Is Catch as Cats Can a Speedy cartoon?

[Brandon Pierce]

If it is, I'm getting a tape ready for tonight!

[Thad Komorowski]

No, it's a Sylvester cartoon from the 1940s, in which he is a moron with a retarded voice, who is talked into eating a Frank Sinatra canary by a Bing Crosby parrot. The cartoon is still rarely seen, and I'd tape it if I didn't have it.




-Thad

[Tintin]

C'est tu dans cet épisode là qu'un perroquet fume une cigarette comme apparaît cette scène dans le film Mme Doubtfire?

[Matt Yorston]

This brings us to another interesting question... WHY is Sylvester's character so different from the norm in this one cartoon (His weird voice, his unusual stupidity, etc.)? Granted, Sylvester's character hadn't yet been developed 100% by 1947 and the studio was still experimenting with him as a result (Pairing him with Foghorn Leghorn in "Crowing Pains", using him as a mute character in "Doggone Cats") but he is still unnervingly out-of-character in this cartoon. It's almost worth wondering if it's another cat who just happens to look like Sylvester!

[chuckamuck43]

Both DOGGONE CATS and CATCH AS CATS CAN were directed by Arthur Davis, hence the similarity.

As you know, each director interpreted the gang in his own way - I guess Davis saw Sylvester as an ignorant stooge.

[J Lee]

On the positive side -- the fact that Davis used such a dumb voice for Sylvester (Mel would partially resurrect it for the early Barney Rubble voice in The Flintstones) made sure "Catch As Cats Can" wouldn't be reissued as a Blue Ribbon cartoon sans credits like "Dog-Gone Cats" was. Smart thinking on Artie and Dave Monahan's part. ;)

That said, the last two gag schemes in the cartoon -- with the magent and the maid/vacuum cleaner set-up -- are very Sylvester and could have fit perfectly into a late 40s, early 50s Freleng Tweety cartoon without any alteration.

[Vdubdavid]

Actually, this cartoon and "Mexican Joyride" (I think) have the dubious distinction of being the ONLY non Bugs Bunny cartoons from 1947 to still have their original credits. Not even "Inki at the Circus" has its credits!

[Matt Yorston]

Doesn't "A Pest in the House" have its original credits too?

[Jack]

Originally posted by Matt Yorston
Doesn't "A Pest in the House" have its original credits too?
Yes, yes it does. Very handsome credits too, IMO.

Kind of strange they wouldn't reissue two of the best Daffy cartoons ever, though...


Jack :D

[Brandon Pierce]

This all leads to another question.....

If CN rarely play this episode just because of Sylvester's voice, then what's the deal with Elmer's Pet Rabbit ? Bugs's voice is COMPLETELY different in this cartoon! In fact, if you listen carefully, Bugs ALMOST has a lisp! Elmer's Pet Rabbit is a rather common cartoon. Why is that?

[J Lee]

The speculation on "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" is that while the cartoon was done after "A Wild Hare" and used Robert Givens' designs for Bugs and Elmer, the voice track was done before word of the populatiry of Avery's cartoon got back to the studio. As a result, Jones used a voice for Bugs that was more suited to the type of character he was trying to create -- a gripey, grouchy trickster, similar in attitude (if not in voice) to the rabbit in "Elmer's Candid Camera." The voice Blanc came up with for "A Wild Hare" just didn't fit that type of character.

[Daffyfan2002]

I just want to comment on what Brandon said. I don't think CN would refuse to play a cartoon because a character has a different voice. If that were the case, they probably wouldn't play "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" quite as often. Also, they probably wouldn't play the early "Flintstones" episodes where Barney Rubble's voice is different. So, what I'm thinking is maybe there's another reason they don't play "Catch as Cats Can" that often. I've never seen that cartoon in its entirety so I'm not sure. Oh, by the way, J. Lee. I want to thank you for your explanation about why Bugs' voice is different in "Elmer's Pet Rabbit." I have been wondering about that. By the way, do you happen to know why his voice is different when he appears at the end of "The Goofy Gophers." Was Bugs imitating a gopher or what was the case there? His character was surely developed by the time that cartoon was made.

[J Lee]

Somehow, in the changeover between the voice tracks being recorded when "The Goofy Gophers" was being started by Bob Clampett and when the animation direction was finished by Art Davis, someone forgot to slow down the tape between Mel Blanc's recording of the speeded-up gopher voices and Bugs' voice at normal speed. That's why it sounds like Bugs is munching on a helium-filled carrot at the end of the picture.

[PorkyandDaffy]

Somehow, in the changeover between the voice tracks being recorded when "The Goofy Gophers" was being started by Bob Clampett and when the animation direction was finished by Art Davis, someone forgot to slow down the tape between Mel Blanc's recording of the speeded-up gopher voices and Bugs' voice at normal speed. That's why it sounds like Bugs is munching on a helium-filled carrot at the end of the picture.

So that's why. Ha! :D

[Daffyfan2002]

Wow, J. Lee. You seem to know a lot about this stuff! Do you happen to work for Warner Bros. Lol.

[rodney]

I thought Blanc only did one gopher voice. Didn't Stan Freberg do the other one?

[Daffyfan2002]

That's right. Stan Freberg was the voice of Tosh except for the new animation on "The Bugs Bunny Show" and "Tease for Two," where Mel Blanc did both voices.

[J Lee]

No Warner's employment here -- my closest link is a friend who's co-worker is the husband of the former head of WB animation, and we've never gotten into the missus' business (the fact I'm over 1,000 miles away in Texas plays a role there, too).

[Daffyfan2002]

That's how you know this stuff. Okay.