A milestone: this is the 9,000th post on this website!
Another trifecta today, though interesting Cat Stuff has been scarce this week. First, we have an instance of Feline Pareidolia from reader Peter in Australia, who reports:
I was just at my mate’s place for dinner and when I looked down at the floor I saw this cat 🙂
It’s a calico!
Reader Merilee sent me this rather dark version of the song “The Cat Came Back,” which won a prize from the National Film Board of Canada in 1988. It’s odd that the Nice Canadians would honor such a cartoon. (I posted this years ago, but that link has disappeared.) Four years ago we heard a more amiable version by Laurie Berkner.
Written by Harry Miller in 1893, the song’s origin has some racist overtones, but we won’t dwell on those now. Wikipedia has a long entry on it, including the cover of the original sheet music:
And hey, do you stoners out there remember Fat Freddy’s Cat? Reader Mary L. did!:
I remember the NFB version winning the award in the 80s. It’s pretty funny & I thought it was the only version of the song. This and “The Big Snit” are my favourites – both from the 80s.
And Canadians aren’t nice – Canadians are polite.
The ending of Cordell Barker’s cartoon is very similar to the ending of Friz Freling’s 1948 cartoon, Back Alley Oproar, which itself was a remake of his 1941 cartoon, Notes to You. Both cartoons were scripted by the great Michael Maltese.
Good distinction, Diana;-)
And Canadians generally have a wickedly dry sense of humour. The nicest thing they do is to NOT inflict it upon those who don’t get “dry humour”.
(When I moved to the southern USA, I learned to bite my tongue a lot.)
The first time a saw the NFB “That Cat Came Back” was as the opening cartoon to “A Fish Called Wanda”. My sides hurt by the end of that night.
I might have seen the same combo. I do know that I saw it as a short before a movie in the late 70s or early 80s.
Fiv figures coming soon!
b&
This brings back fond memories of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comics we enjoyed back in the ??70’s or so. Fat Freddy’s Cat would poop on Freddy’s earphones. Cockroaches would march in formation, etc. etc. fat Freddy would get fabulous attacks of the munchies. Those were the days!
All together now, in Freewheelin’ Franklin’s Mantra :
I’m seeing less of a cat in that first image and more of a strange figure holding a knife. The knife and sleeve of his cloak are very clear but his face and cowl are distorted.
He was also known as “Fat Dreddy Scat” and “F. Frederick Skitty”. He explained himself in an early rap:
“I’m Fat Freddy’s Cat
and I’m mean and tough
and I take no guff
when I strut my stuff.”
“Here, Kity, Kitty, Kitty”
“I’m Fat Freddy Scat and I ain’t no kitty
Don’t embarrass me in the middle of the city
I can make it rough on you if you’re going to be shitty –
I’ll shit in your shoes and pee in your hat
And spray the whole house with essence of cat.
A lot of cats wouldn’t
A lot of cats couldn’t
Hand a lickin’ to a chicken
Or a razzin’ to a rat
When they’re finished messing ’round
With Fat Freddy’s Cat.
I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten some lines.
Oops – misspelled one “Kitty”.
“I’m Fat Freddy’s Cat, and I’m so full of piss
that if I don’t like your looks, I’ll hit you with this:” (next frame is a whirly cat, nothing but claws and stars whipping around)
…and who could forget:
“It’s easier to get through times of dope and no money than it is to get through times of money and no dope.”
Yes indeed.! I had forgotten that signature piece of philosophy from Fabulous Furries.
That was Freewhilin’ Franklin’s tagline*, and it was also a poster. He also said the immortal words (in response to being asked if he wanted to try out some really good weed) “Is the Bear Catholic? Does a pope shit in the woods?”
There was also a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers game, called Feds ‘N’ Heads. The object was to go out and accumulate 35 lids of weed and get it home.
*The precise wording of this was, “Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.”
Congratulations on your 9000th post! Fantastic! Great achievement!
And I love the cat cartoon too 🙂
meow
My son loves that video. A couple of months ago he forced me to watch it about a dozen times in a row. I didn’t mind so much except that the song was stuck in my head for about a week.
the cat came back, the very next day, the cat came back cause he couldn’t stay awaaaaaayyy…
(You’re welcome);-)
Is the Australian cat holding a beer?
Or is that my personal ability to see beer?
And an impending milestone : 197 followers to the big 30k!
One of my friends attended a personal milestone – his wedding reception, or something like that – wearing a tie which resembled an ear of wheat stitched in gold thread on an otherwise plain blue tie. This puzzled me – along with other things like “WTF is going on with this party. Most of the guests within easy travelling distance of town had just received instruction to attend the [longest continuous bar in town] at [time and date], with a sleeping bag.
Slowly, the news spread that this was a wedding reception. Other news that scuttered around was that if you looked carefully at the tie, dismissed the plane of reflection symmetry and squinted at the resulting copperplate script, it spelled “Bullshit”.
The bride’s gift to the groom was a wax candle-sculpture of Fat Freddie’s Kat shitting into a boot.
It was a hell of a reception. No arrests, no fights, two (approximately, to within a week) conceptions and people still wobbling off to their homes 72 hours later.
Hey! Somebody actually remembers the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers! Right on! One of the truly most enjoyable counterculture cartoons ever.