In this fine Hubie and Bertie cartoon, the two mice have stuffed themselves with a life-time supply of cheese, so they decide there’s no reason to live now. They sneak into a nearby cat’s mouse and figure that’s the end.
Chuck Jones was in a great period of his directorial career. Check out the take on the cat.
The cat uses a mirror to determine the cause of his satisfied appetite. But wait a minute!
Yes, they’re mice alright.
Logic takes over. Now, a fine pun by writer Mike Maltese, set up by Jones.
The cat realises mice normally don’t want cats to eat them. He keeps spitting them out and they keep climbing back into his mouth.
It’s hard to believe this is the same Chuck Jones who inflicted Sniffles on people as an example of cartoon mousehood.
Ken Harris’ fine work can be spotted in this cartoon, along with Ben Washam, Phil Monroe (soon to be on his way to UPA) and Lloyd Vaughan.
Good cartoon, but a lesser reworking of the storyline Friz and Tedd Pierce used five years earlier in "Life With Feathers", a cartoon Maltese may also have worked on. (You normally wouldn't think of a Freleng protagonist 'out-acting' one from the Jones unit, but Sylvester's reactions to the unnatural situation top Claude's, even while the latter one benefits from the dog's reaction to the same unnatural order of things being upset by Claude's request to be massacred.)
ReplyDeleteYes!! Back in the 1960's, this cartoon was run a lot on local television in Hampton, Virginia. My friends and I would walk around repeating the bulldog's line as an inside joke a lot. " It just don't Add up!!!!!!" Also my favorite scene.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe this cartoon - where all the characters want to commit suicide(!) - aired unscathed on '70s-era Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, while those with lesser "offenses" were often butchered.
ReplyDeleteLast Hubie/Bertie cartoon. The bulldog's adding machine gag rates as quite original (used later for a, I believe Maltese-written, Loopy De Loop!).
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