Ventriloquist Cat

Ventriloquist Cat (1950)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Classic Avery cartoon about a cat who becomes a ventriloquist so that he can play a bunch of tricks on a rather dumb bulldog. The premise to this short is a very, very simple one but it works perfectly as it gets one incredibly big laugh after another. One could argue that the same thing keeps happening over and over but that doesn't really matter when you're getting a laugh with the joke. There are countless highlights here including a terrific sequence where the cat makes the bulldog think he's hiding in some clothes, which the dog starts to rip up and he finally makes it to a real police officer and rips his clothes off. Another great scene is the end when the cat thinks it's safe to take the special piece he's been using out of his mouth but the final shot is pure classic. The majority of the jokes come from various explosions where the bulldog is the victim but they're all funny.

Tex Avery was a genius at the art of the animated short. He did for the animated short what Walt Disney did for the feature. Avery seemed to have something of a fondness for black cats, as he did a number of cartoons featuring black cats. Ventriloquist Cat was one of them. Mostly sight-gags fired at the viewer at a very frenetic pace and designed to keep you rolling around on the floor laughing. More often than not, it works. This and most of Avery's shorts are marvelously (sometimes wickedly) funny. Most highly recommended.

Tex Avery made many classic cartoons, but this may very well be his very best, as the title implies, it concerns a ventriloquist cat with nothing better to do than make a dogs life miserable. Non-stop laughs from beginning to end.

Tex Avery's MGM cartoons are among the very best ever made--and if you haven't seen them, you are in for a treat if you see one. While "Ventriloquist Cat" may not be his very best, it's sure close. And, if after seeing it you STILL don't like his films, then there is no hope for you!

The cartoon begins with a nasty cat doing 'I hate dogs' graffiti everywhere...including on a dog's stomach! The dog is not amused and spends the rest of the film chasing the cat. But the cat is VERY resourceful and uses a trick device to throw his voice--sending the dog on a wild chase all over town trying to find that darned cat. This isn't all, but I won't say more--it would spoil the crazy fun.

While the animation is great, the film is wonderful because it's funny...very funny. And, wildly creative--a characteristic of Avery's fine MGM films. By the way, I mention his MGM films because, oddly, Avery's films he did prior to this were for Looney Tunes--and they were much, much more conventional. Not terrible, but not nearly as much fun as his later films, that's for sure.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Ventriloquist Cat' is another example of an animated masterpiece and one of his all time best. Like the best of Tex Avery, 'Ventriloquist Cat' is a cartoon of amazing quality, is very creative and hilarious as one would expect from Avery on top form like he is here. Even when he wasn't at his best, he still delivered, have yet to see a "bad" effort from him.

Both the cat and dog characters have terrific comic timing and are interesting, likable characters. The cat is crafty and the bulldog getting the worst of the violence. The voice work can't be faulted.

Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild and hilarious throughout from start to finish. The sight gags throughout are an absolute joy and are immaculate in timing, the ending is both surprising and hysterical.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

Summing up, another Avery masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox