"Stealing cheese! That will never do!"

July 15, 2009 3:54 PM

"Catnip. I wonder what that is."Catnip Capers, a TerryToons animated short from 1940. SLYT.
posted by Mayor Curley (23 comments total)

I first saw this on Boston's WLVI in the early 80's. I think it was in the "Casper the Friendly Ghost" show for some reason.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:59 PM on July 15 [1 favorite]

Man, that's some good catnip.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:38 PM on July 15

WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO GET TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY?
posted by Superfrankenstein at 4:42 PM on July 15 [2 favorites]

I must have seen this 100 times (also on WLVI) as a kid. It was the Just Say No eighties, but it never even occurred to me that the cat was high on drugs. I guess you can't warp a mind 'til it's ready.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 4:51 PM on July 15

Here's the apparent source, from the digitally restored collection at the Animation Archives of ASIFA-Hollywood.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:51 PM on July 15 [1 favorite]

And: the Animation Archive, previously.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:55 PM on July 15

Someone explain to me why the mice have to wear pants and the cat doesn't....

And, I don't want some made up BS...I want the truth...

neat... cartoons back then were pretty artful in a lot of ways....
posted by HuronBob at 5:11 PM on July 15 [1 favorite]

How catnip gets cats high...
posted by hillabeans at 5:19 PM on July 15 [1 favorite]

If Swiss cheese did not exist, animators would have had to invent it. What else would provide mice with such infinite hidey-holes in cartoons? What visual cue says unto us CHEESE like Swiss?
posted by Countess Elena at 5:26 PM on July 15 [3 favorites]

HuronBob: "Someone explain to me why the mice have to wear pants and the cat doesn't."

The truth is, mouse fur is not long enough to hide their genitals, whereas cat fur will conceal a cat's penis. That's all.
posted by boo_radley at 5:42 PM on July 15

those pretty girl cats playing the drums did something to me.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:48 PM on July 15

Seeing pink elephants as a euphemism for being drunk was only about 21 years old when this was made and has already entered the collective imagination.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:39 PM on July 15

Another WLVI memory of this... I remember thinking it was a strange Tom & Jerry. (Dale Dorman's voice, what was it about that huh?)

...unfortunately, hallucinating cats aren't so funny in real life.

...fortunately, they experimented on troops with much more hilarious results.
posted by not_on_display at 6:48 PM on July 15

The truth is, mouse fur is not long enough to hide their genitals, whereas cat fur will conceal a cat's penis. That's all.

Mice have no problem hiding their penises. It's their giant balls that are rude.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:48 PM on July 15

Dale Dorman's voice, what was it about that huh?

Holy shit! Thanks for possibly freeing up a cluster of neurons that could have been holding something useful!
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:52 PM on July 15

A bit of a puzzle for Ignatz and Officer Pupp, too.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 7:08 PM on July 15 [1 favorite]

Wait, catnip, not Dale Dorman's voice.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 7:12 PM on July 15

Wow, some of those backgrounds are awesome.

I also find it interesting how times have changed: in 1940, they said "This cat is in an altered state" by playing "drunk" music while he hiccuped, then showing a pink elephant. Nowadays this would be an excuse for the animators to do something based on a psychedelic blacklight poster.

Also, having the belly-dancer Walk Like An Egyptian was somehow disorienting. Hey, it's all Exotic when you're workin' for Paul Terry!
posted by egypturnash at 7:19 PM on July 15

Predates the "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence from Dumbo (1941). Cool. Always grateful for 'toons!
posted by steef at 7:38 PM on July 15

Why pink elephants, btw?

Also, this is really just a dream sequence. I doubt the animators had any actual drug experience.
posted by empath at 9:47 PM on July 15

Here is that same clip with Sun Ra's version of the song
posted by hortense at 12:03 AM on July 16 [1 favorite]

If you've just woken up (and perhaps aren't firing on all thrusters generally), you can comprehend the perspective of the cat/animator while on catnip -- everything makes a weird sort of sense.

Dreams are big places. A two stage rocket constructed from an elephant and a carpet is the perfect solution for getting to the moon and its harem of moon lady cats.
posted by Kikkoman at 4:25 AM on July 16

The truth is, mouse fur is not long enough to hide their genitals, whereas cat fur will conceal a cat's penis. That's all.

Then why are the girl cats wearing both pants AND vests? (Especially since cat nipples aren't on the chest like human nipples.)
posted by DU at 6:34 AM on July 16