The Hep Cat
The Hep Cat is a 1942 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, animated primarily by Robert McKimson, and set to a musical score composed by Carl W. Stalling.[1] The short was released on October 3, 1942.[2] This cartoon was the first color Looney Tunes short.
| The Hep Cat | |
|---|---|
 Blue Ribbon reissue title card | |
| Directed by | Robert Clampett |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Sara Berner Kent Rogers (all uncredited) |
| Music by | Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling Orchestra: Milt Franklyn (uncredited) |
| Animation by | Bob McKimson Uncredited animation: Virgil Ross Rod Scribner Sid Sutherland Rev Chaney |
| Backgrounds by | John Didrik Johnsen (uncredited) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6:15 |
| Language | English |
Plot
The Hep Cat opens with a cat (who resembles the one from Notes to You) strolling through an abandoned lot. Unfortunately, he stumbles across a dog named "Rosebud"—otherwise known by fans as Willoughby the Dog—who, upon noticing the cat, gives chase. The cat, after a successful escape, begins singing "Java Jive." Later, the cat encounters an attractive female cat, and attempts to woo her, failing utterly. Suddenly, Rosebud the dog reappears and the chase resumes. After a series of zany, Clampett-esque sight gags, the cat once again evades the dog. As the cartoon closes, the cat can be seen kissing his dream girl—a puppet.
Title alterations
When Cartoon Network aired this short on The Bob Clampett Show, the titles were replaced with title cards of a colorized Porky Pig Looney Tune, with "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" as the opening music. The Looney Tunes title card cuts to the Blue Ribbon title card with "Merrily We Roll Along" as title music. The Looney Tunes drum with Porky Pig saying That's All Folks!, also closes the cartoon. This was done to identify the short as a Looney Tune, since the Blue Ribbon titles miscredited the short as a Merrie Melody.
The opening title cards are not correct, since the 1942–43 season was the first in which Looney Tunes cartoons opened with the "bulls-eye" titles, usually with thicker rings.
Cultural references
When the cat claims to be a "gorgeous hunk of man" his face turns into a caricature of Victor Mature. As the cat feels Willoughby's hand beside the puppet he's kissing he exclaims: "Well, something new has been added!". At the end of the cartoon the cat says: "Well, I can dream, can't I?" Both quotes were used often in Looney Tunes cartoons of this era (like for instance Plane Daffy, Red Hot Riding Hood,...) and are both catch phrases by Jerry Colonna. "Ah, something new has been added" was a slogan for Old Gold (cigarette).
Reception
Comic book and animation writer Earl Kress writes, "This cartoon is one of director Bob Clampett's bat-out-of-hell-paced efforts... There's some really nice staging in this cartoon — for example, the scenes in which we only see shadows on a fence and the scene where the cat and dog race up a fire escape, shown at a steep down-angle from the top of a building. The staging, plus the outstanding script by Warren Foster, make this one of the greatest Looney Tunes."[3]
References
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 134. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 100–102. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.