The ‘treasures’ are never-ending in the wonderful library of Columbia cartoons.
This particular 1942 Al Geiss directed short features the distinctive work of Emery Hawkins and Ray Patterson, both of whom Frank Tashlin pulled out of the picket line at Disney’s to work for him at Columbia. What makes this short most interesting is that all of the earmarks (namely extra hair and pursed lips) of Patterson’s animation at MGM are already here in this short. He was ready to start animating Tom and Jerry whether he knew it or not!
A constant recurrence in the studio’s cartoons is how there seems to be no voice direction whatsoever, and the vocals veer quite often into the ‘obnoxious’ category. (This cat is no exception.) No actor was an exception to this rule, and Columbia regularly used people like Mel Blanc, Frank Graham, John McLeish, and Stan Freberg. I have no idea who voices the cat(s) – it sounds like the same guy who voiced the mustachioed Puzzlewitz (WTFdom’s all-time greatest star) at Columbia.
Columbia gags can come bland and offbeat in the same film. We’ve seen the “cat’s nine lives help cat win” scenario in several 1930s cartoons, but how many times do you see that end as “cat’s nine lives beat the crap out of cat”? It may be prudent to assume, as a general rule, that if the other studios didn’t do something, Columbia just might have done it!
For reference sake, what was animated by Hawkins and what was animated by Patterson? Looks like it’s Patterson who animated most of the stuff with the cat on the porch. Right?
Speaking of voices, notice the cat’s “Uh-oh!” at 01:24 is in a completely different voice from the rest of his lines.
Interesting how they made a gag out of the opening credits. “Delivered by”.
Your eye is good Mike – that whole opening porch scene is Patterson’s and that last final shot of the dog laughing is his too. Hawkins didn’t do a lot in this one – just a couple of action shots like the cat running after drinking turpentine.
Hey, i want to thank you for bringing Columbia to my attention. Ever since your Wolf Chases Pigs post, where you reference several particular Columbia opus’, I’ve had a bit of elated discovery. The studio, in the cases of Wolf (…) and Wacky Wigwams and Fox and the Grapes, and even Tangled Angler, and Concerto in B flat Minor (?) have great layout and character design, and by my lights, great animation.
The phrase “cat’s nine lives beat the crap out of cat” was funnier than the cartoon itself.
That meowing almost defies description. I didn’t realize Felix’s 1929 voice artist found another job this much later on.
Isn’t the cat the same guy that does Mr. Tall? I admit I’m not up on my Columbia voices. Harry Lang and Jack Mather did stuff for Columbia, too, but it doesn’t sound like Mather.
The climax scene looks like it’s there just to show off the frantic animation. The cat wants the milk. The cat has the milk. But instead of drinking it, the cat plays football?
There are some weird cuts here, like at 5:47. And what’s with the fade at 2:14?
I believe Harry Lang does the voices on this one. It isn’t John McLeish (Mr. Tall’s voice) here (yep, John McLeish does Mr. Tall too, only with a falsetto instead of his normal “straight” basso voice).
Nacht, no problem. Always glad to introduce new kinds of old cartoons to people.
David, I’ve been seeing you call just about every statement committed to the Internet as funny lately, so I don’t know if I can trust your judgment, but your compliment is appreciated regardless!