (2012) - Pussyfoot cameo in the "Christmas Rules" song sequence
New Looney Tunes episodes:
- "Tweet Team" (2018) - Marc Anthony only
- "Pussyfoot Soldier" (2019)
- "From Dusk Till Dog" (2020)
- "To Be the Flea, You Gotta Beat the Flea" (2020) - Marc Anthony only
Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts:
- "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!" (cameo)
- "Boarding Games" (2023)
Bugs Bunny Builders segments:
- "Splash Zone" - Pussyfoot cameo only
- "Tweety-Go-Round" - Pussyfoot only (credited as "Looney Cat Kid")
- "Haunted Garage" (credited as "Pouncy")
- "Squirreled Away" (cameo)
- "Beach Battle" (cameo)
- "Mini Golf"
- "Skate Park"
- "Lemonade"
The video games:
- Tweety and the Magic Gems (2001)
- Looney Tunes World of Mayhem (2024)
Notes[]
- The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 Blu-ray digibook only specifies "Feed the Kitty", "Kiss Me Cat", and "Feline Frame-Up" as official Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot shorts, with no mention of "Cat Feud". This is likely due to the latter short not included on said Blu-Ray release.
- In "Feed the Kitty" and "Kiss Me Cat", Pussyfoot is referred to as male by the homeowners. Only most post-Golden Age media has officially referred Pussyfoot as a female cat.
Gallery[]
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