Gay Purr-ee (1962)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Abe Levitow

Writers:

Dorothy Jones (written by) &
Chuck Jones (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Musical

Tagline:

Vive La Fun!... Vive La Joy!... Vive La Judy!...

Plot:

Mouser Jaone Tom and housecat Mewsette are living in the French country side, but Mewsette wants to...

Plot Keywords:

Devil | La Marseillaise | Cat | Gold Rush | Toulouse Lautrec

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Mewsette (voice)
Robert Goulet	...	Jaune-Tom (voice)
Red Buttons	...	Robespierre (voice)
Paul Frees	...	Meowrice (voice)
Hermione Gingold	...	Mme. Rubens-Chatte (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Morey Amsterdam	...	Narrator (voice)
Julie Bennett	...	(voice)
Mel Blanc	...	Bulldog (voice)
June Foray	...	(voice)
Joan Gardner	...	(voice)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

United Productions of America (UPA)

Trivia:

When the nefarious Meowrice hatches a plot to shanghai Jaune Tom and Robespierre and sell them as ship's cats, he escorts them to the celebrated feline cabaret, the "Mewlon Rouge", under guise of friendship. During this scene, the famous French artist Toulouse-Lautrec - who painted many advertising posters for the real Moulon Rouge - is portrayed as a bearded, green-colored cat sitting at a nearby table, tossing back a drink and sketching his surroundings.

Quotes:

Meowrice: As they say, evil is the root of all money... money trees, that is! Big, green money trees.

Movie Connections:

References Moulin Rouge (1952)

Soundtrack:

Little Drops of Rain (Reprise)

Well I DID like it

seriously, I thought "Gay Pur-ree" is up there on par with Disney's greatest productions, even surpassing some of them. Sure it's no blockbuster, nor is it planned to be one. But it does manage a certain kind of epic magic, more akin to the impressionist style it emulates than to the "MTV video feel" behind most of today's standard animation works.

Gay Pur-ree (which aired in my country as "La Fair Mewsette", to my mind a MUCH better title) is a throwback to an age of innocence (corny as this may sound) in more than one sense; in those days, a simple, humane story was all the charm a story needed (my, that DID sound corny indeed). The movie had that special feel, in spades. And to me (a very impressionable 8-year old at the time), it was a true saga. I was taken to another world, cried for the characters, memorized their names and the song. And I dreamed of it for a month after watching it. I felt the magic. I felt as they said you should feel after watching an animated movie.

*sigh*

Maybe not a must see, but certainly a must remember. Watch it, and cherish the memory.