The Cat Came Back

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The Cat Came Back

Directed By: I. Freleng Produced By: Leon Schlesinger Released: February 8, 1936 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Animation: Ben Clopton Bob McKimson Layouts: Backgrounds: Film Editor: Bernard B. Brown (uncredited) Treg Brown (uncredited) Voiced By: Berneice Hansell (uncredited) Music: Norman Spencer Starring: Preceded By: The Phantom Ship Succeeded By: Boom Boom The Cat Came Back Vimeo (Dubbed Version US) Merrie Melodies - The Cat Came Back TV Plus version Looney Tunes The Cat Came Back 1936 2x2 version The Cat Came Back with original titles

The Cat Came Back is a 1936 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot

A curious kitten leaves her family to play with an equally curious little mouse from across the hall, despite both being told by their mothers how bad the other's family is. Mama Mouse warns her kids to stay away from cats, while Mama Cat tells her kids to attack all mice. The kitten and mouse sneak out of their lessons and listen to some records together as an excuse to get in some hot 1930s tunes and dance around. While dancing, they accidentally fall down a drain into the sewer. The little kitten is saved by the little mouse. The two mothers get together to rejoice, but old feuds are not so easily forgotten, and the cat and mice families start to fight again.

Availability

• (1997) LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 5, Side 5, Pesky Pets (USA 1995 Turner print)

Censorship

• When this short aired on syndication for television showings, the mousetrap sequence, as well as the scene with the toilet plunger and the eye poking sequence are cut. Airings of this cartoon on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS and TNT however are uncut.

Notes

• This is the final Merrie Melodies short to feature the words "WARNER BROS. PRODUCTIONS CORPORATION" and "Present" with a small WB shield and "VITAPHONE" under "WARNER BROS." Cartoons released shortly after this would have the zooming shield with the words "VITAPHONE" and "Presents" appearing after the WB shield, which has gotten larger when featured between 1936-45 on Merrie Melodies shorts, zooms in.

• This short was re-released into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies twice. The first re-release was on July 15, 1944, (evident from the style opening bullet titles used: blue rings with a red background). At this time, the original ending bullet titles were still present and only the credits and opening bullet titles were cut. The second re-release was on June 5, 1954, (evident from the style opening bullet titles used: orange rings with a blue background). At this time, the original ending bullet titles were also scrapped. The "That's all Folks!" on the Blue Ribbon ending card is already written out. The second re-release also scraps the first re-release title font and opening bullet titles.
• This was the final Warner Bros. short to be produced in 2-hue Technicolor, though it was re-released in 3-hue Technicolor.
• Though the American Turner "dubbed" print uses the generic ending card like all other pre-1948 shorts, the European "dubbed" print retains the static Blue Ribbon ending card, however with 1995 "Dubbed Version" notice.
• The two kittens who were originally friends did not appear in the final scene.
• The short has a unique Blue Ribbon ending card as it has "That's all Folks" already written out instead of being written out usually.

Gallery

Screenshot

Lobby Card

The Blue Ribbon ending card with the 'Turner Entertainment' dubbed version notice from the cartoon's EU Turner print. Notice that the font used for the dubbed disclaimer is different from the other EU dubbed versions, as the font used appears to be smaller and thicker than usual.