Scaredy Cat

Porky Pig and his loyal cat Sylvester move into a big scary looking house and Sylvester (who doesn't have any dialogue in this 'un) is instantly panicky and afraid. He's sure the house is over-run with homicidal mice, booby traps and ominous shadows. However Porky doesn't appear to be listening and insists Sylvester sleep in the kitchen and not beside him, where he feels more safe.

Sure enough, it's not long before the mice are poking at and prodding Sylvester with sharp objects or launching the poor kitty through windows. Despite repeated attempts, Porky will just not pay attention until he himself is kidnapped.

Now it's up to Sylvester to rescue him in an unusual role as the victim turned hero. You gotta love him, he's just so adorable.

Scaredy Cat (1948)

*** (out of 4)

Fun Merrie Melodies short has Porky Pig buying a new house but his cat Sylvester is the only one that can see the strange things going on in it. This leads to some misunderstanding as Porky doesn't realize the danger inside the house and Sylvester will have to build up the courage to fight it. This is a pretty good entry in the series as both Porky and Sylvester are at the top of their game. The biggest weakness is that the mice really aren't developed too well so they're only middle ground villains. The best sequence in the movie is when the mice push the bed out the window and Sylvester gets blamed for what follows even though he's just trying to save Porky.

In most cartoons starring Sylvester the Cat that are directed by Friz Freling or Robert McKimson, the pussycat is usually the aggressor who's after either Tweety or Hippity Hopper, the baby kangaroo mistaken for a giant mouse either by the red-nosed feline or his son, Sylvester, Jr. In Chuck Jones' Scaredy Cat, he's Porky Pig's mute pet who, despite many attempts of signaling his master of danger, gets admonished as being delusional since Porky always sees something different. This change of characterization is quite convincing in Jones' hands and he stages many scenes of mice about to carry another cat for execution quite atmospheric. The rodents look like Hubie and Bertie, by the way. Quite funny scenes of Porky just being nonchalant almost the whole way when weird things happen behind his back. The ending may be lost to modern audiences but Scaredy Cat is mostly successful in being spooky and highly amusing at the same time.

This is the primary pretext of SCAREDY CAT. The feline set also tends to be quite self-centered, evidenced by Sylvester hoisting an anvil over his tuna fish provider P. Pig, forcing him onto the wagon to the killing field. If there were any cats along for the maiden voyage of the Titanic, one can bet that they'd have filled the space on the few available lifeboats as soon as the crow's nest dude yelled "Thar she's blowing free ice cubes for your drinks!" Fluffy does not observe any of the laws stipulating "Women and children first!" Fickle felines always desert just when their owners need them the most. That's why no one writes about "The cats of war" or "Fluffy come home."

Classic Chuck Jones short with Porky Pig and his cat Sylvester moving into a run-down old house. Sylvester soon discovers the house is full of not-so-friendly mice that try to kill them at every turn. This is the first of three cartoons that paired Porky and Sylvester in a spooky place where strange things are happening. The animation is fluid and beautiful with rich Technicolor and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Excellent voice work from Mel Blanc. Lively music by Carl Stalling. This is a great cartoon with nice atmosphere and lots of humor. Sylvester gets the funniest bits, despite his not talking in this entire short. The mice are a hoot! Love the ending.