Cat-Tails for Two
Encyclopedia
Cat-Tails for Two is a 1953 Warner Bros.
Merrie Melodies
cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson
and written by Tedd Pierce
starring Bennie the fat cat and George. It was animated in 1952. Voices by Mel Blanc
and music by Carl Stalling
. It was the first appearance of Speedy Gonzales
, in a prototype form. Because this cartoon's rendition of Speedy Gonzales looked rather coarse, they redesigned him for future cartoon releases.
. George and Benny are walking down a pier looking for food, when they find a Mexican
ship. Figuring the ship will have plenty of Mexican mice, i.e. "Mexican food" (Benny: "It gives me the heartburn and I love it!"), they climb on, only to find an unkempt mouse calling himself "Speedy Gonzalez [sic]: Fastest Mouse
in All Mexico
".
George and Benny go through numerous attempts to try and capture Speedy, who always outwits them. Speedy comes to think of them as private entertainment, at one point declaring "I like those fellows. All the time having fon (fun)!" Among the cats' failed attempts:
1. A crate full of "Acme Anvils" set above a piece of cheese. With Benny holding the rope and George setting the bait, Speedy gives Benny a scare from behind, causing him to let go of the rope and the crate to flatten George. As punishment, George swings down on Benny's cranium with a mallet, but the mallet bounces off Benny's head right on top of his own! When Benny asks "Why did you hit yourself on the head for, George?", the slap-happy cat answers: "I like it, I like it!!"
2. George sets up seven pieces of cheese with dynamite-stick booby traps throughout the ship, but doesn't have a match to light the sticks. Speedy taunts George with a match and sets him up to take the explosions. Benny comes to the rescue by cooling George down, but misinterprets a bucket of petrol as "a funny way to spell 'water'" leaving him half furless.
3. A pipe with one end disguised as an entranceway to a cabaret and Benny standing at the other end with a mallet. When Speedy enters the pipe, George fires a skyrocket in behind him, the idea being to force Speedy out into the path of the mallet. But the rocket unexpectedly yanks George through the pipe behind it. Speedy is too fast for Benny, and Benny ends up clobbering George when he is pulled out the other side turning his head into a mallet size.
Finally, the two cats run a pipe into Speedy's hiding place (to the tune of Raymond Scott
's Powerhouse
), but Speedy grabs a wrench and bends the pipe back around to the cats, unbeknownst to them. George starts shoving a lot of dynamite into the pipe, resulting in a mountain of TNT piling up behind him and Benny. When George is done shoving dynamite through the pipe, he lights the last stick with a match, and the mountain of dynamite blasts him and Benny up into the air. As they descend, Benny asks George about their Mexican dinner, with George responding "I kind of lost my appetite for Mexican food," before both cats plunge into the harbor. A smug Speedy looks at the camera and declares "I love those fellows. They're so see-lee (silly)!" Iris out.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
and written by Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
starring Bennie the fat cat and George. It was animated in 1952. Voices by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
and music by Carl Stalling
Carl Stalling
Carl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
. It was the first appearance of Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated caricature of a mouse in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast and speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent...
, in a prototype form. Because this cartoon's rendition of Speedy Gonzales looked rather coarse, they redesigned him for future cartoon releases.
Plot
The two cats pursuing Speedy in Cat-Tails for Two are the slow-witted (and injury-causing) Benny and the fully functioning but unfortunate George, both patterned after the characters Lennie and George in the novel Of Mice and MenOf Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
. George and Benny are walking down a pier looking for food, when they find a Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
ship. Figuring the ship will have plenty of Mexican mice, i.e. "Mexican food" (Benny: "It gives me the heartburn and I love it!"), they climb on, only to find an unkempt mouse calling himself "Speedy Gonzalez [sic]: Fastest Mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
in All Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
".
George and Benny go through numerous attempts to try and capture Speedy, who always outwits them. Speedy comes to think of them as private entertainment, at one point declaring "I like those fellows. All the time having fon (fun)!" Among the cats' failed attempts:
1. A crate full of "Acme Anvils" set above a piece of cheese. With Benny holding the rope and George setting the bait, Speedy gives Benny a scare from behind, causing him to let go of the rope and the crate to flatten George. As punishment, George swings down on Benny's cranium with a mallet, but the mallet bounces off Benny's head right on top of his own! When Benny asks "Why did you hit yourself on the head for, George?", the slap-happy cat answers: "I like it, I like it!!"
2. George sets up seven pieces of cheese with dynamite-stick booby traps throughout the ship, but doesn't have a match to light the sticks. Speedy taunts George with a match and sets him up to take the explosions. Benny comes to the rescue by cooling George down, but misinterprets a bucket of petrol as "a funny way to spell 'water'" leaving him half furless.
3. A pipe with one end disguised as an entranceway to a cabaret and Benny standing at the other end with a mallet. When Speedy enters the pipe, George fires a skyrocket in behind him, the idea being to force Speedy out into the path of the mallet. But the rocket unexpectedly yanks George through the pipe behind it. Speedy is too fast for Benny, and Benny ends up clobbering George when he is pulled out the other side turning his head into a mallet size.
Finally, the two cats run a pipe into Speedy's hiding place (to the tune of Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
's Powerhouse
Powerhouse (song)
Powerhouse is a instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic "assembly line" music in animated cartoons released by Warner Brothers.-History:...
), but Speedy grabs a wrench and bends the pipe back around to the cats, unbeknownst to them. George starts shoving a lot of dynamite into the pipe, resulting in a mountain of TNT piling up behind him and Benny. When George is done shoving dynamite through the pipe, he lights the last stick with a match, and the mountain of dynamite blasts him and Benny up into the air. As they descend, Benny asks George about their Mexican dinner, with George responding "I kind of lost my appetite for Mexican food," before both cats plunge into the harbor. A smug Speedy looks at the camera and declares "I love those fellows. They're so see-lee (silly)!" Iris out.