''Ventriloquist Cat'' is an

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, directed by Hollywood director

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

. The film was released in the US with the movie ''

The Big Hangover ''The Big Hangover'' is a 1950 American comedy film released by MGM. The film starred Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor and was written and directed by Norman Krasna. Supporting players include Percy Waram, Fay Holden, Leon Ames, Edgar Buchanan, S ...

'' on May 27, 1950. It stars

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

and Blackie the Cat.

Plot

Blackie the Cat is being chased by Spike after he is caught writing on the fence "I hate Dogs!" 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 Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

, Blackie plays a series of practical jokes on the bulldog. Ultimately, the jokes backfire on Blackie after he discards the device.

Voice cast

*Tex Avery and

Red Coffey Merle Herman Coffman, better known by his stage name Red Coffey (April 24, 1923 – August 1, 1988), was an American voice actor and comedian known for playing Quacker in the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio f ...

as Blackie

Remake as ''Cat's Meow''

''Ventriloquist Cat'' was later remade in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

as ''Cat's Meow'', which was released on January 25, 1957. It was one of two Avery MGM cartoons to have been reworked in the

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

format (the other was the 1949

Droopy Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Go ...

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 Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels ...

unit, despite having Avery's name credited on the title card.

References

External links

* * * * Films directed by Tex Avery 1950 animated films 1950 short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films 1950s animated short films 1950s American animated films Animated films about cats Films scored by Scott Bradley Animated films about dogs Films produced by Fred Quimby Ventriloquism Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films 1950s English-language films American animated short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films {{short-animation-film-stub