The Cat That Hated People (1948)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

A Disappointing Continuation

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Cartoon feature director Tex Avery exalted in a violently slapstick style which still resonates with viewers today. Anvils are often falling from the sky, with animals getting the brunt of his mayhem, and this cult quickie from 1948 is no exception. A put-upon black-and-white cat (looking like a wrung-out version of Sylvester and talking like a grumpy Jimmy Durante) hopes to find solace from people after hijacking a rocket ship and landing on the moon, but finds the inhabitants there even worse. This may be one of Avery's most famous animated shorts, as it takes an old-fashioned visual style and couples it with surreal nonsense (like a runaway pair of lips being chased by a lipstick!). Extremely brief, like most of Avery's output for M-G-M, but very memorable.

Though there are no voice credits in this cartoon, it's obvious that the person who's giving the title cat words is meant to impersonate Jimmy Durante who like this cartoon was a product of M-G-M during this time. Mixed with the usually violent Tex Avery gags, this was one of the funniest of his especially when the cat gets it from a bulldog and when he goes to the moon where he encounters the craziest loonies this side of Bob Clampett when he had Porky visit Wackyland! Also, I must credit Scott Bradley for his scores on many of these Avery and Hanna-Barbera cartoons that complement them so perfectly that he often gives Warner Bros. Carl Stalling a run for his money! So on that note, I highly recommend The Cat That Hated People.

The Cat that Hated People (1948) was a return to the madness thatTex Avery is known for. A house cat is sick and tired of people and of the planet Earth. He describes the daily hell he goes through. People are the main causes of his grief and headaches. Poor cat can't get a break. One day he passes by a rocket ship lot. Is space the answer for all ofhis troubles?Tex Avery and company must have been on some heavy stuff when they created some of the strange visuals and characters. Great stuff from the true master of slapstick. The animation is hand drawn and it looks great. They don't make them like this anymore.Highly recommended.A+Funny short, don't miss it.

This is truly one of the greatest animated shorts Avery ever did and one of the best of all time. Virtually every corny sight gag Avery could think of was shoehorned in here. The moon was far more loony here than Armstrong, Aldrin or any of the other astronauts found on their visits and the cat here finds the truth in the adage, "Look before you leap" in this cartoon. Hilarious doesn't even begin to describe this one! The crowd goes wild and let there be dancing in the streets! Most emphatically recommended.