Fresschen fürs Kätzchen (1952) Online

"Feed the Kitty" is possibly one of the best stories ever captured on film, whether it be full-length feature or short subject, live-action or animated. In seven minutes, it spins effortlessly between being laugh-out-loud funny, heartbreakingly sad, and tenderly sweet. The relationship between the little kitty Pussyfoot and the gruff guard dog Marc Anthony is magic, infinitely better than some of the relationships in so-called "serious" motion pictures. Pure, unadulterated genius almost seems an inadequate description of "Feed the Kitty" . . . but it'll have to do. It's simply one of the best films ever made. If you ever wanted to know why director Chuck Jones is held in such high regard by the likes of Spielberg, Lucas, and Scorsese (to name just a few), look no further than this little gem. This is absolutely a must-watch piece of animation.

I had the unexpected treat of seeing this short animated masterpiece on the big screen several years ago while at one of Spike & Mike's Festivals of Animation in San Francisco. All of a sudden, in the middle of the repertoire of recently made amateur and obscure animated shorts, the 40's/50's era Warner Brothers'/Looney Tunes cartoon short intro flashed on the screen. I could immediately sense the surprised hushes and confused murmurs of most of the audience members because vintage "mainstream" shorts weren't the usual fare for these shows. However, the surprised and confused reactions gradually turned into joyful enthusiasm as I and the rest of the audience members finally recognized which particular vintage Looney Tunes short this was... 'Feed the Kitty.' Sure, a lot of us probably didn't remember it merely by the title as it showed on the screen, but as soon as I saw the beloved slobbery bulldog (Marc Anthony) I knew!!! (-: I was also overjoyed that I could see this on a big screen in all its original theatrical glory of the era in which it was created. This gem is utterly timeless! I know that most everyone in that audience that night at the animation fest, along with myself, were instantly transported back to the time when they first saw this cartoon and how much it touched them then. I myself am a huge lover of kitties ever since childhood so when I first saw this cartoon on T.V. as a young child, I know it must have made me laugh tremendously and melted my heart then. Seeing it at the fest was so wonderful because I believe that it was the first time I'd seen it since I was a child in the 70's and I'd nearly forgotten about it up until that point. But ever since seeing it again that night, it definitely re-captivated me. It's such a charming, adorable, and hilarious feature for all ages. That dog's facial expressions are priceless! I'll never forget this one. It's for all ages. Chuck Jones R.I.P... what a genius!

Absolutely, one of the finest cartoons of all time. Your life would not be complete without watching Feed the Kitty. This short combines all the finest elements that make a Looney Tunes cartoon great. Comedy, drama, action. And the best part, you're drawn in not just by how adorable the kitty is, but also including the Oscar worthy performance of Marc Anthony and the great lengths he goes through to keep his friend out of harm's way.

Dangerous Marc Anthony meets a kitten and is smitten by its charms.

This cartoon is perfect. I look at the IMDb website and there is no link to the 'Awards & Nominations' section and I shake my head in grief. Warner Bros. has always had its icons in Bugs and Daffy but it was the little cartoons such as One Froggy Evening and Feed the Kitty that made Looney Tunes the rightful great it is today. I feel deep down that this short should get some recognition today, and it is an absolute must watch, for anyone, for all ages. It never gets old with each viewing.

Chuck Jones has finally been given proper credit for his enormous contribution to animation, from Bugs Bunny to the Grinch, but not everyone is aware of this 6-minute gem which doesn't feature any of the famous WB characters. "Feed the Kitty" is a simple play on the dog/cat cartoon rivalry: a gruff bulldog named Marc Anthony unexpectedly falls in love with a little fluffy kitten. Simple enough concept, but the range of emotion expressed by this silly dog trying to protect his "pet" makes me laugh and cry upon each viewing. I'm given to superlative language when discussing Chuck Jones, but I honestly think it's the most wonderful 6 minutes of animation you're likely to see.

An expressive bull-dog becomes attached to a furry black kitten, but chaos threatens to separate them. I glimpsed this on a tribute to the director, Chuck Jones. The dog is so real-acting and animated (sorry about the pun) that the ending will have you in tears. This is a classic that MUST be released on DVD, along with the other brilliant Warner Brothers cartoons of the 1940s and 1950s.

"Marc Anthony," the big, brutish-looking-but sensitive bulldog, has a new friend, a tiny little kitty who makes a "home" by sleeping on Anthony's back. The big dog takes a shine to the little one and then protects him as he gets, or seems to get, into domestic trouble.

The homemaker in the house makes it clear early on to the dog that she doesn't want him bringing anything into the house. The dog thinks he has to hide the cat, but the little animal gets loose and gets into various predicaments. While trying to hide the identify of the cat or save him being being in the mix-master and being made into a cookie, the dog is always pestering the woman and getting admonished. I read somewhere where this cat was in subsequent cartoons and named "Pussyfoot."

The beginnings of this animated short were both touching and very funny. Then, the one- joke story started to drag a bit until Marc Anthony thought the cat was killed a cried a river of tears, which actually was funny. (I've never a dog cry or sweat like this dog!) They even showed the poor dog's bloodshot eyes after his crying spell!

Another very funny touch was when the dog came back in the house and was given a cookie by the woman. He thought it was the poor little cat-made into-a cookie and placed it on his back where Pussyfoot laid before. This is one sensitive, caring dog! The end of this is more of the same - more touching and sweet than humor - but it was nice to see.

I just want to curl up with this cartoon and have it lick my face. Both the dog, Marc Anthony, and the cat are adorable and there range of emotion is fun to watch. Marc Anthony displays so many different faces in this precious cartoon as he protects his little kitty. The animation is stellar, especially of the kitten. I love the beginning where Marc Anthony runs over barking up a storm at the kitty, only to have the cat lick him and make a bed on his back. His pained looks as he thinks he is watching the cat's demise culminate in his master giving him a kitten shaped cookie which he puts on his back as he sobs. The voice of the master is perfect for the role. She is totally confused by the strange actions of her dog especially when she finds he wants a cat for a pet. In the end, his master lets him keep the kitty. I usually hate cute things, but this cartoon always make me smile.

This cartoon marks the first appearance of a very popular Looney Toons duo: Marc Anthony, the seemingly tough bulldog, and Pussyfoot, the eternally calm kitten. It's often cited by Looney Toons fans as a favorite, and watching it, one can easily see why. Marc Anthony is like a little kid, hiding his new kitten from his owner, who has scolded him about bringing in his ratty toys and scattering them all over the house. It makes for some hilarious misbehavior, and even more hilarious facial expressions from Marc Anthony as he fakes his owner out each time she almost finds the kitten.

The most memorable part is when Marc Anthony, who mistakenly believes the kitten got mixed in with the cookie batter his owner is making up (as we saw, but he didn't, the kitten jumped out of the bowl and went off to clean itself), watches at the window as the batter is rolled out, cut into cookies, and put in the oven, fainting each time. He then starts howling in grief, until his owner lets him back in. Noting his "long face," she gives him a cookie...and it's shaped like a kitten! But as if this isn't heartbreaking enough, Marc Anthony takes it with a trembling paw, then puts it on his back like he carried the kitten before he starts howling in grief again.

Boy, they milk every single bit of pathos out of that scene before the kitten finally comes up and mews.

Marc Antony the bulldog sees and barks ferociously at a tiny kitten who completely ignores his display of bravado, eventually winning him over. Marc Antony had been warned by the lady of the house to not bring a single thing home and when he shows up with he kitten on his back, a series of misunderstandings leads him to believe his little friend has been baked into a plate of cookies being made by his master. I had never forgotten about this wonderful little cartoon and had a wonderful moment with an ex girlfriend when we both remembered it after neither of us having seen it for decades. I agree with the previous reviewer...just an outstanding sweet little gem of animation.

this short of a bulldog who gets charmed by a kitten and his subsequent attempts to keep it hidden from his mistress is excellent. The jokes are pretty damn funny and the overall playful tone is quite refreshing to me. When he attempts to pass that cat off as a wind up toy is so cute and amusing, as is when he makes the kitty into a powderpuff (you have to see it). The joke with the mouse is humorous as well. This is one of Chuck Jone's greatest non-regular Looney Tunes character starring shorts and I can't recommend it enough. This cartoon is on Disk 3 of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1" It also has an optional commentary as well as a music-only track and a featurette

My Grade: A+

Warning - spoilers.

Spoilers are necessary to best analyze the strengths of this, one of Chuck Jones' directorial tours-de-force; indeed, as is so often the case, reviews of Chuck Jones' work cannot do it justice without provision of some details in certain key scenes.

Two large blue eyes stare out of the darkness - of a small tin can from which emerges a gorgeous little kitten (not named in the film but referred to as Pussyfoot in subsequent reviews). Seeing the seemingly helpless feline, bulldog Marc Anthony charges forth, roaring and barking with savage aplomb - and to no avail as Pussyfoot calmly coos at him. Jones scores his first bullseye with Marc Anthony's hilarious reaction to Pussyfoot's calmness, then cuts back to savage growling. Pussyfoot, however, calmly walks onto Marc Anthony's back, makes himself at home (Jones delights in the hilarious shots of Pussyfoot digging into the fur on Marc Anthony's back and the dog's pained expressions before the feline goes to comforting sleep), and Marc Anthony is immediately smitten, especially when Pussyfoot gives him a loving link.

But Marc Anthony's guardian is displeased with the tattered objects her dog frequently brings home, and warns him not to bring any additional objects within. Thus is Marc Anthony compelled to hide Pussyfoot from his guardian, but the engaging kitten has a mind of his own and the result is several incidents - funniest of all is the cereal bowl mistaken for a mouse that turns up a real mouse while Pussyfoot calmly eats out of Marc Anthony's bowl; when the dog realizes what's happening, the expressions by the mouse and the dog are hilarious.

But then the cartoon becomes more dramatic when Pussyfoot is hidden in a container of flour - that Marc Anthony's guardian is mixing for cookies. When the dog tries to stop her she throws him out for the afternoon and finishes making cookies. Marc Anthony watches in horror as the dough is mixed and chopped into cookies - unaware that Pussyfoot has calmly escaped and is cleaning himself in safety; that we are witnesses to the kitten's safe escape does nothing to reassure the audience as Marc Anthony breaks down in very real tears, leaving the audience genuinely shaken as if the kitten really was destroyed - especially cutting is the scene when the guardian gives Marc Anthony a cookie in the shape of a kitten, which only reminds the be-grieved dog of what he's lost all the more painfully.

Thus do Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese engage the audience on far more than two levels to make these cartoons compelling viewing. Just when you think this will be another comedic effort, you find it is a genuinely emotional act of storytelling.

*Warning: Minor Spoilers*

I managed to track this down in Italy (where it's called "A Kitten for a Friend") and finally off Ebay in English.

There's something so wonderfully sweet and pure about this cartoon that it can bring me out of any type of bad mood.

From the opening shot of the kitten peering out the discarded can everything is just perfect. The range of expressions that Mark Anthony shows clearly illustrates the utter genius of Chuck Jones and the see saw of emotions that he can elicit in 7 or 8 minutes.

Most compelling of all is that you can go from laughing hysterically at Mark Anthony's ineffectual barking at Pussyfoot to choking up as he cries outside the house to relief when he and the kitten are reunited.

Favourite bit is when the dog's lower jaw hits the kitten as he gawps in wonder at what his mistress is saying.

I cannot sing the praises of this cartoon highly enough. My girlfriend thinks it's bizarre that I have this nestling between copies of Day of the Dead and Bronx Warriors.

Superb!

The funniest (and most underrated) cartoon Chuck Jones ever created. I've seen this delightful animated short countless times on TV and crack up whenever I do. Why isn't Marc Antony as big an icon as Bugs Bunny? And when will this cartoon ever be able to buy on DVD?

For anyone who foolishly believes that canines and felines hate each other then perhaps this cartoon will sway your mind. Never before have a kitty and doggy gotten on so well.

It marks the first appearance of Pussyfoot and the curiously named Marc Anthony, a massive bulldog who goes through hell to protect cute little cat who constantly, walks into danger unawares. I find the idea of a dog having a pet of his own utterly charming and funny.

The animation and backgrounds echo Tom and Jerry rather than Looney Tunes, but for 2 lesser characters Pussyfoot and Marc Anthony make for a great twosome.

Feed the Kitty is everything I love about animation and more. The animation is full of vibrant colours and fluid backgrounds, while the music is typically energetic with some recognisable tunes and lively orchestration(as ever). The gags are very imaginative and I think very funny, the one with the mouse hole is priceless. Feed the Kitty is also very cute, especially in the characters of Marc Antony and Pussyfoot and there is even one truly heart-wrenching sequence where Marc Antony grieves for Pussyfoot, Marc Antony's way of expressing his grief is very affecting to anybody. The story is always engaging and crisply paced. Mel Blanc's vocals as ever are stellar, as I've said many times he was one of those voice artists who could do no wrong being a huge part of every short cartoon/show he participated in. Overall, a masterpiece from Chuck Jones and of animation. 10/10 Bethany Cox

When you say "Looney Toons" these days, Bugs Bunny usually comes to mind. Most people don't realize that some of the best looney toons didn't feature the usual characters. This cartoon is an example of a one time hit.

*_spoilers_*

This is the story of a rather large bulldog named Marc Anthony, who finds a stray kitten that's very cute. Marc Anthony befriends the cat despite their obvious differences. Marc Anthony struggles to keep the kitten unknown to his owner. it's one of the sweetest stories that can be told in seven minutes... go see it!

Just the idea of a dog owning a cat is hilarious in itself, but Chuck Jones takes the idea and makes it even funnier, and heartwarmingly so.

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One interesting thing about this film is that the scene in this cartoon, in which Marc Anthony thinks his cat is being made into cookies is given tribute in Monsters Inc. in the scene where Sulley thinks the little girl Boo has ended up in a trash compactor. Just goes to show what a well appreciated classic this one is.

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Anyway, this is one of my favorite Chuck Jones cartoons of all-time and one of the best, period.

Chuck Jones has been accused in his career for being too cutesy, too Disneyesque, lacking the flamboyance and loonyness for Looney Tunes. His earliest directorial efforts gave these critics some credence. And, I suppose, you could judge this cartoon the same way. It is cute, certainly. Loony? Not too much. But it is one of those shorts that have added to the legacy of the Warner Bros. cartoons from this era, combining richness, artistry and humor like no one has ever been able to equal.

In Feed the Kitty, we have Marc Anthony, a big hulking bull of a dog, who falls head over heals for this adorable little kitty. This situation, in anyone else's hands, would have us either grabbing the hankies, or hugging the nearest toilet bowl. But Jones and his most frequent collaborator, writer Michael Maltese, have managed to integrate slapstick into this situation that gives more depth to the love this dog feels for this cat than any seven minute short should have a right to do.

Classic Chuck Jones short, brilliant in its simplicity, about a bulldog named Marc Antony who finds a new friend in a little black kitten (later named Pussyfoot). Throughout the cartoon, Marc Antony tries to protect his new friend from being discovered by the mistress of the house, fearful she won't let the kitty stay. Charming, sweet, funny, and clever -- it's just absolute perfection from start to finish. Beautiful animation with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lovely, rich colors. Wonderful music from Carl Stalling. Bea Benaderet does a great job as the voice of the woman. It really doesn't get much better than this. When that kitten gets in the toy car, even the iciest of hearts will melt.

(spoilers ahead for the review)

Most people denounce a lot of animated cartoons as emotionless - they have no real human emotions whatsoever. But one of the few exceptions is FEED THE KITTY, a Chuck Jones classic starring minor Looney Tunes characters Marc Antony and Pussyfoot.

Well, it starts with the bulldog Marc trying to terrorize stray kitten Pussyfoot, but the latter is unfazed, thus snuggling up on his back. He walks home and his owner, a housemaid who expects cleanliness, also expects nothing else brought into their keep.

Marc tries smuggling the forbidden item from the maid, but the horror starts to increase when he hides Pussyfoot in the flour bin when she is about to make sugar cookies. He unsuccessfully tries to save her from being entangled in cookie dough and baked. The owner ousts him as she emerges out of the batter and escapes the mixer. The horror increases as Marc sees the maid roll and stamp out the dough, knowing that his dear Pussyfoot is getting baked to death. He cries through (already bloodshot and red) eyes a pond as she bakes her sugar cookies in the oven.

A short while later, the maid lets Marc back inside, his eyes raw and red from crying fervently. Seeing his puffy, ruddy eyes, she hands him a sugar cookie in the shape of a kitty. After receiving it with shaking paw, he places the confection on his back where the real kitten once laid, and bawls knowing that it's her remains.

I know for sure, as a cartoon fan, that the grieving dog is not the only cartoon character to cry till his eyes are red. (A lot of others' eyes remain white when they cry a river.) Take Skippy from ANIMANIACS, for instance. His red eyes (from crying a stream when he sees a death scene in a kids' movie, a BAMBI spoof) are seen when he blows his nose in Aunt Slappy's huge tissue outside the cinema in "Bumbie's Mom."

As Marc bewails his cooked kitty, the real Pussyfoot snuggles his face. He is overjoyed when he sees his kitty alive and well. But the maid notices him, and he bawls with red eyes again, this time holding the kitten indicating that he wants her in the house. She allows him to keep him under a few conditions – he has to take care of him and clean up after him (despite the fact that Pussyfoot is actually a "she"). The cartoon ends with Pussyfoot snuggling up and sleeping on his back.

FEED THE KITTY stands out in emotional terms from myriad other Warner Brothers shorts made during the latter part of the Golden Age of American Animation. Yes, it has funny parts like a lot of them, but many a viewer would match Marc's red eyes as he grieves his pet and places the cookie on his back. Simply put, you'd better get a box of tissues at standby when watching this cartoon for the part when he cries a pond! Any cartoon lover should not overlook this animation short.

"Feed the Kitty", directed by Chuck Jones, is a wonderful Warner Bros. cartoon that stars two characters who never really became popular with the public: Pussyfoot the kitten and Marc Anthony the bulldog. The love and friendship they have for one another is absolutely adorable.

Here are my favorite moments from "Feed the Kitty" (if you haven't yet seen this cartoon, don't read any further). I love Marc Anthony's classic "Who? Me?" look in his eyes when he hides Pussyfoot in the flour cabinet, as well as his bloodshot eyes & high-pitched whine when he thinks that Pussyfoot has been baked into a batch of cookies. Composer/arranger Carl Stalling repeatedly uses three popular songs throughout this cartoon that represent Pussyfoot: "Ain't She Sweet" is the playful kitten's primary theme; "Oh! You Beautiful Doll" is heard when Marc Anthony disguises Pussyfoot as a powder puff; and "Mommy's Little Baby Loves Shortening Bread" is heard when the lady of the house makes her batch of cookies.

"Feed the Kitty" is a cartoon that is funny, yet it also tugs at your heart. Director Chuck Jones later admitted that he hadn't planned on having his audience cry at the "cookie climax" of this film; I think it's safe to say that "Feed the Kitty" was a major achievement for Chuck in terms of the audience's emotional spectrum.

Chuck Jones is a master! I really love his cartoons including this enduring short. I think Pussyfoot is cutest kitten character of Looney Tunes besides Figaro from Disney's Pinocchio.

My favorite scene is the mousehole scene, where Marc Anthony who hid Pussyfoot in a mousehole from his mistress, picks up a mouse (thinking it's Pussyfoot) and places it on his back. But Pussyfoot was really eating from Marc's dish. Realizing his goof-up Marc Anthony throws the mouse back in the hole.

So anyway, this short is Chuck's most enduring piece. And you know, animation fans would recognize Bea Benaderet (Marc's mistress), as the voice of Betty Rubble from The Flintstones; also many other Looney Tunes shorts too.

This short is about a bulldog named Marc Anthony who, despite himself, falls for a cute little kitten who likes to rest on his back. But his female master has had enough of his mess he makes around the house and threatens to throw him out if he brings another thing inside. Most of the humor concerns the dog's attempts to keep the kitten from his master's sight. There's a mix-up involving the cat's fate in the middle but all ends happily and when the short ends, it's not on a laugh as usually done on these Warner shorts but a cute coda. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this was done by Chuck Jones since he initially made Disney-like cartoons early in his Warner Bros. directing career. Anyway, I highly recommend Feed the Kitty.

This sublime piece ranks among the best work Jones, the grand master of short-form animation, ever did, on at least a par with "One Froggy Evening," "Duck Amuck," "The Dot and the Line," et al. It also reveals the major flaw in Jones's sense of humor--a flaw that, this time around, succeeds by being received by viewers in the obverse of its intent.

Of all the artists who worked at Warner Brothers' animation department, Jones's humor was the most psychologically oriented. As such, his sense of slapstick found its expression not in physical, but psychological, expressions of pain: frustration, humiliation, panic, emotional trauma. (Witness the numerous Road Runner/Coyote and Pepe Le Pew shorts Jones directed.) "Feed the Kitty" exemplifies this cruel streak in Jones's humor. The most well-known sequence in this work is when Mark Antony believes Pussyfoot has been killed and blended into cookie dough, and the poor bulldog collapses into paroxysms of grief and sobbing. Many here have already noted how heartrending this sequence comes across. But on the PBS documentary about Jones, he stated that he conceived all that strictly for laughs, that he thought it was funny and meant it to be taken as such--and that, at its premiere, he was shocked to see members of the audience in tears upon watching it.

While Walt Disney was the pioneer in animation in the 20th century, Chuck Jones was the true genius. His shorts for Warner Brothers have shown to be somewhat more enduring than the Disney shorts, and many consider FEED THE KITTY to be the best. Me included.

Not necessarily for fall-down funny, mind you, though there are some great gags, but because it takes a story with a ridiculous premise, and not only tells it convincingly, but--dare I say about a 7 minute animated short?--even movingly.

That FEED THE KITTY strikes people as deeply as it does (and it does--just look at many of the other comments on this board) suggests that maybe there is a deeper meaning here. I'm loath to over-analyze cartoons; Will Rogers said words to the effect that you can dissect a joke, and you can dissect a frog, but neither is likely to survive the process. Even so, there really is something cool and special to the story in this one.

Bulldog Marc Antony is really a typical "guy" in FEED THE KITTY, facing what really works out to be first-time fatherhood. And Pussyfoot's innocence gets to Marc Antony much the way us guys find ourselves vulnerable to with our own children. THAT'S why this story is so affecting; it's an experience many of us can relate to.

I also loved Pixar's MONSTERS INC, for the same reasons. Even though the trash compactor scene from MONSTERS is a direct homage to FEED THE KITTY, I see a lot of other, less obvious influences.

Chuck Jones and his crew at Warner Brothers took animated storytelling to a level that nobody else has been able to quite equal, and FEED THE KITTY is my favorite example of their best work.