Truly Dreadful Film

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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.

This is a cartoon that runs the usual 7 minutes and it was made back in 1952 by Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese with Mel Blanc doing the voice acting of the 2 central characters. The voice of Marc Anthony's mistress comes from the woman who voiced Betty on "The Flintstones". In this short film here, a strong bulldog finds a little kitten and the two grow closer. Sadly, the dog's owner tells him that the next time he brings something into the house, he will have to go. So the dog tries all the time to hide the cat from the owner and succeeds for the most part. The first 5 minutes of this short film are okay, but the last two minutes are the real highlight. Marc Anthony's crying sequences for the kitten are truly heartbreaking and when the two are not only reunited, but he also may keep it, it's a truly delightful ending. Pretty good job here and I recommend this short film. Nice use of the catchy "Three Blind Mice" tune as well.

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

Chuck Jones's 'Feed the Kitty' is one of the undisputed classics of animation. It runs the gamut of moods from sweet to horrifying, hilarious to tear-jerking. The short made such an impression on director Joe Dante that he regularly pays tribute to it in his full length features. Starring a soft-hearted bulldog named Marc Anthony and a doe-eyed kitten named Pussyfoot, 'Feed the Kitty' forsakes the usual anarchic mayhem of Warner Bros. cartoons for a disarmingly heartwarming tale of one dog's adoration for a cat. Jones knows better than to revisit the Disney-esquire cuteness of his dull early work and neatly sidesteps this by mixing the sweetness with plenty of laughs and an extremely dark sequence in which Marc Anthony thinks Pussyfoot has been chopped up and baked to death! 'Feed the Kitty' subverts the usual setup for cartoons in which a big character causes chaos while trying to catch and eat a little character by making the motive for the chaotic antics the big character's desire to protect the little character. Marc Anthony goes to extreme lengths to hide Pussyfoot's presence from the owner he is sure will eject the kitten from the house. In doing so, Marc Anthony undoubtedly steals the cartoon. Cute and accurately kitten-like as Pussyfoot is, he is basically a prop. Marc Anthony, on the other hand, became world famous for his performance in this cartoon by virtue of his plethora of amazing facial expressions. Much has been made of the facial expressions Jones coaxes out of his characters and 'Feed the Kitty' is the prime example of his genius with a reaction. Marc Anthony snaps instantaneously from ferocious to confused to adoring to desperate to stern to relieved etc. The saggy, bloodshot look of total devastation that he adopts when he believes Pussyfoot has been killed is the most jaw-dropping element of 'Feed the Kitty'. It is so heart-wrenchingly accurate in its depiction of a soul who has lost all hope that it is simultaneously unbearably sad and hilarious in its extremity. It's unlike any expression you've seen in a cartoon before and writer Mike Maltese pushes this grim gag one step further when he has Marc Anthony take the freshly baked effigy of his beloved pet and place it lovingly on his back. Of course, this deeply sad material is also very, very funny because the audience is in on the joke and knows that Pussyfoot is OK and we are rewarded with a happy ending. The cartoon ends on a quiet note instead of the usual crash of an anvil or straight to camera wisecrack, further highlighting what an unusual piece of work 'Feed the Kitty' is. Jones used Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot in several other shorts but never to such incredible effect as in this classic treasure of a film.