Goldimouse and the Three Cats

Yet another Looney Tunes take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This one's directed by Friz Freleng, who had done a spin on Goldilocks at least once before. This version features Sylvester and Sylvester, Jr. as two of the three cats from the title. Sylvester, his wife, and Junior all leave their house for a walk and when they return they find a little blonde mouse has eaten their porridge and slept in their beds. Sylvester tries (and fails) to capture the mouse while his spoiled son expresses disappointment in his father at every turn. Most of the laughs come from Junior's remarks and the dysfunctional nature of the Sylvester family. The mouse is pretty cute, too. The animation is nice and colorful. Great voice work from June Foray and Mel Blanc. All in all, it's a very entertaining cartoon, especially given that it was made during a mostly dreadful period for Looney Tunes.

In this takeoff of "The Three Bears," we get cats instead, led by the patriarch "Sylvester." The baby cat has "spoiled brat" written on his highchair so immediately you know that's going to be a key part of the story. The "brat" has a point: "cats don't eat porridge; I want a mouse."

While the cats go for a walk in the forest, little "Goldimouse" comes out of her hole, tastes the porridge, gets sleepy and winds up in the spoiled brat's bed snoring away. By the way, for those old enough to remember, check out the Davy Crockett coonskin cap on the little cat. Now there is some good nostalgia. There are a number of little things like that in this cartoon that made it better than one might think.

It takes until the halfway point for some really good jokes, however, but they do arrive. Goldimouse is pretty funny just in her blonde wig and dress - and the kid cat - a typical teen with peer pressure - has lines like "how can I face my friends with a father who can't catch a mouse? For shame, for shame!" He then puts a paper bag over his head. (It looked better than the way I'm telling it.)

OK, so "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is one of the easiest stories to play with; the Termite Terrace crowd had already done so with "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears". "Goldimouse and the Three Cats" casts Sylvester as the patriarch of a feline household. He and his wife both have porridge the wrong temperature, while their spoiled brat son - actually identified as "Spoiled Brat" - won't eat his. So, this brood belonging to the family Felidae* goes out for a walk (on a bridge full of loose boards; uh oh!), and sure enough, a mouse enters their house and screws things up. I shouldn't have to tell you what sorts of things happen to Sylvester when he tries to catch the playful rodent, but I will note that dynamite is involved (they loved their TNT, didn't they?).

Yes, it's sort of a predictable cartoon. What's really neat is what I observe now that I'm old enough to understand it: the shelter. I assume that it was an allusion to Cold War-era bomb shelters (this cartoon came out during that period).

So, it's not a great cartoon - probably Friz Freleng's greatest Sylvester cartoon was "Birds Anonymous" - but still worth seeing.

*Felidae is the taxonomic family to which cats belong.

I am familiar with this after seeing 1001 Rabbit Tales, and while I enjoyed other cartoons from the compilation more, I liked Goldimouse and the Three Cats. It is a good and quite original take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, while a little too short and it isn't until halfway through when we get some jokes, so the first three minutes or so felt somewhat lukewarm, slow and unfunny. However the animation is very good, as is the music, which is a lot of fun. The dialogue is funny and smart, and the sight gags are decent. I liked how Sylvester was the patriarch of the family and fell victim to his own traps, and that Sylvester Jnr was branded the spoiled brat. Goldimouse was pretty cute too. Overall, a cartoon that starts off slow but gets better. 8/10 Bethany Cox