Written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones, "Odor-able Kitty" is the first Warner Bros. cartoon to feature a famous French skunk who is an irrepressible "ladies' man": Pepe Le Pew. But what an unusual Pepe Le Pew cartoon! (If you haven't yet seen this film, DON'T read any further.) In "Odor-able Kitty," Pepe chases after a MALE cat! No, Pepe is not a homosexual; he simply believes the male cat to be a female skunk. And then, at the end of this cartoon, it turns out that Pepe is not really Pepe at all! He is Henry, a Brooklyn skunk with a wife and two kids. Thankfully, in most of the later Pepe Le Pew cartoons, these little flaws are rectified as Pepe becomes a more fully developed character.
Here are my favorite scenes from "Odor-able Kitty." When the male cat first disguises himself as a skunk (so that he would be left alone), he dares an old lady to swat him on the rear with a broom, but before she does, he has a smug expression on his face as his tail points toward his Limburger odor! Shortly afterward he walks into a meat shop, and after a brief pause, everyone screams and rushes out! Thanks to the brilliance of composer/orchestrator Carl Stalling, we hear a familiar sprightly violin theme as Pepe/Henry pounces after the cat; contrast that with some sluggish saxophones to indicate the cat's gradual slowing down in escaping from the amorous skunk. AND, in another moment of quirkiness, we see BUGS BUNNY (actually the cat in disguise) saying his "Eh, what's up, Doc?" catchphrase while we hear the Warner Bros. cartoon theme "Merrily We Roll Along."
In addition to "Merrily We Roll Along," there are three other songs in "Odor-able Kitty" that I recognize, again attesting the brilliance of Carl Stalling. These three songs are "You're Just an Angel in Disguise" (a snippet of which is sung by the cat when he first disguises himself as a skunk), "Trade Winds" (heard while the cat rests contentedly, his belly full of delicious meat), and "It Had to Be You" (heard several times throughout this short, particularly during Pepe's/Henry's first appearance).
Here are my favorite scenes from "Odor-able Kitty." When the male cat first disguises himself as a skunk (so that he would be left alone), he dares an old lady to swat him on the rear with a broom, but before she does, he has a smug expression on his face as his tail points toward his Limburger odor! Shortly afterward he walks into a meat shop, and after a brief pause, everyone screams and rushes out! Thanks to the brilliance of composer/orchestrator Carl Stalling, we hear a familiar sprightly violin theme as Pepe/Henry pounces after the cat; contrast that with some sluggish saxophones to indicate the cat's gradual slowing down in escaping from the amorous skunk. AND, in another moment of quirkiness, we see BUGS BUNNY (actually the cat in disguise) saying his "Eh, what's up, Doc?" catchphrase while we hear the Warner Bros. cartoon theme "Merrily We Roll Along."
In addition to "Merrily We Roll Along," there are three other songs in "Odor-able Kitty" that I recognize, again attesting the brilliance of Carl Stalling. These three songs are "You're Just an Angel in Disguise" (a snippet of which is sung by the cat when he first disguises himself as a skunk), "Trade Winds" (heard while the cat rests contentedly, his belly full of delicious meat), and "It Had to Be You" (heard several times throughout this short, particularly during Pepe's/Henry's first appearance).