We, the Animals - Squeak! is a 1941 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert Clampett.
Plot[]
In the radio program We, the Animals, a hare is finishing his story about how he got revenge on a hunter that had been stalking him. Porky Pig, the program's host, introduces the Irish-accented Kansas City Kitty, a champion mouse catcher.
Kansas City Kitty tells her life story, including her marriage to Tom Collins and the birth of her son, Little Patrick. The main thrust of her story is how her reputation as a mouse catcher was nearly ruined by the mice, who, tired of being harassed by Kansas City Kitty and being kept away from the food, plotted their revenge. In the catacombs of the house's walls, the lead mouse, Ratt McNalley, plots a scheme to kidnap Little Patrick while his mother is asleep. The mice carry out the plan and successfully flee the angry Kitty. The mother cat desperately claws at the wall, but Ratt stands up to her and threatens to brutally kill Little Patrick if their demands are not met.
A series of spot gags follow, where the mice carry food from the refrigerator, get drunk on milk, and generally harass Kitty. Meanwhile, one of Ratt's henchmen teases Little Patrick, but Patrick proves to be very resourceful and quickly turns the tables on his captor. Patrick escapes and reunites with his mother; Ratt, who is taunting Kitty, quickly knows what this means and tries to flee, but Kitty quickly catches all the mice "shows those little devils they couldn't harm kit nor king of Kansas City Kitty!"
The story brings loud cheers from the audience, and an impressed Porky gives her a present: a wimpy little mouse that scares her. "Well, faith'n me jabbers," intones the mouse.
Caricatures[]
- Marian Jordan - Kitty's voice is based on Molly from Fibber McGee and Molly.
- Adolf Hitler
Television[]
- Sunset Productions (1955-1968)
- Porky Pig and Friends (1969-1990, redrawn colorized)
- Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (1988-1999, redrawn colorized until computer colorized in 1992)
- Acme Hour [Cartoon Network] (1999-2003, computer colorized)
- The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1999-2004, computer colorized)
- The Porky Pig Show [Boomerang] (2000-2002, computer colorized)
- The Bob Clampett Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2005, computer colorized)
- Looney Tunes on Boomerang (2003-2005)
Availability[]
Censorship[]
- When Nickelodeon aired the computer-colorized version of this short, the scene near the end in which the mice briefly turn into African jungle natives in tune with the music was cut.[3] Cartoon Network also aired a computer-colorized version of this short, but didn't edit the scene of the black mice turning into jungle natives, with the white mouse in front turned into a game hunter.
Notes[]
- The computer-colorized version, and certain prints of the black-and-white version, have the wrong opening music playing over the opening logos, which is the 1936–37 "Porky Signature" theme as on "Porky's Badtime Story" and "Porky's Railroad", instead of the correct 1941–45 "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme music.
- This cartoon entered the public domain in 1969 due to Warner Bros.-Seven Arts failing to renew its copyright.
- Vitaphone release number: 76
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences, 1900-1999, 2nd ed., McFarland, page 379. ISBN 978-0786449859.
- ↑ http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-u-z.aspx