Dough Ray Me-ow (1948)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

" . . . is the Root of All Evil," and Donald Trump has been proving the Bard Righter and Righter As Time Goes By. Warner Bros. tried to warn America about The Donald with this animated short, DOUGH RAY ME-OW. Parrot Louie represents Trump, as the only book the fowl talker owns is "Rooster's Millions," and the Tower-Water-Wine&Steak Man sports a trademark Rooster Haircut. When Louie learns that he can inherit $1 million by slaying his trusting house-mate, Heathcliff Fat Cat, Louie hatches one murder plot after another. Heathcliff seems doomed to a shorter shelf life than a Trump wife's. But despite Louie sticking a claw into every fire, all of his conflagrations produce back-drafts aimed at himself. He exercises his Art of the Deal with the neighborhood bulldog, but this only succeeds in flattening the canine. Louie's attempt to electrocute Heathcliff short circuits, his William Tell shot misses the mark, and his train attack gets derailed. Even Louie's seeming success with dynamite is short-lived, as the Dirty Bird snatches Defeat from the Jaws of Victory by opening his Big Mouth. Does any of this sound familiar?

Directed by Arthur Davis, "Dough Ray Me-ow" is a really good Warner Bros. cartoon starring an unlikely team: Louie, a wiseacre parrot, and Heathcliff, the world's dopiest cat (yes, even dopier than Sylvester and Claude). Both characters benefit from the brilliant vocal talents of Mel Blanc.My three favorite scenes from "Dough Ray Me-ow": A.) Heathcliff's face turns purple because he forgets to breathe. B.) Heathcliff pretends he's a radio and listens to some funny flatulent sounds. C.) Funniest of all, Louie chases Heathcliff all over the house in attempting to give him a birthday cake with three candles and one stick of dynamite, trying to convince him that he's four years old.You can find "Dough Ray Me-ow" along with a bunch of other feline-related cartoons on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 4. Too bad the ending of this short is pretty lame, isn't it?

The first shot we see is parrot reading a book called "Rooster's Millions," (a pun on "Brewster's Millions.). Anway, the whatever the title, it aptly fits the story here. The parrot's name is "Louie," by the way, another Mel Blanc character with a strong Brooklyn accent."Heathcliff the cat" is the other main character and this fat cat is about as dumb as a brick. He gives Louie a sheet a paper he found and asks the parrot to read it for him. It reads, "Last will and testament: I leave one million dollars to my pet cat Heathcliff. In the event of his disappearance, the money goes to my pet bird, Louie."This actually was better than I thought, thinking that Heathcliff would act so stupid this cartoon would be dumb, but it isn't. Heathcliff is so stupid, he's funny. He's so good-hearted you have to root for him. No matter what the greedy parrot does to plan his demise, of course, it backfires. The sight gags are very, very funny.I've seen a similar story with "Droopy," in which Spike tried to get the inheritance money but Droopy was a lot smarter than Heathcliff, and the cartoon had a better ending than this one. Still, this one had its moments.

There are quite a few shorts which have been made that were modeled on the characters of George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men and this cartoon is along those lines-with a modification in the standard riff played in such cartoons. As I want to talk specifically about parts of this short, this is a spoiler warning: Heathcliff is possibly the most moronic character to show up in cartoons-and that's saying something. Heathcliff has to be told to BREATHE at one point by his "friend", a parrot by the name of Louie. Heathcliff is a very large cat. Why Heathcliff doesn't introduce Louie to his digestive system can only be blamed on the fact that he clearly has only one active brain cell.The start of the cartoon has Heathcliff rushing in to have Louie solve various problems, much to the exasperation of Louie. Then Louie reads to Heathcliff "what is on this pretty paper" Heathcliff brings to his attention-it's a will leaving a million dollars to Heathcliff, with an addendum which gives the money to Louie if something happens to Heathcliff. Greed jumps on Louie's head and he decides to make something happen. Louie isn't exactly a Rhodes scholar himself, because all he has to do is just stop helping Heathcliff and the cat will give up the ghost inside of two hours, tops.There are a bunch of hilarious sight gags involving Heathcliff and eating (and cracking) nuts. Louie's attempts on Heathcliff's life are as funny as they are unsuccessful. He tries to electrocute him by having him play a game of "Radio", tries to bribe a bulldog into taking Heathcliff out and so on, with zero success.Finally, he tells Heathcliff it's his birthday and gives him a cake with three candles and a stick of dynamite. Heathcliff decides he's only three years old and gives Louie the stick of dynamite. There follows a lengthy tug of war between the two regarding his age until Heathcliff finds his birth certificate and it says he's four.The ending is hilarious and I won't spoil it here. This short is available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended.