This is a G rated film that features the voice talents of Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, and a host of the best voice actors working in animation at the time, including Paul Frees (Boris Badinov), Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble, and many more) and June Foray (Rocky the Squirrel). It combines their voices with colorful animation and beautiful dream sequences put to songs. The story takes place in France during the 1890s and involves a beautiful young feline named Mewsette (Garland) who leaves her home on the farm to become the toast of Paris. Her boyfriend (Goulet) and his small sidekick (Buttons) come after her to bring her back, but the evil Meowrice (Frees) already has her in his clutches. I enjoyed this as a child and again as an adult.
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randall-8918 June 2009
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TheOneManBoxOffice11 August 2016Animation historians may have heard of the studio called United Productions of America. They were best known for creating animated shorts such as the Oscar-winning Gerald McBoing-Boing, the suspenseful short adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart narrated by James Mason, and the Mr. Magoo television series. They've made two animated features during their run. The first was the 1959 loose adaptation of 1001 Arabian Nights released under Columbia. The second one became the 1962 film Gay Purr-ee, released under Warner Brothers and directed by Abe Levitow, who has worked on many a Looney Tunes short with his partner Chuck Jones prior to this.
Set in France in the 1890s, also known as the Gay '90s as the title implies, the film is about Mewsette (Judy Garland in her only voice role), a country feline living on a farm with the mouser Jaune-Tom (Robert Goulet in his film debut) and his partner, a small blue kitten named Robespierre (Red Buttons). However, tired of her farm life, she hears about the beauty of living in the city of Paris, and decides to run away and catch the train. She is introduced by a black-and-white schemer named Meowrice (I swear, I'm not making that name up), not knowing that he has some rather slimy plans for her. Jaune-Tom learns of Mewsette's departure from Robespierre and they head for Paris to try and find her.
Even though the film is animated, it is, at heart, a musical, on par with many other musical films released before this, including the ones that also star Judy Garland. In fact, all of the songs written for the picture were done by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, the same duo who wrote the songs for the beloved 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz. Even after 23 years, their songwriting still held water, with songs like the uplifting "Roses Red, Violets Blue", and the slower ballads like "Take My Hand Paris", "Little Drops of Rain", and my favorite one of them all, "Paris is a Lonely Town", to name a few.
For the animation, if you're familiar with the shorts made by UPA, the animation is limited, but visually appealing and influential in terms of design and style, with French expressionism being a large inspiration of how the final film is supposed to look. For an animated film made in the '60s, this is probably the most colorful and very much alive. This is further utilized in a later scene where the film's artists make parody portraits based on the works of Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet, and, yes, even Pablo Picasso. After watching the scene, you'll know why UPA was known for their unique style that other studios weren't doing in their heyday.
The sad thing about this film is that it is not as well recognized as a lot of other animated classics. Even the 1970 animated Disney film "The Aristocats", which also took place in France and focuses on...well...cats, became more popular. The only people that would remember this film is if they were film and animation historians or if you saw it via Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theatre back in the '90s. Thankfully, however, the film is being re-discovered, with airings on Turner Classic Movies and releases on DVD via the Warner Archive Collection. For me, this is an underrated piece of animated cinema that should've gotten more recognition over the years. If you enjoy classic animation, definitely pick this one up. -
spost826026 November 2002It has everything! Action, romance (well, between two cartoon cats!)and adventure, in a family viewable arena! The children will adore this classic, I can practically gaurentee that! And the adults will laugh and cry along with it, cheering on the little Robespierre with his small body and lion's heart. Jon-Tom's tail and whiskers twitching as "The best mouse catcher in all of Paris!" spots a rodent hundreds of feet away (but never actually kills one). The pretty Mewsette who wants more than she can handle and ends up getting into trouble for it. Madame Rubinschottz, the large, pink cat of ill repute with the long eyelashes and big, red lips who sends out the despicable Meowrice, the scoundrel who is to bring a lovely kitty (Mewsette) into her fold. And lest we forget the "Money-Cats" (the scraggly, silly, bumbling black alley cats who shake their cat-behinds on the rooftops to the tune of "The money-cat knows where the money-tree grows"!). This cartoon feature is like those famous potato chips that claim you cant eat just one. Once you see this film, you will *always* want to go back!
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moonspinner5525 January 2008Although too long at 85 minutes, this animated musical from UPA is quite tuneful, with visual wit and flair to spare. Slim plot, about a French barnyard feline seeking adventures in Paris, is helped considerably by bright Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg songs, and of course by Judy Garland's incandescent speaking and singing voice as Mewsette. Never popular with children, the film's writing tends to place the accent on sophisticated conversation, less on animated hilarity. Consequently, it isn't a big crowd-pleaser, although students of animation would be wise to check it out (the humorous art history lesson on the Impressionists is worth the time alone). **1/2 from ****
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IonicBreezeMachine14 October 2023In 1890s in the south of France, Mewsette (Judy Garland) lives a simple existence as a farm cat with her boyfriend Jaune Tom (Robert Goulet) who is often prone to mousing with his friend Robespierre (Red Buttons). When Mewsette learns of the glamour of Paris from her owner's sister, she becomes disillusioned with "plebian" existence and angrily rejects a mouse from Juane Tom that leaves him feeling dejected. Angered with Mewsette's outburst, Robespierre tells Mewsette to go to Paris if she's so miserable which she does by stowing away in the baggage of the departing buggy. When Jaune Tom learns that Mewsette has left he sets out for Paris intent on finding her with Robespierre in tow. Meanwhile Mewsette arrives in Paris and meets Meowrice (Paul Frees) who claims he can help turn her into a proper Parisian unaware he has his sights set on an underhanded and lucrative matchmaking deal.
Gay Purr-ee is a 1962 animated musical from UPA and distributed by Warner Bros. Which marked the second and final animated feature project of UPA as well as the first animated feature to be distributed by Warner Bros. UPA originally setup the project at United Artists but took it to Warner Bros. After financing was taking too long to get together. With Judy Garland cast as one of the leads at her suggestion Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg who wrote the songs for the Wizard of Oz were brought on at her suggestion. The male lead had initially been positioned for Gene Kelly who dropped out before production began and Elvis Presley had been considered as a possible replacement until Robert Goulet was secured who took a week long hiatus from performing in a Broadway production of Camelot to record the role. While the film received positive reviews at the time and was given an aggressive promotional push by Warner Bros., contemporary sources claim the film's box office was underwhelming and the financial failure of the film was a contributing factor to UPA to abandon animation. There's some good elements on display in Gay Purr-ee, but they come more from the strength of the art direction and voice work rather than the sum of the movie itself.
Artistically speaking while the movie features simpler shapes and more limited animation in comparison to the productions of Walt Disney's productions, the way in which Paris is realized is quite unique and colorful and you can see why the film was critically lauded for its art direction. One particularly standout sequence involves a scene where Meowrice is describing several paintings of Mewsette by notable artistic figures ranging from Vincent Van Gogh to Pablo Picaso where Mewsette is not only rendered in the style of each painter, but we also get some background on the artistic processes involved. With Robert Goulet and Judy Garland in the voice cast, it should surprise no-one that the music and voice acting is really on point with even comedic songs like "Bubbles" (a song about getting drunk on champagne) catchy and pleasing to listen to thanks to Goulet's voice. The actual plot of the movie is where I feel things start to unravel, from a worldbuilding perspective there's really no reason the characters are cats and when you have strange aspects like the fact these cats care about human currency or background gags of cats wearing clothes while the main characters act like real cats, it doesn't really create much of a sense of immersion. Character motivations also aren't especially well conveyed particularly with Mewsette herself and I think having Jaune Tom and Mewsette together at the beginning of the film undercuts the narrative to a degree.
While there's some solid work on display in Gay-Purr-ee especially in regards to its voice cast and art direction, on a story level it feels like it's lacking in polish and refinement. The movie's worth a look for fans of Goulet and Garland as well as animation fans but it's decidedly less than the sum of its parts. -
fandoreth11 June 2002seriously, I thought "Gay Pur-ree" is up there on par with Disney's greatest productions, even surpassing some of them. Sure it's no blockbuster, nor is it planned to be one. But it does manage a certain kind of epic magic, more akin to the impressionist style it emulates than to the "MTV video feel" behind most of today's standard animation works.
Gay Pur-ree (which aired in my country as "La Fair Mewsette", to my mind a MUCH better title) is a throwback to an age of innocence (corny as this may sound) in more than one sense; in those days, a simple, humane story was all the charm a story needed (my, that DID sound corny indeed). The movie had that special feel, in spades. And to me (a very impressionable 8-year old at the time), it was a true saga. I was taken to another world, cried for the characters, memorized their names and the song. And I dreamed of it for a month after watching it. I felt the magic. I felt as they said you should feel after watching an animated movie.
*sigh*
Maybe not a must see, but certainly a must remember. Watch it, and cherish the memory. -
Wuchakk22 January 2018RELEASED IN 1962 and directed by Abe Levitow, "Gay Pur-ee" is an animated film about a beautiful feline, Mewsette (voiced by Judy Garland), whose romantic fantasies about life in Paris become the awful truth when she stows away to travel there, but her dreams are shattered by a shady cat (Paul Frees) and his "sister" (Hermione Gingold). Meanwhile, a tomcat named Juane-Tom (Robert Goulet) goes to Paris to save Mewsette along with his lil' pal, Robespierre (Red Buttons).
I suppose it helps if you're a cat-lover, but I always liked this cartoon flick. Sure, there are too many songs and only enough story to make up for half the runtime, but "Gay Purr-ee" has its charm. The climatic confrontation is particularly entertaining. Juane-Tom and Robespierre are the best characters. To be expected, several of the story elements reflect real-life, including a drunken binge (lol), but also money-loving smooth-talkers who take advantage of the naïve and ignorant.
THE FILM RUNS 85 minutes. WRITERS: Dorothy Jones & Chuck Jones with additional dialogue by Ralph Wright & Levitow.
GRADE: B-/C+ -
I personally absolutely love this movie. I do think the title is rather odd though, but everything else is simply terrific. Gay Purr-ee is sophisticated, witty and charming and I have never tired watching it. I love Judy Garland, and think her performances in The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St Louis and A Star is Born are timeless. Chuck Jones is a terrific animation director as well, who has directed some of the best cartoons in existence in my opinion. And I love cats, they are cute, clever and lovely animals, and asides from Gay Purr-ee other great cat movies are The AristoCats(a film I always see this film compared to) and especially Felidae which is quite a different kettle of fish.
Gay Purr-ee is simply terrific. The animation is lovely, the visual style is unique and colourful and I loved the character designs of especially Mewsette and Meowrice, Mewsette is beautiful and charming and Meowrice is quite sophisticated. The story is always engaging, it is a very simple story, but the simplicity works wonders, plus it is never devoid of charm. The dialogue has its fair share of wit too, very rarely does it feel forced or trite. The characters are likable, I have always had a soft spot for Meowrice myself and Robespierre is so cute. The pacing is brisk, and I loved the inspired scene with the impressionist painters especially Van Gogh.
My favourite assets though of Gay Purr-ee are the music and the voice work. The music is simply terrific. Harold Arlen and EG Harburg are one of the finest songwriting collaborations, and I loved their work here. The incidental music is very nice, and the overture is wonderful. Little Drops of Rain and Roses Red, Violets Blue are delightful, but my favourite is Paris is a Lonely Town which is quite touching. And of course the voice work is superb. This film is more than a showcase for Judy Garland's talents despite what some might think. She sings beautifully and she gives Mewsette a certain modesty and humanity that came through either when she was speaking or singing. Robert Goulet has a beautiful voice and Jean Tom avoids being bland thanks to the charm Goulet brings. Red Buttons is like his character Robespierre, cute and funny, while the wonderful Paul Frees is outstanding as Meowrice. And it was nice to hear Mel Blanc's distinctive voice again too.
Overall, charming, witty, sophisticated and I think unfairly underrated animated film. 9/10 Bethany Cox -
JLRMovieReviews22 August 2013Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, and Red Buttons lent their voices to this animated movie about a cat, Mewsette, that dreams about leaving the French countryside to see the bright lights of Paris. When she gets a chance to hop on to the back of the car of her owner going there, she takes it. When Jaune-Tom (another cat obviously), voiced by Goulet, finds out she's gone, he must go after her. He may never see her again! That's okay with his buddy, voiced by Red Buttons. She was always in the way of him wanting to hang out and have fun with Tom. Tom did seem interested in Mewsette, but showed it only by bringing dead rats to her and she was unimpressed by such tactics, while probably secretly liking him but not his uncouth, un-Paris-like ways. Such are the temperaments in this tale of love and excitement in a cat's world in France. Then there's adventures abound for Mewsette in Paris and for Jaune-Tom and buddy looking for her on the way to Paris. I thought I remembered liking this years ago, but seeing it recently, I felt it to be an odd mixture of art-like animation and simple juvenile-type humor. But is this geared towards adults or children? Children are the ones who will tire of this first, as this doesn't really grab you in the beginning. Instead it relies too much on the charm and talent of its stars, but that will be lost on children, particularly young children, who won't like the singing slowing down the picture. Adults, who love the singing style of its stars, Garland and Goulet, may like its romanticism and feeling somewhat chic, and at the same time moody, but may be feel something's lacking. Also, its silly resolution doesn't really fit in or mix well with the supposed mystique of Paris and L'Amour, L'Amour. Paul Frees gives a particularly good performance as the film's villain; one could say his hammy, over-the-top performance steals the show. Parents, who aren't Garland fans, who see this for their children may be minimally pleased. Children may like its quaintness, but won't be overjoyed by it. Judy Garland fans, who try to find everything she ever did, will probably be more impressed with it than most everybody else. Its major flaws are its ending and the lack of three-dimensional characters. But, maybe if you can find this little film, you can find more than meets the eye in Gay Purr-ee.
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elicopperman9 March 2021One of the most tragic downfalls of a beloved animation studio traces all the way back to 1962, when the innovative production company UPA was in such financial turmoil that they produced a talking animals musical about cats in Paris, France. This little movie, known as Gay Purr-ee, would be the complete opposite of what the studio stood for in terms of competing with the Mouse House and other places, both in terms of artistry and content. Despite being a vehicle for Judy Garland and boasting critical appraisal, the film went unnoticed upon its release and is only now deemed a minor cult classic, and for notable reasons.
Set in 1890s France, the film centers on a starry eyed farm feline named Mewsette (Judy Garland), who heads off to the more exciting Paris, but gets manipulated by a cat modeler named Madame Rubens-Chatte (Hermione Gingold) and her slimy assistant, Meowrice (Paul Frees). Meanwhile, Mewsette's tomcat suitor, Jaune-Tom (Robert Goulet), and his furry cohort, Robespierre (Red Buttons), set forth to find her, but get caught up in all sorts of antics along the way. While seeming like an intriguing premise on paper, the movie's biggest dilemma is how weak the execution is. What's interesting to note is that the film was written by Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones and his first wife Dorothy, and the whole movie feels like a stretched out Warners cartoon, down to a basic premise with more padding than substance to fill out the runtime. The movie tries to liven the story up with the soundtrack written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg (the same Wizard of Oz songwriting duo), but even the musical numbers feel more like add ons to the otherwise slogged out story beats.
What doesn't help matters either is that the movie flip flops between Musette, Meowrice and Jean-Tom's stories so much that it becomes hard to know who to focus on the most. Considering that the movie barely develops Musette or Jean-Tom beyond their basic statuses and paper thin personalities (even Robespierre is more amusingly charismatic than either of them), they're so hard to even care for that Madame and Meowrice become far more fascinating by contrast. At least when they're on screen, you can just feel the uneasiness bleed into their sly and cunning mannerisms. On the plus side, the film does boast a very talented cast; not just Judy Garland and the aforementioned cast above, but even Thurl Ravenscroft, June Foray and Mel Blanc got some decent cameos. With all of these wonderful singers and actors lending their talents to pretty weak characters, there's no denying that the most memorable aspect of this movie are the boastful performances alone. However, you know paper thin characters are in trouble when their actors are more fascinating than themselves.
Now from a technical standpoint, the film does look very gorgeous, especially in terms of the production design from Corny Cole. The luscious retro artisque tribute to France at the turn of the century lends itself so well in the movie, and the fine arts background from the UPA crew really paid off in that department alone. Even some of the lighting, effects and shot compositions can get very experimental, especially in jazzy surreal musical numbers like Money Cat and Bubbles. As for the character animation, the design work is very similar to Chuck Jones' overly cutesy drawing style back then, and it unfortunately makes the cast range from appealing enough to grossly exaggerated. Also, the more limited and stylized animation UPA was known for does not lend itself well to characters that should almost feel fit to move in a more free flowing aesthetic, and let's just say the motion leaves a lot to be desired. At least the movie knows when to let the characters stick out from acting the most, reserved for the musical numbers and them alone.
So in the end, while somewhat ambitious and boasting a talented cast, Gay Purr-ee stands more as the final nail in the coffin to UPA's creative downfall. It's a shame that a studio known for creating a legacy consisting of artistic achievements in graphically oriented films and daring narratives ended up becoming everything they never wanted to become: a Disney-like talking animals musical. I would say the film is best to be checked out as a curious watch than an overall worth while viewing. Either that, or maybe you could just compare and contrast this movie to The Aristocats and see which one is the best. -
This movie is marvelous. The story is "girl-rejects-boy; girl-gets-into-trouble; boy-rescues-girl; all-live-happily-after." Very romantically satisfying. Paul Frees' voice is perfect for Meowrice, as is Robert Goulet's for Jeune-Tom. Judy Garland's voice is in fine fettle as Mewsette. The impressionist drawing and background style is unique. I've never seen another like it.
This is one of those movies parents can allow their children to enjoy without fear of their being exposed to too much sex and violence. On the other hand, adults can enjoy it, also, on a different level.
We still watch it regularly 3 or 4 times a year. -
lner4472-163-19306515 July 2014As a long-time animation fan, I sincerely believed I had never seen this film before recently obtaining a video, then a "flashback" much like a recovered, repressed memory hit during the song "Bubbles"..... So, I saw the movie somewhere in my childhood, but have no fond memories or nostalgia about it.
Part of me sincerely wants to like this film. There's something in it for young and old, the music is superbly rendered, and the plot will appeal to younger children without being insulting to their intellect, though it may be a bit much for, say, those under eight or ten. And the characters have Chuck Jones' DNA all over them--anyone familiar with his later work with Warner Brothers, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," etc., will see all the signature expressions, facial builds, movement flow, etc.
That being said, however, the picture has several problems. Don't let Warner Brothers logos fool you; this is a UPA animation project, and it entails all the grainy, "low-budget" feel UPA was famous for (think Mr. Magoo or early Japanese anime). It works in its own novel way in this film, but anyone who has grown up in the CGI era that has brought us The Simpsons, Wall-E, Lilo and Stitch, Cars, Up, Tangled, Wallace & Gromit, Beauty & The Beast, etc. is likely to look at this and scream "Are they kidding?" Furthermore, although the musical talent was excellent in this picture (even on low-tech videotape, the songs come off superbly rendered, among the best animation has ever offered), the pacing of the movie and its music hearkens right back to the movies of the Fifties, Forties, and earlier where the movies were musicals that served more as vehicles for the musical soundtrack, not the other way around. If you go into this expecting the big musical where they continually interrupt the story to sing another song, you'll do fine, but many contemporary children may get fidgety and think "get on with it already!"
All told, I don't want to discourage this film. But I suggest that any viewer, over fifty years after it was made, consider the cinematic perspective of the time in which it was released, just as one should with any other decades-old film, animated or not. -
I appreciate that UPA tried to make a full-length cartoon that was different....and some parts of the film I really liked. But overall, I felt a bit bored by the cartoon and am sure as a kid I would have just gone to sleep instead of watching the film. Now I know that many people like the movie....it's just my taste.
"Gay Purr-ee" is unusual because UPA was known for making some of the fasted and simply animated shorts of the 1950s and 60s...with cartoons like "Gerald McBoing Boing" and "Mr. Magoo". They were popular and the studio received a few Oscars...though I just thought their products looked cheap. Their success led to good animation studios copying their style...and the once-great cartoons by MGM and Looney Tunes were a thing of the past because of this.
Now this is NOT to say that "Gay Purr-ee" is badly animated. The backgrounds OFTEN are gorgeous and are obviously inspired by Impressionist paintings. As for the characters, while the animation isn't great, for 1962 it's decent and a vast improvement over the usual UPA cartoon.
So with nice animation, why did I dislike the story so much? Well, I just found it rather dull...and think most kids would feel the same. The story about a nice country cat (Judy Garland) going to Paris and meeting up with an evil jerk (Paul Frees) has a few nice moments...but it also drags a bit and seems more like a film for adults...not the entire family. Watchable but it just didn't work for me. -
BobLib3 August 1999Maybe I had advanced tastes for your average eight-year-old. I don't know. What I DO know is that, ever since I saw this underrated classic on TV at about that time, I fell in love with it, and that love affair has continued down the years since. First, there's the voice casting. You will never hear a better latter-day Judy Garland than here. She's in great voice and seems to be genuinely enjoying herself in the role of Mewsette. Ditto Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermoine Gingold, and company. The Harold Arlen - Yip Harburg songs, if not the classics they wrote for "Wizard of Oz," very enjoyable. In fact, I believe this was Arlen's last full-length score, after the Broadway flop "Saratoga," and, rumor has it, it was he who persuaded Garland to take the job. The animation excellent and imaginative throughout, especially the sequence where Mewsette is depicted in the styles of various artists, and even though ace animator Abe Levitow gets sole directorial credit, it's obvious that executive producer Chuck Jones had a pretty active hand in things as well.
One final note: In addition to owning the video myself, we also have it in the video collection of the library where I work. When I recommend it to people as a good alternative to Disney&co for the kids, patrons will say they've never heard of it, but take it out on my recommendation. When they come back the next day, they always say almost the same thing: "Wow! This was great! My kids loved it and so did I. Why didn't I know about it before?" And I tell them "Because it's one of the great hidden treasures of animated features." Which, I think, says it exactly. -
brianjfichtner14 July 2022Chuck Jones is possibly the greatest animation director that ever lived, for this he doesn't direct, but instead tried his hand at writing with mixed results. The story isn't bad overall, but as a whole the execution just isn't there. The music and voice acting is great, can't go wrong with Judy Garland, and the backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, just phenomenal to look at. The character design isn't bad, very Chuck Jonesy in design, but the animation isn't great, it just doesn't fit with the elaborate backgrounds. UPA was known for their limited animation, and they didn't bother to up their effort much for a feature. The characters seem to hover over the ground when they walk, there's just no feeling of weight to them, they have no depth or texture and they cast no shadows. It's the equivalent of cutting out a character from a coloring book and pasting it over a Monet painting. If you're a fan of classic film it's worth a watch but I doubt the modern child would even make it past the opening credits.
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funkyfry7 February 2011This is a nice alternative to the Disney films for those who enjoy the really elaborate hand-drawn animation of those days but who want to look at some of the other stuff that was being done. Chuck Jones' name is on here as one of the writers, and his fingerprints are all over it. There's great little moments like when the lead cat, Jaune-Tom (voied by Robert Goulet) spots a mouse in the distance and his whole body is electrified before he dashes off after it at light speed.
The film also provides an opportunity for Judy Garland, who voices the lead kitty Mewsette, to reunite with her "Wizard of Oz" songwriters "Yip" Harburg and Harold Arlen, although sadly none of the resulting tunes approach that film's magic. "Paris is a Lonely Town" is an OK ballad for Garland, and most of the songs work well in the movie, but the only section that I think is really memorable musically is the part with the alley-cats, "The Money Cat," which also features some of the film's most stylish animation. I'm a big fan of Harburg and Arlen so it really pains me to say that I just do not think that they were on top of their game exactly here. It's not bad music, and it's not bad for the movie, there's just nothing that really goes over the top and works on anything more than the basic level.
The animation in this film is elaborate, really almost over-elaborate. It's perfectly suitable for the song "Bubbles" to become very weird and hectic because it's a scene where Jaune-Tom and his buddy Robespierre (voiced distinctively by Red Buttons) are getting drunk for the first time. It's a bit like the pink elephants scene in "Dumbo", but with goofier music and not as scary. Some of the other musical/animation sequences are a bit dull and really just padding the film basically. The scene where Mewsette is supposed to be posed in all these portraits by Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec or whatever was really sort of bizarre even though it was obviously well-intentioned. "Little Drops of Rain" stops the film dead 1/3rd of the way into it and really has nothing to do with anything. The animation is fascinating, almost psychedelic which is striking in 1962, but it really isn't hinged to the movie very strongly. The way the music and the plot are mixed isn't very fluid, because instead of showing Mewsette or Jaunte-Tom singing in character they cut away to these montages which are somehow at the same time the one thing really worth seeing here especially for an adult viewer but also just seem very poorly integrated with the plot for the most part so that they always seem to stop the action. Again that's with the exception of "Bubbles", where it actually made sense for them to suddenly go into an intoxicated dream-vision.
This is a interesting film; it's worth seeing. I think the integration of Garland's distinctive voice with this cute kitten character, which I was doubtful about going into the film, worked remarkably well. Goulet's voice is genial and matches the characterization in the animation quite well also. There's more perfect (oh god, don't let me say "purr-fect") casting with Hermione Gingold as a kind of fattened feline madame.
I didn't care for the story overall however. It's a rather conservative story for people like Harburg and Arlen to be involved with: basically the cats are happy in the country but the woman thinks that she's going to be happier in the city because she hears a society lady talking about it, so she runs off. Yes that's her big independent character-building moment, about all that there is. It's romantic that Jaune-Tom followed her, and I enjoyed his adventures with Robespierre in Alaska and so forth, but then in the end the city is just this scary evil place and it turns out everybody would have been happier if they had just stayed home all along. And to me that's just not a very exciting or worthwhile message and I guess I just do not see the point of the movie other than just the fact that all these particular talents weren't working on anything better. -
ja_kitty_7125 October 2007I love Judy Garland. I have a few of her films. And I love movies that are set in Paris, like the musical "An American in Paris" starring Gene Kelly and also the Pixar animated film "Ratatouille." One last thing to say is that I am a cat lover, as I have said many times.
Judy did a wonderful job as Mewsette, both in speaking and singing for her. And Chuck Jones did an excellent job with the production and animation of the film; Chuck Jones is one of my favorite animators. So overall, this film is an excellent piece of animation. It is colorful and beautifully animated, with songs you will remember and love. -
lee_eisenberg5 November 2020"The Wizard of Oz" is one of the most beloved movies of all time. The Looney Tunes are one of the most popular cartoon franchises of all time. The two indirectly crossed paths with Abe Levitow's "Gay Purr-ee", with Judy Garland voicing a cat who leaves rural France for Paris with the aim of making it big. It's obviously not the most famous animated feature, but it has an enjoyable plot. The writing by Chuck Jones and additional voice work by Mel Blanc make for an unusual connection to a certain screwy rabbit, lisping duck and stuttering pig (in fact, Abe Levitow directed a couple of Looney Tunes cartoons for Chuck Jones).
The rest of the voice work includes Robert Goulet (the villain in "Naked Gun 2 1/2"), Red Buttons (Oscar-winner for "Sayonara"), Paul Frees (the voice of Boris on "Rocky & Bullwinkle" and the Ghost Host in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion) and Morey Amsterdam (Buddy on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"). As it happens, Julie Bennett (who voiced one of the women in the Provence scene) died of the coronavirus earlier this year). Strange how these things work out.
Anyway, cool movie. -
Gay Purr-ee is the most beautiful movie I ever remember seeing as a child. Unfortunately I don't remember the story-line in great detail, because many years have passed but I remember some very touching scenes from this movie. The seemingly endless journey of two cats travelling to Paris: following the railway line they jumped from sleeper to sleeper through the long night, exhausted. The lure of this enchanting city of Paris spurring them on against great odds. The treat of a saucer of pure cream, as luxurious as the best caviar. The development of the characters and the actor's voices that brought them alive was superb. The incidental music during the movie lifted my heart, transported my emotions on a roller-coaster ride of delight and sorrow. I will hunt for this title in all the video stores in town because I absolutely must be enchanted again by this lovely work of art.
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SnoopyStyle24 June 2022It's late 19th century France. Jaune Tom (Robert Goulet) is in love with country cat Mewsette (Judy Garland) who lives on a farm. She's tired of their peasant lifestyle. She runs away from home seeking the big city life in Paris. She encounters Meowrice who turns out to be a con-cat. Jaune Tom sets off for Paris to find her and is joined by his tiny sidekick Robespierre (Red Buttons).
I like that this is a little different style of animation. I'm not sure that Mewsette is worth it. She wasn't that nice to Jaune Tom. She rejects him at the beginning. They need to set up a better connection than simply him pursuing her. She has to show a little bit in return. If the separation is not her doing, then there would be more drive to bring them back together. The big issue is that the two cats don't spend time together. The story meanders around a lot. At the end of the day, it's not the story that I'm intrigued with. I'm more interested in the slightly different style of animation. -
daveed-24 July 1999I remember enjoying this movie as a child, but, after viewing it some 30 years later as an adult, I wonder why it ever appealed to me. The animation is second rate, at best - cheaply drawn, with static backgrounds. (The one touch of inspiration was to paint the backgrounds in the styles of the great impressionist painters - most notably, Vincent Van Gogh.) The music, though written by two of this century's greatest songwriters, is entirely forgettable. The story is extremely weak and entirely devoid of any charm or wit. The movie appears to have been produced for the price of a song - and not a very good song, at that. The movie's one redeeming quality is the impressive vocal talent behind it. This cartoon is best suited for young children. Anyone over the age of 10 will be bored with it. When there are so many wonderful family films from which to choose, both animated and live-action, why squander your time by watching this one?
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decembercld200718 February 2014I love this movie because the cats are so cute. To me this movie feels like a Golden Era Hollywood musical that got turned into a cartoon with music. Judy Garland's singing is superb. She hit all of her notes and the other voice over actors are good too. The artwork is very French and I liked the clip where Mewsette was being shown in multiple paintings. Major French artists got to have their works represented to children.
There is not much violence so kids can easily watch this movie. I don't think this movie could ever be remade because the talent was there behind the scenes and on camera. It's not easy to make a film about singing cats and keep my attention. But they were able. -
preppy-39 March 2009I remember seeing this a few times on TV as a kid. I vaguely remember liking it and had an amusing time hearing Judy Garland doing vocals for an animated cat! Seeing it now (about 30 years later) I can't figure out WHAT I ever liked about this. The story is dull, silly and trite and the animation is (and I'm being nice) 4th rate. I've seen episodes of "The Flintstones" with better animation that this! The songs were entirely forgettable, the characters were ALL annoying and it was a struggle to make it through to the end. This is getting three stars just for the vocals of Garland and Robert Goulet--they even make the bland songs sound OK. Very young children might like this but anyone over the age of eight will be bored out of their minds! Easy to see why this is mostly forgotten.
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There are a few excellent points about this movie. Garland's voice sounds great here. The animation is quite unique, in that most of the backgrounds and such look like something out of an Impressionist painting, and are very beautiful. Red Buttons is very cute as Jaune-Tom's (Robert Goulet) small sidekick. The Harburg/Arlen songs are excellent, and they work nearly as well with Judy here as they did in The Wizard of Oz (1939), that marvel that truly started her entire career. The story is a little low on magic, but is pretty charming, and small children will like it. All in all, a treat for fans of Garland, Goulet, Harburg and Arlen, and original animation style.