Puss Cafe (1950)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Pluto deals with Milton the cat again, this time along with one of the cat's pal, Richard. The two spots a yard full of milk, birds and fish and decides to make a meal out of them. But, Pluto chases them out, only to return to try to outsmart the dog, resulting in some very hilarious tricks and slapstick comedy.I enjoyed watching the sneaky Milton and the inferior-minded Richard try to work together to outsmart Pluto, but ending up outsmarting themselves. Pluto does get some of the brunt of the tricks, including being sent flying through the air from this hammock, but gets to stage a funny comeback. A cartoon with many laughs! Grade A-

Like 'Lend a Paw,' this is a bonus cartoon on the 20th anniversary DVD release of 'Oliver and Company.' Upon watching it, I thought it would be about a special café for cats but the story is completely different because it involves two hungry cats trespassing Pluto's garden to steal some milk, some fish and some birds. The part that looked most like a café was one cat serving the other one milk but the rest of the cartoon was anything but a café-themed story.The animation is as good as that in 'Lend A Paw' and the musical score was reminiscent of that used in Hanna Barbera-directed 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons - in fact most of this cartoon reminded me of some shorts from that 'Tom and Jerry' era. Some of the visual and sound- synchronised gags are smart such as the sound of someone walking down the stairs inside the trash can, the cats imaging the birds being cooked and the fish as sandwiches and the underwater scene where it looks as if one cat is at a supermarket and uses an empty milk bottle and a hose as SCUBA equipment. Pluto was just as threatening towards the cats as he was towards Chip and Dale in the short where Mickey gets a new Christmass tree and decorates it. The ending has the pleasant surprise of a larger cat emerging from the trash can who one could perceive as the parent of the two leading cats.All in all this is the weaker cartoon short on my 'Oliver and Company, DVD but was just as fitting as 'Lend a Paw' and altogether worthwhile. 7/10.

Conceptually it is somewhat unexceptional and routine, even that doesn't stop Puss Café from being as enjoyable as it is. The gags are inventive and never less than very amusing, especially the ending and when the dopey cat is made to go underwater. The lively pacing and interplay between the characters are further good points. Pluto is immensely likable as always and the energy is there, but the two Siamese cats steal the show, they are both sweet and, with their contrasting personalities, hilarious. The animation is bouncy and colourful, if you're expecting the fluidity of most Disney shorts you won't be disappointed in the slightest. The music is every bit as good, one of the strong points always was how it matched the visuals, that is still evident here as well as how characterful and lush it sounds.To conclude, not among the very finest of Disney but thoroughly enjoyable and most pleasurable so it's still a winner. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Very enjoyable Disney animated short featuring Pluto; it deals with a couple of cats - one smart, the other dopey - who live inside a trash can and their attempts to raid the front-garden of a house, guarded by Pluto, for various types of food (milk-bottles left on the porch, birds in their wooden nest and fish in a swimming-pool). Their antics to avoid or antagonize Pluto, coupled with their own contrasting personalities, results in some delightful irreverence on the level of a typical "Looney Tunes" cartoon (somehow, I tend to take for granted the fact that Disney's work in this field would be inferior or, if you like, less appealing than that emanating from either Warners or MGM - which, I guess, explains why I still have a handful of Limited Edition DVD tins from this stable to go through!). Among the most inventive touches is when the dopey cat is made to go underwater by his brighter sibling wearing a make-shift scuba gear in the form of an empty milk-bottle and a water-hose; the final gag is also amusing, as Pluto chases the two cats to their 'abode' (while we are never shown the inside of the trash can, one can hear footsteps on stairways and doors being shut!) only to be met by their considerably larger parent.