The Hep Cat

The Hep Cat
File:The Hep Cat lobby card.png Lobby card.
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	October 24, 1942
Run time	6:15
Starring	Mel Blanc Sara Berner Kent Rogers
Producer(s)	Leon Schlesinger
Music composed by	Carl W. Stalling
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Bob McKimson
Director(s)	Robert Clampett
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Title card
File:The Hep Cat title card.png

The Hep Cat is the one hundred and seventy-fourth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on October 24, 1942. It was written by Warren Foster, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Bob Clampett.

An alley cat, who fancies himself as a Casanova, finds himself in a quarrel with a neighborhood dog. Their conflict escalates with multiple pranks of absurdist lengths.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Cat	Mel Blanc
Rosebud	Kent Rogers
Bird	Sara Berner

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • City alley

Vehicles

• None

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

It also uses the following cues:

• "Five O'Clock Whistle", by Josef Myrow
• "Java Jive", by Ben Oakland & Lyrics by Milton Drake
• "Siempre en Mi Corazón" ("Always in My Heart"), by Ernesto Lecuona
• Frühlingslied (also known as Spring Song) by Felix Mendelssohn
• "Rock-a-Bye Baby"

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: August 22, 1942 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is likely derived from the phrase "hep cat", a slang for a person who is familiar with the latest in music, fashion, and other facets of culture.
• The MPAA certificate number is 8121.
• It is the first short in the Looney Tunes series to be produced in Technicolor.
• It also serves as the introduction of the color rings, which previously originated from the Merrie Melodies theatrical shorts.
• Rosebud's name is a direct reference to the 1941 film Citizen Kane.
• When the cat claims himself to be "a gorgeous hunk of man," his face turns into a caricature of actor Victor Mature.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • Novenber 2, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.