For Part One, just scroll up - or click HERE!
Hope you enjoyed the break, brought about positive change for yourself and those around you...
...Because we're gonna get into some good old-school cartoon violence and fun!
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| Kickin' it Old-School... Also Hittin', Bitin', Scratchin', Shootin' and Choppin' it Old-School! |
LET'S GO!
Here are just some of the highlights to be found among the great series of Herman and Katnip cartoons on this DVD set...
And, these are only the HIGHLIGHTS, folks!
“Mice Meeting You” (1950): Presumably, the first pairing of Herman and Katnip. Katnip ruins the Christmas celebration of the Mice. Herman crushes Katnip with the biggest, baddest attic-ful of heavy random junk you’ve ever seen – including an ANVIL! (...Who keeps an anvil in the attic?!)
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| For ME? |
“Mice Paradise ”
(1951): Herman takes the Mice to a
tropical island, where there are no cats.
Katnip follows. He should have
stayed home! Two Great Bits:
Herman lounges with a CIGAR, near a
fearsome-looking giant clam, when confronted by Katnip. Herman blows a tremendous and blinding cloud
of cigar smoke, allowing him to escape under cover of the foul cloud. When it clears, Katnip finds himself left
holding the cigar and facing the angry, coughing clam – who demonstrates a
remarkably enlightened anti-smoking stance for 1951 – and immediately gives
Katnip the business.
In another great gag, we find out
exactly what is inside Katnip’s tail!
“Feast and Furious” (1952): One of two Katnip solo shorts, where he
devotes his hungry attentions to “Finny” the Goldfish. At the end, they both end up drunk!
“City Kitty” (1952): The other Katnip solo. The usually pathetic look-alike Mice, give
Katnip the business to the degree that he retreats his New
York apartment setting for the great outdoors of the Catskill Mountains .
Aggressive ants, huge fish, and a fierce army of mosquitoes confound and
pound the cat at every turn. He literally
runs all the way back home, relieved to receive more violence from the Mice at
the end – because it’s the kind of violence he’s used to. Though they never actually make a point of
it, I can’t help but wonder if the real-life, upstate New York
The two Katnip solo cartoons appear to
have been released back-to-back.
Presumably, Herman was on one of his many “vacations” from which he
returns in most of the shorts.
“Mice Capades” (1952): One of the VERY BEST of the series!
Herman convinces Katnip that he has
DIED, and can only get into Heaven if he is kind and generous to the Mice.
A dumbwaiter (common to houses of the
era) is employed to take Katnip to the periphery of Heaven – really the ATTIC,
adorned in cheesy fashion with lots of fluffy cotton, and with a SCREEN DOOR
doubling as “The Pearly Gates”! In a
great moment, Katnip appears to momentarily CATCH-ON to the scam (when he tries
to fly, and flops onto a hard attic trunk piled with cotton) but quickly shakes
it off and succumbs to the basic religious beliefs most of us possess at one
time or another.
Even greater than the
“Not-So-Pearly-Gates” is the cartoon’s euphemism for Hell. “The Fiery Furnace” – which finds the cat
looking down a heating duct into the actual roaring coal furnace of the
house! Sid Raymond’s dread delivery of
the line “The Fiery Furnace?!” has stuck with me for most of my life – and still
makes me laugh today!
Yes, both TOM AND JERRY (“Heavenly
Puss”) and PIXIE DIXIE AND MR. JINKS (“Heavens to Jinksy”) did this same basic
plot – but, in both cases it’s different.
Tom DREAMS of his demise and meeting “The Gatekeeper”, and poor Mr. Jinks
ACTUALLY DIES and meets “his maker”!!! (...Don’t
worry! He finds a loophole!)
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| Chortle! At least... like, no one has set MY tongue on fire! |
What makes this one special is the audacity of the scam, and the cheesy-ness of the execution of it. Say, what if Heaven REALLY IS entered through a screen door?!
A YouTube video of this cartoon’s
opening credits lists Irv Spector as the writer. SOUND ALERT!
“Herman the Cartoonist” (1953): In the same year as Chuck Jones’ masterpiece
“Duck Amuck”, we find Herman and Katnip are also “creations” of an animator /
comics artist (maybe Marty Taras?) who retires for the night. When Mr. Artist leaves, H&K fight their
battles off the drawing board and around the artist’s studio!
Great Bits: Herman ERASES Katnip’s foot… and the frantic,
hobbling cat must consult a BOOK titled “How to Draw Animals” in order to
recreate it! Katnip’s mid-section is
also wiped-out by a dousing of ink-eradicator.
Herman, in turn, is sucked-up and imprisoned inside a fountain pen. This just wouldn’t be the same if applied to
today’s CGI animation age.
Oddities: This is one of the cartoons run out of order
in the set. It falls between the last
short of 1953 and the first one of 1954.
And, with the smaller animation budgets of 1959, not to mention the
generally invasive UPA influence, it looks VERY DIFFERENT.
The characters, props, and backgrounds
are less detailed overall (Tom and Jerry met a similar fate!), and Katnip has
lost his tuft of hair and now wears a pair of PANTS!
Arnold Stang does not perform in this
cartoon. Herman has no actual
speaking-lines (He just runs a lot – to the same piano music strains!), and
when he laughs, it is clearly Jack Mercer filling-in.
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| Death (...or absence), where is thy Stang? |
Herman vows to build up his pal’s
strength, so he can win back the gal. At
this point, we switch to the basic plot of a BUZZY cartoon, with Herman
ostensibly trying to help Katnip achieve his goal but, all the while,
intentionally doing him (deserved) physical harm. While the cat is unconscious, Herman slips iron
shot-put balls inside each sleeve of Katnip’s workout jersey – and the
resultant bulges convince the hapless cat that he HAS developed huge muscles of
iron.  |
| Duh...didn't I see you inna Popeye cartoon? |
With his newfound confidence, Katnip
initiates a physical confrontation with the brawny cat… until the shot-put
balls roll out of his sleeves – one into each hand!
In perhaps the best surprise bit of the
entire series, Katnip seizes the moment (in what may be the culmination of his
frustrations, built up in this and all of the prior cartoons) and smashes the
brawny cat’s head between the two iron balls he’s holding!!! (WOW!)
The brawny cat’s “Nine Ghostly Lives”
run off in defeat (…Meaning he was KILLED by the blow! His LIFELESS BODY remains on the ground, as
the camera focus shifts away!), when I’m certain EVERYONE in the audience
(including ME) was expecting the embarrassed and hapless Katnip to get
clobbered yet again, rather than commit “Cat-racide” on his rival!
Katnip appears to have won the girl –
but, as anyone familiar with Famous Paramount cartoons well knows… “Wimming can
be the fickle-est aminals!” Oh, well…
“Will Do Mousework” (1956): One good
thing about seeing these cartoons in (something resembling) original release
order is that you get to observe their stylistic evolution – or, in this case,
devolution. This is the first entry in
the series to employ that simplified / abstract / impressionistic (add the
adjective of your choice) UPA inspired look that (in MY OWN opinion) did not
change theatrical animation for the better!
To the plot: In wintertime, Cousin
Herman shows up in time to help the pathetic mice get back into a warm house
presided over by Katnip and a rotund Swedish maid. (…At least she was Swedish, in this
case!)
Great bit: Swallowed by Katnip, Herman unscrews one of
the cat’s vertebrae and uses it as a battering ram to smash his way out through
Katnip’s teeth!
“Mousetro Herman” (1956): “Okay, Gates…
Let’s make with the jam session!”
The pathetic mice are jazz-beatniks cutting
loose in a music shop setting, when Katnip breaks things up! “That Katnip ruined our BEAT, an’ we had to
RETREAT!” Herman (wearing a beat-beret,
no less) drops in to “break HIM up”!
I’m a sucker for “music cartoons” and
Winston Sharples simply outdoes himself in this one! Pity he didn’t get to do as many of these as
Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn!
The “UPA influence” is stronger still
(…and it kinda, sorta FITS the beat-boppiness of this one) – but Sharples’ superb jazz score more
than makes up for any visual shortcomings.
Along with “Mice-Capades” (“The Fiery Furnace?!”), this is my favorite
entry of the series. I’ve already watched it three times in
succession… TWICE!
Chubby’s overpowering hunger
continually puts him in danger, from which Herman extricates him – until Herman
is captured and is about to be cooked to death.
In the nick of time, Chubby begins speaking (mock-pseudo) Italian to the
cat, convincing him that both he and Herman are “Pisano’s from Italia”! A celebration ensues, and Chubby gets to eat
to his heart’s (and tummy’s) content. There’s
an ending you don’t see every day!
Jack Mercer, and not Sid Raymond, does
Katnip for this one… probably because of the large amount of mock-Italian
SINGING Katnip does! As one of Italian
American descent, I must confess I found this one to be in great humor –
especially the ending!
“Owly to Bed” (1959): This could easily have been a Tom and Jerry,
as Herman aids a baby owl, who has been prematurely awakened – and cannot see
clearly in the daytime. Third-party
“defenseless creatures” often dropped in on T&J, and one does so here. The thing is, the owl is just as capable of
dispatching hungry Katnip as is Herman – when he can SEE, that is. So Herman spends the cartoon “darkening”
their mutual environment, while Katnip struggles to maintain light, in the
hopes of downing an owl snack.
For instance, Katnip sneaks up behind
the owl with an axe. Herman flips off
the lights, and we hear some “CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!” sound effects. Katnip then strikes a match to find that HE’S
the one that’s been cut in half! And so
we go, violently along…
We end with Katnip having been run-off
and the owl brings Herman back to its nest for a well-deserved mutual
rest. After so many good gags, I’m
somewhat disappointed in the “nice” ending.
If *I* were writing it, I would have had “Mama Owl” show up to remind us
that… you know, owls EAT mice! …And have
Herman join Katnip in hurried exile!
“Fun on Furlough” (1959): As incredible as this may be to believe, in
the next-to-last entry of the series, Famous Paramount (best known, of all
studios, for repetitive and formulaic plots) does something with a cat and mouse
that has never been done before!
In a toy shop setting, the pathetic
mice are routed by watch-cat Katnip – until Cousin Herman comes home FROM THE
ARMY, as a SERGEANT on a two-week furlough!
Recalling that Katnip was recently a U.S. Army PRIVATE, Sgt. Herman
preys upon the military “reflex actions” that Katnip has failed to shake since
returning to civilian life!
Lots of “reflexively following orders”
gags and bits with military toys ensue. Katnip, cleverly posing as a superior
officer recalling Herm’s leave, almost turns the tables on Herman toward the
end – but the mouse ends up snatching victory from (Katnip’s) jaws of
defeat. Again, I can’t recall ANY
animated cat and mouse pulling THIS ONE off!
Surprisingly funny bit: Sgt. Herman singing “You’re In the Army
Now”.
He sings: “You’re in the Army now… You’re not behind
the plow… You’ll never get rich… ” – and then Katnip bursts in and slams a door
on him, preventing him from getting to that infamous next line! …GOTTA LOVE IT!
“Katnip’s Big Day” (1959): After ALL THIS GOODNESS, I suppose I
shouldn’t be surprised that the Herman and Katnip series ends on a
“cheater”. Actually, given the high
number of cheaters Famous Paramount actually did (…not to absolve MGM, or
Warner Bros. by any stretch – but it just seemed Famous did more of ‘em!), I
should be pleased that this was the only one to occur in the H&K
series.
By this point in the series, Katnip’s
design had devolved (or, should I say “simplified”) to the point where his
“tuft of hair” was long gone – and he’d acquired a pair of PANTS like Herman’s! But, to match the existing footage to come,
his look was “turned-back” to something more classic. The modern animation didn’t match anyway, but
they tried!
The standard Herman and Katnip chase is
interrupted by a genial guy with a microphone: “Is your name Katnip? All the characters of Cartoonland are here to
honor you!” And, with that, the outdoor
background of the chase lifts to reveal they are on an auditorium stage, with
hundreds of very stylized “generic cartoon animals” in the audience! (Lions, tigers, giraffes, zebras, hippos,
gorillas, -- even an aardvark and a yak!)
Nice bit – which would have been nicer
still if at least the noticeable, front-seated members of the crowd were from ACTUAL
Harvey / Famous Paramount cartoons – like Cilly Goose, Spunky the Donkey, Tommy
Tortoise and Moe Hare, Blackie the Lamb and Wolfie (ironically, Arnold Stang
and Sid Raymond in an EARLIER pairing!), Herman’s original co-stars Henry/Hector
the henpecked rooster and his wife Chicken Pie, or even Baby Huey and the Fox, never mind
Casper. But, on with the show…
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| Blackie and Wolfie = Herman and Katnip? |
First out to greet Katnip, now in the Seat
of Honor, is “Spike”… the Brawny Cat from “A Bicep Built for Two” (1955) to
reminisce with a scene lifted from that short.
Of course, it’s one where Katnip gets the business… and not where
“Spike” is (supposedly) killed. Jackson
Beck returns to voice “Spike”.
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| Pardon me, but aren't you DEAD? |
The Pathetic Mice (…now named “Rubin,
Dubin, and Louie” – Yes, really!) follow suit with a clip from “Drinks on the
Mouse” (1953), as does Buzzy the Funny Crow (also Beck) with “Cat-Choo” (1951). Buzzy’s only appearance on this set.
A real highlight – tempered somewhat by
a corresponding negative – was Herman’s segment. A nice-sized clip of the ending of the great
“Mousetro Herman” (1956)! If you MUST
cheat, cheat with a good one, I always say!
The negative, alas, is that Arnold Stang did not turn out to honor Katnip. With scant few lines in the “new footage”,
Stang was apparently replaced by Jack Mercer – who was probably already there,
anyway.
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| Katnip's consolation prize? A personalized mug! |
I’m not certain whether Katnip just decided to “go-with-it” and have a good time in spite of everything… or he simply realized that his animated nightmare was finally OVER, and he could, at last, breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief!
One can almost hear him thinking: “Let
Tom, Sylvester, and that TV upstart Mister Jinks take the punishment from now
on! Me? I’m RETIRED!”
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| Now, it's just FISHIN' for me! |
Overall:
HERMAN AND KATNIP: THE COMPLETE SERIES is a great package, as long as
you’re forgiving and understanding of its shortcomings in the area of
authenticity. Again, as with many of
the vintage toons, I’m not certain the true authentic experience CAN be
recreated, so I’m willing take what we can get.
Given their place in the grand scheme of things, it’s not likely that
Herman and Katnip will ever receive better treatment than this – deserving of
it, though they may be. 
You
CANNOT beat it for the price vs. content, making the other shortcomings less
relevant than they might otherwise be. And,
for what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed this set far more than I expected to! I’d say it certainly shows in my review!
For
some reason, Herman and Katnip never got the recognition they deserved. Not in the general pantheon of animation, and
not in comic books – where they should have done far better than they did. This set will show you WHY history’s general overlooking
the pair is so unjust.
