Difference between revisions of "Cat-Tails for Two"

Cat-Tails for Two
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	July 25, 1953
Starring	Mel Blanc; Stan Freberg
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Animation	Rod Scribner; Phil DeLara; Charles McKimson; Herman Cohen
Director(s)	Robert McKimson
	Series navigation
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	Title card

Latest revision as of 17:52, 1 July 2024

Cat-Tails for Two is the three hundred and sixty-nineth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 25, 1953. It was produced by Edward Selzer, written by Tedd Pierce, and directed by Robert McKimson.

Two cats, Benny and George, board a Mexican cargo ship to get some mice for dinner. But a rodent by the name of Speedy Gonzalez proves to be much more of a challenge for the two.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Benny: P-E-T-R-O-L... Huh, that's a funny way to say water. This will cool you off, George!

Speedy: I love those fellows... They're so silly!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Benny	Stan Freberg
George	Mel Blanc
Speedy Gonzalez	Mel Blanc

Organizations

Acme

Locations

Earth
- United States
  - Shipyard Pier
Mexico (mentioned)

Objects

Cheese
Speedy's calling card
Acme Anvils crate
Fireworks crates
Firecrackers
Petrol bucket
Casino Stand
Pipes
Skyrocket
Mallet
Monkey wrench

Vehicles

S.S. Pancho Cucaracha

Production

Development

Filming

Music

The music was composed by Carl Stalling.

Crew credits

Layouts: Robert Givens
Backgrounds: Richard H. Thomas

Release

Dates are in order of release:

United States: July 25, 1953 in theatres

Behind the scenes

The title is a pun of the song "Cocktails for Two", by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow.
The short is a successor to Hoppy-Go-Lucky, in which a more intelligent cat attempts to give a mouse to Benny in a spoof of the novella Of Mice and Men. However, George and Speedy replace Sylvester and Hippety Hopper's roles in this short, respectively.
Although the original opening and ending rings are known to exist, the Blue Ribbon titles are still used in most prints of the short.

Legacy

Following his debut in the short, Friz Freleng and animator Hawley Pratt would redesign Speedy into his more familiar design, in the 1955 short Speedy Gonzales.^[1] Additionally, Speedy's surname was also changed in that short, instead of "Gonzalez" like in his debut.

Home availability

In the United States:
- October 7, 1985: Warner Home Video releases Speedy Gonzales' Fast Funnies on VHS
- November 14, 2006: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 on DVD

References

↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1991). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (1991 edition), page 121. Facts on File, Inc., New York NY. ISBN 0-8160-2252-6.

[1] Lenburg, Jeff (1991). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (1991 edition), page 121. Facts on File, Inc., New York NY. ISBN 0-8160-2252-6.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Cat-Tails for Two''}}
 {{Infobox movie
 |prodcompany= [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]]
@@ Line 16: / Line 17: @@
 '''''Cat-Tails for Two''''' is the three hundred and sixty-nineth ''[[Merrie Melodies (theatrical shorts)|Merrie Melodies]]'' theatrical short. It was released by [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] and [[The Vitaphone Corporation]] on [[July 25]], [[1953]].  It was produced by [[Edward Selzer]], written by [[Tedd Pierce]], and directed by [[Robert McKimson]].
-Two cats, Benny and George, board a Mexican Cargo Ship to try and catch some Mexican Mice for dinner, but one mouse, calling himself Speedy Gonzales, proves to be much more of a challenge to the cats.
+Two cats, Benny and George, board a Mexican cargo ship to get some mice for dinner. But a rodent by the name of Speedy Gonzalez proves to be much more of a challenge for the two.
 ==Detailed summary==
 ==Memorable quotes==
-'''Speedy:''' I love those fellows... They're so see-lee (silly)!
+'''Benny:''' P-E-T-R-O-L... Huh, that's a funny way to say water. This will cool you off, George!
+'''Speedy:''' I love those fellows... They're so silly!
 ==Characters==
@@ Line 28: / Line 32: @@
 |style="background-color:clear"| [[Stan Freberg]]
 |-
-|style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| [[George]]
+|style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| [[George (Cat-Tails for Two)|George]]
 |style="background-color:#AAFFAA"| [[Mel Blanc]]
 |-
-|style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| [[Speedy Gonzales (character)|Speedy Gonzales]]
+|style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| [[Speedy Gonzales (character)|Speedy Gonzalez]]
 |style="background-color:#AAFFAA"| Mel Blanc
 |-
 {{CastBottom}}
+==Organizations==
+* [[Acme]]
 ==Locations==
-*[[Earth]]
+* [[Earth]]
-**[[United States]]
+** [[United States]]
-***Shipyard Pier
+*** Shipyard Pier
-***S.S. Pancho Cucaracha
+* [[Mexico]] (mentioned)
-==Organizations==
+==Objects==
-*[[Acme]]
+* Cheese
+* Speedy's calling card
+* [[Acme Anvil|Acme Anvils]] crate
+* Fireworks crates
+* Firecrackers
+* Petrol bucket
+* Casino Stand
+* Pipes
+* Skyrocket
+* Mallet
+* Monkey wrench
-==Objects==
+==Vehicles==
-*Cheese
+* ''[[S.S. Pancho Cucaracha]]''
-*Speedy's calling card
-*[[Acme Anvil]]s Crate
-*Fireworks Crates
-*Firecrackers
-*Petrol Bucket
-*Casino Stand
-*Pipes
-*Skyrocket
-*Mallet
-*Monkey wrench
 ==Production==
@@ Line 74: / Line 81: @@
 ==Behind the scenes==
-* The title is a pun of the song, ''Cocktails for Two''.
+* The title is a pun of the song "Cocktails for Two", by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow.
-* The cartoon is a successor to ''[[Hoppy-Go-Lucky]]'', in where a more intelligent cat attempts to give a mouse to Benny in a spoof of Of Mice and Men. However, George and Speedy replaces [[Sylvester]]'s and [[Hippety Hopper]]'s roles in this short, respectively.
+* The short is a successor to ''[[Hoppy-Go-Lucky]]'', in which a more intelligent cat attempts to give a mouse to Benny in a spoof of the novella ''Of Mice and Men''. However, George and Speedy replace [[Sylvester]] and [[Hippety Hopper]]'s roles in this short, respectively.
-* Though the original opening and ending rings are known to exist, it was restored with the Blue Ribbon titles.
+* Although the original opening and ending rings are known to exist, the Blue Ribbon titles are still used in most prints of the short.
 ==Legacy==
-* This cartoon marks the debut appearance of [[Speedy Gonzales (character)|Speedy Gonzales]], though his original design here is vastly different from his more popular design. The version of Speedy Gonzales in this short has wider eyes, bigger teeth (one of which has a gold cap on it), and messy, black hair, and wears a red shirt with no pants. And only in but a brief, short moment, he wears a green sombrero.
+* Following his debut in the short, [[Friz Freleng]] and animator [[Hawley Pratt]] would redesign Speedy into his more familiar design, in the [[1955]] short ''[[Speedy Gonzales (theatrical short)|Speedy Gonzales]]''.<ref>Lenburg, Jeff ([[1991]]). ''The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons'' (1991 edition), page 121. Facts on File, Inc., New York NY. ISBN 0-8160-2252-6.</ref> Additionally, Speedy's surname was also changed in that short, instead of "Gonzalez" like in his debut.
-** [[Friz Freleng]] would later redesign Speedy into the character that he is in the [[1955]] ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon of the same name as the character.
 ==Home availability==
 * In the United States:
-** ''[[Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4]]''
+** [[October 7]], [[1985]]: [[Warner Home Video]] releases ''[[Speedy Gonzales' Fast Funnies]]'' on VHS
+** [[November 14]], [[2006]]: Warner Home Video releases ''[[Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4]]'' on DVD
+==References==
+<references />
 [[Category:1953]]
+[[Category:Directed by Robert McKimson]]
+[[Category:Speedy Gonzales series]]
 [[Category:Speedy Gonzales theatrical shorts]]
-[[Category:Speedy Gonzales series]]
-[[Category:Sylvester series]]
-[[Category:Directed by Robert McKimson]]
 [[Category:Merrie Melodies (theatrical shorts)]]
+[[Category:Theatrical shorts]]
 [[Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons]]
 [[Category:Warner Bros. Pictures]]
 [[Category:Written by Tedd Pierce]]