The Worst Film Ever

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Chuck Jones has been responsible for some of the best cartoons ever made, and among his finest and those best cartoons ever made is Chow Hound. It is animated with fluid detail and with colours that are vibrant but also in keeping with the tone of the writing and story. The music is energetic and has a strong sense of character, while also being orchestrated most beautifully. Chow Hound has some amusing and appropriately witty moments as you'd expect from WB/Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies and Chuck Jones, but it's notable also for having writing that has a dark and cynical tone, shaped and characterised in an adept way and giving Chow Hound some power and depth. The story is one that is very well paced and never short of intriguing, while the characters are likable and written and characterised in a way that makes even the most minor of characters interesting. Mel Blanc, Bea Beanderet and Stan Freberg, three of the finest voice actors of the era(and especially in the case of Blanc of all time too) all give sterling vocal performances, beautifully pitching manic energy and affecting pathos. John T.Smith is also great as Bulldog. In conclusion, one of Chuck Jones' and possibly also animation's masterpieces. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is my all time favorite Warner brothers Cartoon,I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this one ,It is also my favorite revenge story, In seven minutes it tells a great story of intimidation and revenge, In "Jean de Florette" and Manon des Sources" it takes four and a half hours to tell the story of crime and revenge, And in two films, If you love Warner brothers cartoons of this period, You Must see this one ! all the characters are original and fresh, No regular characters in this one ,I am surprised no one has made a live action film of this story it would not take much imagination to do so, I still love to use the tag line,"This Time we didn't forget the gravy" see it !And if you have the time , see "Jean de Florette" and Manon des Sources" "revenge is a dish best served cold".

As a boy, every kid in the neighborhood was repeating the "No Gravy?" line. This Chuck Jones at his edgiest. The ending is truly (and deservedly) sadistic. Amazing, that this cartoon couldn't be made today. Now lets hope Warner Bros. releases it on DVD. This is one of those one-off gems that don't make there own collection. To a child, the dog represented everyone who tells you what to do, orders you about, and generally makes life hell. Interesting that the dog, cat, and mouse, behave much like an abusive Father, repressed Mother, and abused child, but that's probably reading too much into it. When the dog receives his gravy, which he has "hounded" the cat & mouse about for the entire cartoon, it is divine justice in the 1951 sense.

Not only is this a great cartoon, but it represents a change in Chuck Jones' style while at Warners. In the late 30's and early 40's Jones made cartoons in the Disney mode, or rather he tried to. Most of those cartoons were rather dull and humorless. By mid-forties, though, Jones had seen the light and started to make funny cartoons like his contemporaries Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng and Frank Tashlin. But it was when he was teamed up with writer Mike Maltese in the late 40's that Jones' cartoons really started to gel; they became funnier and more polished as well as being stylistically unique, especially when compared to the cartoons Freleng and McKimson were turning out during the same period at Warners. Maltese's writing was much darker and more cynical than anything Jones had worked with before. (Jones tended to make rather sweet and sentimental cartoons when left to his own devices.) "Chow Hound" shows how well Jones and Maltese complimented one another's styles. It is Jones' strong sense of design, superior draftsmanship, funny expressive characters, and expert timing that keeps the cartoon from getting too dark or grotesque.The plot involves a bully of a dog (who looks like a beefier version of Charlie Dog) who uses a cat and mouse to run several scams on some unsuspecting pet owners in order to get himself a running supply of meat. However, the dog's own gluttonly and greed drive him to think up the ultimate plan to get a bigger score. The cartoon moves at a brisk pace, and scenes build on top of each other, leading nicely to the next until the final surprise ending. And it is a great ending!In one scene, featuring a close up of a newspaper want ad, several of the animators' name are printed as an injoke.