Ventriloquist Cat Explained

Ventriloquist Cat
Director:Tex Avery
Producer:Fred Quimby
Story:Rich Hogan
Starring:Tex Avery
Red Coffey[1]
Animator:Walter Clinton
Michael Lah
Grant Simmons
Music:Scott Bradley
Background Artist:Don Driscoll
Studio:MGM Cartoons
Distributor:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Loew's Incorporated
Runtime:6:39
Language:English

Ventriloquist Cat is a 1950 animated short film directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby for MGM Cartoons.[2] The film was released in the US with the movie The Big Hangover on May 27, 1950, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The short stars Spike and Blackie the Cat.

Plot

Blackie the Cat is being chased by Spike after he is caught writing "I hate Dogs!" on the fence. In order to escape, Blackie inadvertently jumps into a box full of assorted tricks and discovers a ventriloquist's device for throwing his voice. With his newly acquired powers of ventriloquism, Blackie plays a series of practical jokes on the bulldog. Ultimately, the jokes backfire on Blackie after he discards the device.

Voice cast

Remake as Cat's Meow

Cat's Meow
Director:Tex Avery
Producer:William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Story:Rich Hogan
Starring:Tex Avery
Red Coffey
Animator:Walter Clinton
Michael Lah
Grant Simmons
Background Artist:Don Driscoll
Music:Scott Bradley
Studio:MGM Cartoons
Distributor:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Loew's Incorporated
Runtime:6:39
Language:English

Ventriloquist Cat was later remade in CinemaScope as Cat's Meow, which was released on January 25, 1957.[4] [5] It was one of two Avery MGM cartoons to have been reworked in the widescreen format (the other was the 1949 Droopy cartoon Wags to Riches, which was redone as Millionaire Droopy); as Avery himself was long gone from MGM at the time of these remakes, the new versions were worked on by the Hanna-Barbera unit, despite having Avery's name credited on the title card.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AVERY…. Vol. 2??? WELL, IMAGINE THAT!. cartoonresearch.com. 5 April 2021. 7 December 2020.
  2. Book: Lenburg . Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . 1999 . Checkmark Books . 0-8160-3831-7 . 146–147.
  3. Web site: DataBase . The Big Cartoon . Ventriloquist Cat (MGM) . Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB) . 25 January 2020 . en.
  4. Web site: The Vault . www2.boxoffice.com . 18 February 2020.
  5. Web site: Tex Avery Filmography . www.texavery.com . 18 February 2020.