The Cat Came Back

The Cat Came Back
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Airdate:	8 February 1936 Blue Ribbon reissue: 15 July 1944 5 June 1954
Series:	Merrie Melodies
MPAA Number:	1882
Production Number:	7138 1361 (reissue)
Copyright Renewed:	11 July 1963
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Berneice Hansell (uncredited)
Director:	I. Freleng
Producer:	Leon Schlesinger
Animated By:	Ben Clopton Bob McKimson
Film Editor:	Bernard B. Brown (uncredited) Treg Brown (uncredited)
Musician:	Norman Spencer

• Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration

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The Cat Came Back is a 1936 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot

A curious kitten leaves her family to play with an equally curious little mouse from across the hall, despite both being told by their mothers how bad the other's family is. Mama Mouse warns her kids to stay away from cats, while Mama Cat tells her kids to attack all mice. The kitten and mouse sneak out of their lessons and listen to some records together as an excuse to get in some hot 1930s tunes and dance around. While dancing, they accidentally fall down a drain into the sewer. The little kitten is saved by the little mouse. The two mothers get together to rejoice, but old feuds are not so easily forgotten, and the cat and mice families start to fight again.

Availability

(1997) LaserDisc
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 5, Side 5, Pesky Pets (1995 Turner dubbed version)

Streaming

HBO Max (2020 - 2023) (restored)

Max (2023 - 2024) (restored)

Censorship

• When this short aired on syndication for television showings, the mousetrap sequence, as well as the scene with the toilet plunger and the eye poking sequence are cut. Airings of this cartoon on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT and MeTV are uncut.

Notes

• The two kittens who were originally friends did not appear in the final scene.
• This short was re-released into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies twice. The first re-release was 15 July 1944 (evident from the style opening bullet titles used: blue rings with a red background). At this time, the original ending bullet titles were still present and only the credits and opening bullet titles were cut. The second re-release was 5 June 1954 (evident from the style opening bullet titles used: orange rings with a blue background). At this time, the original ending bullet titles were also scrapped. The "That's all Folks!" on the Blue Ribbon ending card is already written out. The second re-release also scraps the first re-release title font and opening bullet titles.
• This is the final Merrie Melodies short to feature the words "WARNER BROS. PRODUCTIONS CORPORATION" and "Present" with a small WB shield and "VITAPHONE" under "WARNER BROS." Cartoons released shortly after this would have the zooming shield with the words "VITAPHONE" and "Presents" appearing after the WB shield, which has gotten larger when featured between 1936-45 on Merrie Melodies shorts, zooms in.
• Although the American Turner "dubbed" print uses the generic ending card like all other pre-1948 shorts, the European "dubbed" print retains the static Blue Ribbon ending card, albeit with the 1995 "Dubbed Version" notice.
• The short has a unique Blue Ribbon ending card, with "That's all Folks!" already written out instead of being written out usually.

Gallery

Lobby card

The Blue Ribbon ending card with the 'Turner Entertainment' dubbed version notice from the cartoon's EU Turner print. Notice that the font used for the notice is different from the other EU dubbed versions, as the font used appears to be smaller and thicker than usual.