Heir-Conditioned (1955) User Reviews (8)

Looney Tunes' mid-50s second 'propaganda' cartoon doesn't quite deliver this time around

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 1 August 2015]

After being pleasantly surprised by the first of Looney Tunes' three 'propaganda' cartoons from this period, By Word of Mouse, seeing as it was featuring familiar characters (and favourites) and covering a subject more familiar to me I was expecting more than what Heir Conditioned managed to deliver. It's not that bad, but it does feel very bland.

The animation, in distinctive Fritz Freleng style, is very bright and colourful with some nice background detail and nicely drawn characters. Even better is the vibrant and character music score from Milt Franklyn, it fits wonderfully and does add a lot to the action, it's rousing in energy, orchestration is rich and beautiful and rhythmically it's very lively yet dynamic. Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan and Daws Butler do reliably strong jobs with the voices, all three have had stronger material but they were still able to deliver some good energy. The comic relief almost all comes from the alley cats, and they are amusing.

Heir Conditioned does fall short however, starting with that it doesn't do enough with a good premise and only does marginally better at informing than it does entertaining, a balance that By Word of Mouse achieved better and that cartoon also did a better job entertaining and informing despite this cartoon having a subject more accessible and easier to understand to younger viewers. In terms of humour, Heir Conditioned's best moments are only amusing, the humour isn't sharp enough and like it was trying too hard to get its point across. The informing fares a little better, because there are some good points about economics and investments made and are easier to understand, but it did come at the sacrifice of any laughs and By Word of Mouse avoided being preachy whereas Heir Conditioned did come close to being towards the end. Speaking of the ending, it is very weak and borderline stupidity, the worst part of the cartoon by no doubt.

Sylvester is a very funny and interesting character, and it was nice to see him play it straight (a characteristic he's adopted before and he's good at it) but that the material is not that strong that even when played straight the character feels downplayed and stripped of what makes him so famous and endearing as a character. And while it was nice to not have Elmer as an idiot for a change, it's pretty much the same with him. Tweety makes a rather pointless and not very funny cameo.

In conclusion, watchable enough but underwhelming considering its potential. 5/10 Bethany Cox

$ylvester learns a lesson in financial responsibility

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 31 May 2016]

An interesting but not terribly funny short starring Sylvester the cat and Elmer Fudd, directed by Friz Freleng. This is a cartoon with a message, namely about investing your money instead of spending it on frivolous things. Sylvester inherits a fortune and his financial adviser Elmer must try to keep him from giving it all away to his greedy friends. There were three Looney Tunes shorts like this made, all three starring Sylvester and all three paid for by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Even though it's not particularly funny, it's still worth a look for Looney Tunes fans. The animation is bright and colorful. The music is lively and fun. The voice work, from legends like Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, and Arthur Q. Bryan, is terrific. The only major problem with it is that it's kind of dull outside of the curiosity factor. See it if you like Sylvester and Elmer. Also there's a Tweety cameo that might make you crack a smile.

The first thing that Sylvester Cat did after Granny passed away . . .

[oscaralbert · 5/10 · 2 October 2016]

. . . was to gobble down his household representative of America's 99 Per Centers, Tweety Bird, HEIR-CONDITIONED indicates. This Looney Tune was secretly funded by the Greedy Wall Street Fat Cats who'd earlier brought America The Great Depression, and would later bless us with the Derivatives Housing Market Melt-Down Catastrophe. A 1900s equivalent of such Fat Cat Toadies for the Corrupt Corporate Crimelords as The Cato Institute, The American Enterprise Foundation, or The Hoover Dam bribed the Warner Bros.' financially and morally struggling successors to fill Elmer Fudd's mouth with nonsense about why the newly-minted Fat Cat Sylvester should gamble on Wall Street where the House ALWAYS wins, rather than stuffing his cash into a safer repository, such as his mattress. How notable Looney Tuners such as director Friz Freleng allowed themselves to be bamboozled into cramming an Ode to Crony Capitalism down Elmer's throat in lieu of the hunter's usual reflections upon Wabbit Season defies comprehension. Apparently Friz never asked himself WWJD when offered his slice of 30 Pieces of Silver, and never heard the facts about the Money Changers' Eviction from the Temple of Good Sense. What else can explain his willingness to Crucify Elmer on a Gold Rig-Ged Cross?

A strangely unfunny message about the importance of investing in the wider economy

[bob the moo · 29 February 2004]

When Sylvester inherits £3million dollars from his deceased owner, word quickly goes round the old neighbourhood bringing all his old alley cat friends out of the woodwork. However Sylvester's financial advisor, Elmer Fudd, is adamant that Sylvester not squander it and instead invest it for the future.

I started watching this and confused it with `Hare Conditioned' which is slightly better than this. The film starts out with a reasonable promise but it does nothing with it. The film spends much of the second half playing a film about the importance of investment to the American economy. None of this section is funny at all and it's use as a punchline is a suitably poor finish to a poor cartoon.

Sylvester and Fudd are both good characters - but not here they aren't. The support cast of alley cats have a touch of attitude but only as support - they really did need the two leads to step up, but neither does. It never really gets any good at all and it manages to be nothing memorable that, even minutes after it has finished, I am struggling to really remember it.

Overall, this is a very poor film that seems to be more about promoting responsible finance than it is about delivering laughs. A pointless little short that barely raises a smile.

Religious organizations sometimes declare themselves to be "militant," but . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 9/10 · 22 February 2018]

. . . Wall Street seldom does so. The fellows with MBAs are too busy making money to spend a lot of time fighting for the right to do so. Elmer Fudd tries to change this Lasse Faire approach to capital investment during this 1950s cartoon, HEIR-CONDITIONED. When Sylvester Cat's owner "Sarah Van Schmoot" kicks the bucket, leaving her favorite feline $3 million bucks, the 17 jealous cats in the alley outside (you can count them for yourself at about 2:51) scheme up several scams to sink their claws into Sylvester's nest egg. Fortunately, Mrs. Van Schmoot's will apparently has appointed financial management professional Fudd as Sylvester's advisor. "You have a lot of idle cash that should be put to work for you," Elmer recommends. "These alley cat friends of yours would like to get their paws on it," he cautions, just before eliminating more than half of them with a stick of exploding dynamite (at 3:30). "Fifty years ago our standard of living was low--long hours for little pay," Elmer narrates a movie-within-a-movie, featuring actual human cartoon figures. "Without capital investment of your savings, there would be no inventions, no jobs, and no Progress," Elmer concludes. Even the surviving alley cats are won over by Elmer's 16 mm film, turning Sylvester back over to Mr. Fudd when the thoughtless cat is about to hand them a satchel containing all the cash, thereby threatening America's system of financial investment. Elmer's lessons here are at least two-fold: If YOU win half a billion in the lottery, try to stay anonymous (like that lady up in New England is in court doing this week), so that YOUR local alley cats don't pester you for money, and if your wealth isn't secret, don't be afraid to break a few bad eggs, as Elmer does during HEIR-CONDITIONED on behalf of the Bankers Militant.

heir today, gone tomorrow

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 7 November 2008]

Having seen the three Warner Bros. cartoons that the Alfred P. Sloane Foundation bankrolled extolling American economics, I think that the foundation should have had Disney make the cartoons. It might just be that the years since the cartoons' release have shown a different kind of economy (the factories moved overseas and laid millions of people off). "Heir-Conditioned" focuses on inheritance and being careful spending one's money. Now, with massive credit card debt a major problem in the country, the cartoon barely applies.

Anyway, we shouldn't remember Friz Freleng for this. In 1955 he directed "Roman Legion-Hare" (featuring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam in the Eternal City in ancient times), and within a few years directed "Birds Anonymous" (widely considered the best Tweety/Sylvester cartoon). This one is an aberration at best.

See it for one of Sylvester's DEFINING moments:

[nnwahler · 5/10 · 3 April 2017]

Of the three Sloan Foundation propaganda shorts, "By Word Of Mouse" is by far the best because of the two mouse characters. This one gives Sylvester a bit more of an extended role and is worth seeing merely for one of the character's DEFINING moments: In the second scene, when Sylvester is joyously tossing the money around, he pauses for a quick run to the painting of his deceased owner, and says greedily, "YOUUUUUUUU DOLLLLLLL!!!" Other than that, the cartoon proselytizes to an unacceptable extent....from Elmer's opening statement, "Sywvester, the handwing of money is a gweat wesponsibiwity," to the feline's alley cat buddies intoning in unison at the end, "So what're ya gonna do with the money--upset our whole economic structure? You don't...PUT IT BACK!!" Sly's closing statement, again to his late owner, is that much more a gem because of it.

Worth noting is that Stan Freberg is uncredited here with voicing most of Sylvester's alley pals.

Maybe you CAN take it with you.

[slymusic · 20 July 2010]

Directed by Friz Freleng, and featuring the vocal talents of Daws Butler, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Mel Blanc, "Heir-Conditioned" is a good Warner Bros. cartoon with an odd setup. Sylvester the cat becomes heir to a fortune, with Elmer Fudd as his financial adviser. Say WHAT?! Yes, it's true, and all the other gold digging felines are on the prowl!

There are only a couple of scenes in this picture that I find amusing: Sylvester's act of joyfully throwing his money in the air upon his first appearance, and the briskly articulated silver cleanser sales pitch.

Just about the only flaw of "Heir-Conditioned" is the absolutely WEAK, STUPID ending. At least Elmer Fudd is not the idiot that he usually is in other pictures.