Gabriel Churchkitten

A pastor sleepwalks to feed the church mouse and church kitten. Unfortunately, he drinks and eats the food he prepares for them. How can they get him to actually feed them with in a kindly way.

This early Noveltoon is based on a children's book. It is well executed in the still-lush style that Famous Studios was using at this point. On the down side, the voice work is meant to appeal to small children, and the mild-as-warm-water gags are not.

Clearly this is meant as a parable for something or other, and the other commenters on this cartoon make that clear. Unfortunately, now in my senior years, just as when I first saw these movies as a toddler, I prefer something far more lively.

"Gabriel Churchkitten" is a 1944 cartoon from the Paramount/Famous Studios cartoon unit, made at a time when the studio was better known for Popeye and Little Lulu cartoons. Adapted from a popular (and fondly remembered) children's book of the era by Margot Austin, it was one of a handful of Hollywood studio cartoons of the time adapted from children's literature. At Warners, Bob Clampett had done an adaptation of Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hatches the Egg" in 1942, while Paramount itself did three Raggedy Ann cartoons in the course of the decade. These were rare attempts by studio cartoon units to break with the standard knockabout cartoon formula. On the whole, only Disney had any great success in this regard. And it's not hard to see why.

This cartoon concerns the efforts of a kitten, Gabriel, and a mouse, Peter, who apparently live in peaceful coexistence in the home of Parson Peaseporridge, to get the Parson to wake up at night and feed them their milk and cheese, respectively. The Parson repeatedly rises up, in a fit of sleepwalking, and reaches the cupboard, while muttering the need to feed the "churchkitten" and "churchmouse," but then proceeds to drink the milk and eat the cheese himself. Eventually, the kitten and mouse enlist the aid of a neighboring puppy named Trumpet to achieve their goal.

The problem here is that, in flying in the face of cartoon formula by having a cat, a mouse and a dog get along famously, there's no opportunity for slapstick, conflict or action. The result is mildly cute and charming, but it's alarmingly slow and talky for a 1940s Hollywood cartoon. It's as if, in trying to invest the enterprise with prestige, the animators restrained themselves so much they forgot their primary mission--to entertain.

It is funny today, though, to see the two feed bowls with the mouse's and kitten's names on them, sitting side by side, reading, left to right, "Peter...Gabriel."

ADDENDUM: Since doing the above review, I have discovered that this cartoon is now available on YouTube.

Gabriel Churchkitten is one of the Famous StudiosNoveltoons that sticks in my memory, though I have not seen it in half a century. As a Presbyterian active in my church, and who formerly taught Sunday School, I am thankful that there was no pastor like Parson Peaseporridge; the Session would not want the like of HIM! I recall the opening by either Gabriel Churchkitten or Peter Churchmouse, the complaint that Parson Peaseporridge had forgotten to feed them again! The problem was that Peaseporridge was a sleepwalker who muttered "Gabriel Churchkitten, Peter Churchmouse" in his sleep and DRANK Gabriel's milk and ATE Peter's cheese! One may wonder how Peaseporridge acted toward his PARISHONERS! (There was no clue about that in the cartoon.) Mercifully, the matter was righted. One legacy of this cartoon was that in a visionary nation that has ever existed in my creative imagination, there was a municipality called Church Kitten (or was it Church Cat?), and one called Church Mouse. Whatever the case, this cartoon was a RIOT, gave me a belly full of laughs!

Did find a good deal to like about the Noveltoons series from Famous Studios, with the best decade being in my opinion the 40s. Some cartoons are better than others, some much more so, but the series is well worth seeing and were mostly very well made and scored. When Famous Studios were good, their cartoons were amusing (sometimes hilarious) and charming without being too sentimental. When they were not so good, their cartoons could be too cute and the material and stories could be thin and tired.

'Gabriel Churchkitten' fits in neither extreme, but has elements of both. It looks and sounds good and has moments of amusement and charm but the energy and laughs could have been more and it tended to be too cute and not fresh enough. That sounds like saying 'Gabriel Churchkitten' is a terrible cartoon, it's not. If anything, it is one cartoon that is a little above mixed feelings, which is not too awful a position but not one to blow the mind either.

Will start with what could have been done better, and some of it has been summed up briefly already. 'Gabriel Churchkitten' really could have benefitted from a tighter pace and more energy, do agree that there could have been less talk as momentum does sag as a result. Less talk and more gags, of which there are not enough of. What there is is hardly unfunny but nothing is hilarious really either.

Furthermore, the story doesn't always engage with it being too thin for the running time and sometimes stretched-feeling. While the charm is there, and it's a long way from forced, the cartoon could have laid it on less with the cuteness, parts were slightly saccharine for my tastes.

The animation and music though save it and are so good that they bring the rating up significantly. The animation is fluid and atmospheric in use of colour (light and dark), with the background art designed vividly. The music has the liveliness that one wishes was matched in the pace and also a lushness that doesn't go overboard on the sugar. 'Gabriel Churchkitten' just about avoids corniness and the amount of charm it has makes it hard to be too harsh on it.

Although the gags are not enough and not hilarious, one in my view isn't laugh-deprived, did find myself amused in spots. The characters are sweet enough, even if their personalities are somewhat one-dimensional, and the voice work is on point.

In conclusion, doesn't blow the mind in any shape or form but not a bad watch at all. 6/10