Goldimouse and the Three Cats (1960)

Director:

Friz Freleng

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Release Date:

15 March 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy

Plot:

Sylvester Cat is head of a household consisting of himself, a mother cat, and their spoiled-brat son...

Plot Keywords:

Sylvester And Son | Cartoon Cat | Cat Versus Mouse | Cartoon | Fairy Tale

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Sylvester / Sylvester Jr. (voice)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982)

Soundtrack:

Lullaby

I've seen better, but this one's still pretty funny.

OK, so "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is one of the easiest stories to play with; the Termite Terrace crowd had already done so with "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears". "Goldimouse and the Three Cats" casts Sylvester as the patriarch of a feline household. He and his wife both have porridge the wrong temperature, while their spoiled brat son - actually identified as "Spoiled Brat" - won't eat his. So, this brood belonging to the family Felidae* goes out for a walk (on a bridge full of loose boards; uh oh!), and sure enough, a mouse enters their house and screws things up. I shouldn't have to tell you what sorts of things happen to Sylvester when he tries to catch the playful rodent, but I will note that dynamite is involved (they loved their TNT, didn't they?).

Yes, it's sort of a predictable cartoon. What's really neat is what I observe now that I'm old enough to understand it: the shelter. I assume that it was an allusion to Cold War-era bomb shelters (this cartoon came out during that period).

So, it's not a great cartoon - probably Friz Freleng's greatest Sylvester cartoon was "Birds Anonymous" - but still worth seeing.

*Felidae is the taxonomic family to which cats belong.