''Claws in the Lease'' is a 1963

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' short film directed by

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

. The short was released on November 9, 1963, and stars

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

and

Sylvester Jr. Sylvester J. Pussycat Jr., simply known as Sylvester Jr., is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He was created by Robert McKimson. Appearances Sylvester Jr. appeared in the following shorts ...

The story revolves around Sylvester and his son leaving the city dump where they live, and attempting to find local home owners to take them in. After numerous attempts to trick a fat hillbilly woman into letting them both stay with her, their plan backfires and all three wind up living at the dump.

Plot

lives with his son in a city dump.

then decides to find a home for themselves. He finds one (and notifies his dad in a hurry, making Sylvester think the fish cannery reopened), but the lady who lives there only wants to adopt Sylvester Jr. and separates him from his father. When the lady puts milk in a bowl for Sylvester Jr., Sylvester starts drinking it but gets bopped on the head with a broom by the lady, who then takes Junior inside. Then Sylvester gets angry and starts knocking on the door and screaming: ''"Alright, you catnapper, come back with my son! Come on now, open up!"'', but the lady hits him with the broom again, telling him to stay out. For Sylvester's next attempt, he takes Junior's can of "Pussy Kins Cat Food" and hides in the television. When the lady turns on the TV (she and Junior were preparing to watch her favorite horse opera, 'Cheyenne McMaverick, Sheriff of Gory Gulch', which was on Channel 12), Sylvester is shown eating the food, then he holds up a sign: "Ask for it by name", and starts ad-libbing a jingle for it: ''"Pussy Kins Cat Food tastes real good, satisfies cats like cat food should, hardens their muscles, softens their fur, Pussy Kins Cat Food makes them purr"'', but the lady gets wise and throws him out of the house through a window, breaking said window, and throwing the can after him. Then Sylvester continues the "commercial": ''"Are you getting more cat food lately... but enjoying it less?"'' (This is a parody of a

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

commercial from the period) Junior lets Sylvester back in the house, but when he hears the lady coming (singing "

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...

") Sylvester hides in the shower, but that is exactly where the lady goes. She absent-mindedly uses the cat to scrub her back, and wipes her feet on him as well, after she throws him out of the shower. He hides in her bathrobe which the lady puts on right after leaving the shower. With Sylvester unknowingly still in the bathrobe, the lady starts inserting rollers in her hair, but a few end up in Sylvester's head. When the cat pops up from behind the lady, she screams and he makes a break for it. Sylvester finally brings out the heavy artillery by filling the house with hordes of

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, muttering, ''"I'll show that old bat I am worth my salt one way or another!"''. Upon the lady's screams, Sylvester comes in wearing a superhero's cape and suit and announces: "This is a job for Superpuss!" He enters the house but is immediately thrown out by the mice who also eject Sylvester Jr. and the lady. The lady is infuriated with Sylvester, ''"An' it's all yer fault, ya stupid feline!"'' and pounds him on the head for having her evicted from her house. The cartoon ends with Sylvester Jr., Sylvester, and the lady living at the dump. He is dividing up the chicken bones as in the beginning, but the lady orders him to ''"git up here with that grub, before I turn ya wrong side out! Ya silly cat!!!"'' Junior refers to them as being ''"one big happy family... I guess."''

References

External links

* * {{Robert McKimson 1963 films 1963 short films 1963 comedy films 1963 animated films 1960s English-language films 1960s Warner Bros. animated short films American animated short films American slapstick comedy films Surreal comedy films Merrie Melodies short films Sylvester the Cat films Films about father–son relationships Films about mice and rats Films about pets Works about suburbs Animated films set in the United States Films set in 1963 Films directed by Robert McKimson Films scored by William Lava Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films

Plot

See also

References

External links