Wild over You

Wild over You
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Airdate:	11 July 1953
Series:	Looney Tunes
MPAA Number:	15462
Production Number:	1249
Vitaphone Number:	2235
Runtime:	7 minutes, 17 seconds
Copyright Renewed:	15 January 1980
Starring:	Pepé Le Pew
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc
Director:	Charles M. Jones
Written By:	Michael Maltese
Producer:	Eddie Selzer
Animated By:	Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Richard Thompson Abe Levitow Ken Harris
Layout Artist:	Maurice Noble
Background Artist:	Philip DeGuard
Film Editor:	Treg Brown
Musician:	Carl Stalling

Wild over You is a 1953 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot

In the Paris Exposition of 1900, a colorful arrangement of tourists are guided around a zoo, but become panic-stricken when they find out that one of the animals, a wildcat, has escaped. The zookeeper yelled to sound the alarm and to the guests to evacuate the zoo. Elsewhere, the escapee wildcat stalks around the park. Seeing an animal controller from the zoo and his dog pursuing her, she spots some black and white paint nearby and paints herself to look like a skunk, scaring the animal controller and his dog off. Her black and white appearance, however, attracts the attention of Pepé Le Pew, who, after some flirting, receives a mauling for his effrontery, due to wildcats attacking victims that come too close to them. He shrugs it off, saying, "I like it" (this has caused the cartoon much controversy for implying sadomasochism). The wildcat hides inside a fortune teller's hut and Pepé, disguised as a swami, predicts to her that she will meet a fine gentleman. When she runs outside, Pepé is there already, disguised as said gentleman. He again receives a mauling from the wildcat, and incorrectly assumes, "Flirt".

Later on, Pepé (singing a variant of "Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?") wanders into a wax museum finding the wildcat posing as a boa around the neck of a wax sculpture of Marie Antoinette and he himself poses as a coonskin cap on a sculpture of Daniel Boone. The wildcat flees and hides inside a suit of armor with Pepé already in there ("Close quarters, no?"). A third mauling from the wildcat causes the parts of the suit to rearrange themselves, with a dazed Pepé saying to himself as he comes out, "I hope I hold out..." The wildcat then hides inside a replica of Madame Pompadour's carriage and Pepé is in there again. After a fourth mauling, he asks himself in a daze if all this abuse is worth it and answers the question himself by saying it was worth it.

The wildcat carries the chase outside, becoming more tired as Pepé pursues her. She comes by a hot air balloon, climbs inside and cuts the support ropes, launching the balloon into the air. Pepé appears beside her again and he receives one final mauling, taking a moment to sign off the cartoon with "If you have not tried it, do not knock it..." as the balloon floats upwards into the sky.

Availability

(1984) VHS
The Looney Tunes Video Show - Volume 8

(1990) VHS
Pepe Le Pew (1990)

(1994) VHS
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 1)

(1996) VHS
Looney Tunes Collection - Pepe le Pew

(2011) DVD
Looney Tunes Super Stars' Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best

(2013) DVD
Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Looney Tunes

Streaming

HBO Max Latin America / Brazil (2021 - 2024)

Max Latin America / Brazil (2024 - )

Tubi (2025 -)

Notes

• This is the first Pepé Le Pew cartoon to have Maurice Noble credited for layouts and the first to have both Abe Levitow and Richard Thompson credited for animation work.
• This is the second of only three cartoons where Pepé is not in love with Penelope, the other two being "Odor-able Kitty" and "Scent-imental over You". This is also the only post-"For Scent-imental Reasons" Pepé cartoon in which Penelope is absent (barring "Dog Pounded", a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon where Pepé makes a brief cameo at the end).
• A clip of the hot air balloon ending was featured in Bugs Bunny's Valentine.
• The far shot of the crowd fleeing the zoo in fear was later reused in "Ducking the Devil" when the Tasmanian Devil escapes.
• When the wildcat is first seen, she is hiding behind a sign stating "No Pate de Fois Grass", which is meant to be a warning to keep off the grass, but it is a play on the phrase "pate de fois gras", a French delicacy made of fattened goose or duck liver paste.
• Prior to its release on the Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best DVD, this cartoon was only available for video release in the United Kingdom, though it did semi-frequently air on American television (mostly on CBS, ABC, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang), which explains why the American TV version had this short at PAL speed rather than NTSC.

Gallery

Lobby card

TV Title Cards

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The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show