Scaredy Cat
Encyclopedia
Scaredy Cat is a 1948 Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...

 and produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the first of three Jones cartoons which placed Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...

 and Sylvester the cat
Sylvester (Looney Tunes)
Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester, is a fictional character, a three-time Academy Award-winning anthropomorphic Tuxedo cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper...

 (in a rare non-speaking role as Porky's pet) in a spooky setting where only Sylvester was aware of the danger - the other two films being Claws for Alarm
Claws for Alarm
Claws for Alarm is a 1954 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the second of three cartoons teaming Porky Pig and Sylvester the cat in a spooky setting where only Sylvester is aware of the danger the pair are in...

(1954) and Jumpin' Jupiter
Jumpin' Jupiter
Jumpin' Jupiter is a 1955 cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series starring Porky Pig and Sylvester. It is the last of a series of three horror-themed cartoons that starred the duo, with the other two being Scaredy Cat and Claws for Alarm...

(1955). This was also the only entry in the trilogy in which Porky Pig does eventually realise the danger they are in.

This was only one of five post-1948 WB cartoons to get a Blue Ribbon reissue prior to 1956 - with the original credits cut. The others were Daffy Dilly
Daffy Dilly
Daffy Dilly is a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Daffy Duck. It is another early example of a greedy, self-centered Daffy , as perfected by this cartoon's director, Chuck Jones....

, The Foghorn Leghorn
The Foghorn Leghorn
The Foghorn Leghorn is a Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1948 and directed by Robert McKimson. Foghorn has to convince an unbelieving Henery Hawk that he really is a "chicken. Rooster, that is."...

, Kit for Cat
Kit for Cat
Kit for Cat is a 1948 Looney Tunes cartoon starring the cat that would eventually be known as Sylvester, an unknown cat, and Elmer Fudd. This cartoon features Elmer Fudd without his hat or hunting clothes just like he does with others....

, and You Were Never Duckier
You Were Never Duckier
You Were Never Duckier is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series from 1948. Starring Daffy Duck and Henery Hawk, this cartoon was significant for several reasons. It ushered in a new "era" as the first ever Warner Bros. cartoon in the post-1948 package to be released...

. Scaredy Cat is the latest-released cartoon to have its credits cut upon reissue.

Plot

In Scaredy Cat, Porky Pig purchases a new home from a real estate agent, which turns out to be a dilapidated old house. His cat Sylvester is horribly frightened of the creepy-looking place, but Porky finds it "quaint" and "peaceful", and looks forward to his first night in the place. Before long, Sylvester learns that the house is overrun with mice; killer mice, in fact (one wearing an executioner's hood and carrying an axe, the rest looking like the Chuck Jones-created characters Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon mouse characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Though largely forgotten today, Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones' earliest work that was intended to be funny rather than cute.-First film:Jones...

), who are just in the process of carting off the previous owners' cat to the chopping block.

Throughout the rest of the short, Sylvester is forced to dodge various knives, projectiles, trap doors, and other obstacles intended to kill him and his master. Porky, however, is completely unaware that anything is wrong, and is embarrassed that Sylvester is acting like such a coward. At one point, Porky was interrupted in his sleeping and said to Sylvester "Sylvester! I thought I told you to..." before his cat explains what went on downstairs but Porky said "What histrion...histrion... what ridiculous acting. Get out! (Sylvester points as if to say "Me?") Yes, OUT!!" Sylvester tries to shoot himself in the head
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

, which alarms Porky, who tells Sylvester to "stop that, gimme that gu-gu-gu-pi-pistol!" - finally taking the gun after a short fight.

The mice have taken up primary residence inside the kitchen, where Sylvester does not dare to tread. Porky finds Sylvester fainted (after Sylvester got hit by a bowling ball which was landing on Porky himself) and leaves him on the basket, but without notice, Sylvester has been lowered down into the mice's lair while in the basket and a while later comes up and Porky tells him to take off what Porky thought was make up, but the disguise was actually just Sylvester turning white from the aforementioned experience. Porky, sick and tired of Sylvester's foolishness, declares that "I'm going into that kitchen myself, and prove what a yellow dog of a cowardly cat you really are!" Sylvester feels humiliated and Porky goes into the kitchen. After a few seconds of silence, Sylvester peers into the kitchen. Sure enough, the mice have Porky bound, gagged, and on his way to be decapitated (Porky holds up a sign as the mice carry him away, which reads "You Were Right, Sylvester").

Sylvester, in fear, scrambles out of the house, not stopping until he is a good half-mile away. As he rests to catch his breath, his conscience appears and (via signs, not dialogue) cuts him to the quick, calling him a coward, reminding him of how Porky raised him from a kitten, showing him the "comparative sizes" of a cat to a mouse, and demanding that he get back in there and "FIGHT!" Suddenly bursting with courage, Sylvester, who's changed from the scaredy cat to a real hero (grabbing a tree branch for use as a weapon, and then changing his mind and taking the whole tree), races back into the mice-infested house, fights at full power and sends the hordes of murderous rodents running for their lives.

Having got rid of those mice, Porky graciously thanks Sylvester for saving his life, but one leftover mouse (the executioner) pops out of the longcase clock
Longcase clock
A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are commonly 1.8–2.4 metres tall...

 with a mallet
Mallet
A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...

 behind Sylvester. Seeing this, Porky warns Sylvester to look out, but was too late, as the mouse clobbers Sylvester on the head, knocking him unconscious, much to Porky's shock. The mouse then yanks off his hood, revealing a Napoleon army hat, and declares (in a Lew Lehr
Lew Lehr
Lew Lehr was a comedian, writer and editor known for his humorous contributions to Fox Movietone News, his radio appearances and his popular catchphrase, "Monkeys is the cwaziest peoples."...

 voice), "Pussycats is the cwaziest peoples!" and chuckles as the film irises out.

Censorship

  • The US version of Cartoon Network
    Cartoon Network (United States)
    Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...

     has aired two versions of this cartoon, each with violent parts edited:
    • One version has the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies title card and cuts the scenes where Sylvester produces a pistol from a dresser drawer and threatens to kill himself if Porky does not let him stay to protect him from the mice and the scene where Porky bends over to pick up a scared Sylvester and nearly misses being shot by a mouse in a black hood. This was also how the scene was cut when aired on the now-defunct WB! network.
    • A rarely shown version (which first aired on a 4:00am showing of the compilation show Bugs and Daffy and aired again on a New Years' Day marathon of Looney Tunes cartoons on January 1st, 2010) has the original title cards and credits and leaves in the scene where Porky bends over to pick up a scared Sylvester and nearly misses being shot by a mouse in a black hood, but still edits the scene where Sylvester withdraws a pistol from a drawer and threatens to kill himself with it and fights with Porky over the gun. In contrast to the usual "dissolve-edit" version that aired frequently on Cartoon Network, the new edited version cuts from Porky asking Sylvester to leave his bedroom to Sylvester crying and Porky chastising him for being a crybaby before relenting, and crops the shot of Porky chastising Sylvester for crying so the gun behind Porky's back is never shown.
  • As of April 29, 2011, The scenes of Sylvester attempting to commit suicide and Porky getting shot from behind in the kitchen are intact, along with the original title cards, however, on June 13, 2011, a new rerun aired with only one scene cut. This time cut only the scene of Sylvester attempting to commit suicide. The cut begins after Porky says "Yes, Out!" followed by a sudden cut on Sylvester (after the gun is taken away from him) zoomed in to prevent the audience from seeing Porky unload the gun, though it can still be heard. The scene with Porky almost getting shot after picking up a scared Sylvester and the original title cards remain intact.

Availability

  • Scaredy Cat is available, uncensored and with opening and closing cards restored, on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1
    Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1
    Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 is a DVD box set that was released by Warner Home Video on October 28, 2003. It contains 56 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements...

    , Disc 2.
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