Canned Feud (1951) User Reviews

Poor Sly

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 7/10 · 3 December 2004]

I can't believe Sylvester's owners are cruel enough to go on holiday without him, never mind leaving him locked in the house for 2 weeks without any milk. Luckily our fave cat finds a massive stash of tinned tuna. But wait...no can opener. The mouse has stolen it.

But instead of being nice to Sly the mouse taunts him endlessly with an ever-just-out-of-reach can opener. Why? Why not be nice? The more he starves Sly the more likely he is to just eat the mouse. Sylvester's plans and attempts at getting the can opener echo many Tom and Jerry cartoons. But when he finally gets his hands on the prized object the mother of all twists is revealed.

Poor kitty.

Canned Feud is another funny Friz Freling Sylvester cartoon

[tavm · 8/10 · 8 January 2008]

Watching Friz Freling's Canned Feud, I found myself feeling very sorry for Sylvester for not getting the can opener, to open tuna, from a mean little mouse since no reason is established for his animosity. Still, its pretty funny seeing the cat trying to do nasty things back to the rodent and failing each time. And the twist at the end shows how exhausted Sylvester can get with each obstacle. So, with that in mind, I'll just say that despite the cat being more sympathetic this time around, that doesn't lessen the laughs I got from all his troubles with the mouse, the can opener, and the way things turned out in the end. Frustration can be so hilarious when one calamity builds upon another. So, on that note, I highly recommend Canned Feud.

A very funny and understandable cartoon

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 30 April 2007]

This is a very amusing and entertaining short, though I'm at a loss to understand some of the comments here regarding the behavior of the mouse toward Sylvester. They seem to be missing the point to the cartoon. There may be spoilers ahead, so consider this a spoiler warning:

The cartoon begins with Sylvester realizing, belatedly, that he's been left inside when his pet humans have gone on a trip. The point of the cartoon is set up extremely well-the whole purpose here is to have Sylvester panic at the thought of being left alone, trapped inside and left to his own devices. The gags are extremely well executed and this is a hilarious cartoon.

Sylvester (like most of the Looney Tunes characters) works best with a foil-the short wouldn't be half as funny if Sylvester was by himself, slowly losing his marbles. Enter the mouse, along with an obvious motivation for Sylvester to contend with the mouse within the context of the short. This isn't just the standard "cat chases mouse" plot. The mouse possesses something Sylvester desperately needs-a can opener.

The point of the cartoon-Sylvester placed in a situation where he completely falls apart-is completely blown if Sylvester resolves his principle dilemma easily. It's also weakened without some tangible source of aggravation. Thus the mouse's refusal to give Sylvester the can opener. If Sylvester gets the can opener and resolves his difficulty, the tension is gone and the short has nowhere to go. If the mouse is kind-hearted, there goes the plot of the short.

It would make very little sense to have the mouse play nice and give Sylvester the can opener anyway. Cats and mice are, at best, adversarial in nature and, at worst, natural enemies, which makes sense, much as Tweety and Sylvester have an adversarial relationship. Tweety does things to Sylvester as bad or worse than what happens to Sylvester here and Tweety is the hero in their shorts. While it may perhaps have been wiser to establish that there was no love lost between the two early on in the cartoon, that's beside the point. The focus here is completely on Sylvester.

Though I can't prove it, it's my opinion that it was intended to make Sylvester a sympathetic character here-that's why Tweety isn't here. The mouse is in no way, shape or form a sympathetic character and makes Sylvester a sympathetic character, which is not something which happens as a general rule. The short is more enjoyable because of that comparatively rare change in sympathies.

Excellent cartoon which can be found on the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection and is well worth watching. Recommended.

What did he do to deserve this?

[griffin84 · 31 October 2003]

Every now and then, a cartoon comes along that you can't help but feel bad for the supposed-bad guy. Sylvester's owners have gone on vacation in California, and they (gasp!) forgot to put the cat out! Sylvester luckily finds a stash of canned tuna, but he still needs a can opener to get the food or he'll starve. As luck would have it, there is only one can opener in the house, and it's being held by a mouse who decides to torture poor Sylvester into fighting for it.

I couldn't help but watch this and wonder, what did Sylvester do to deserve this? Makes you wonder just what he's done to that mouse in the past to deserve such treatment. Or, there is the possible alternative that this mouse is just evil, pure and simple. Either way, Sylvester truly takes a beating through a falling piano, a vacuum cleaner, and a rather large mess of fireworks, as he desperately tries to keep from starving. A Friz Freling classic that everyone will love.

An inspired cartoon in which unprovoked cruelty results in one of the all-time greatest cartoon breakdowns

[phantom_tollbooth · 10/10 · 18 August 2008]

Friz Freleng's 'Canned Feud' is a wonderful solo Sylvester cartoon. I always preferred Sylvester either on his own or paired with anyone but Tweety and this is one of his finest solo performances. Warren Foster's script has the inspirational twist of making a cat and mouse cartoon where the mouse is the bad guy. Sylvester does nothing to deserve the emotional and physical pummeling he gets in 'Canned Feud' and that somehow makes the experience all the more delicious. We share in Sylvester's desperation as he finds himself locked in the house for a fortnight with only canned food to eat, only to discover that a smug mouse has taken the only can opener. Like many of Freleng's best cartoons, 'Canned Feud' is extremely high-energy. Rather than start out slightly worried and build into a frenzy as the cartoon progresses, Sylvester starts at frenzy and builds to complete mental collapse. It's a classic performance by the cat, a masterclass in the art of animated physical comedy. A few fairly standard jokes are given new life by virtue of Sylvester's crazed desperation and there are tons of brilliantly original gags too. The axehead joke is one of my all-time favourites, so beautifully simple and perfectly timed. 'Canned Feud' is a Freleng masterpiece: a hysterical, frantic, claustrophobic study of obsessive desperation and unnecessary cruelty that just pulsates with energy. Up there with Freleng classics such as 'Yankee Doodle Daffy' and 'Kit for Cat'.

poor, poor kitty!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 14 June 2006]

This is one of the only cartoons I can think of where you really felt sorry for Sylvester! In his movies with Tweety, he was a jerk but in this one he was just a cat trying to feed himself some cat food,...and a truly evil mouse gets in his way! Okay, let's back up a little. The cartoon starts with Sylvester noticing that the family is leaving for a vacation and they forgot about the cat. Then he realizes HE is the cat! He begins to panic but then soon finds that there are plenty of cans of cat food. Then, the evil little mouse appears,...holding the can opener!! Sylvester then spends most of the rest of the cartoon chasing the mouse and begging him for the opener. The mouse seems to be some sort of sadist and just loves making Sylvester miserable. At the end, the mouse relents and gives Sylvester the opener. And, when Sylvester goes to get a can of food, he finds that the mouse had padlocked the cabinet and he is shown playing with and taunting Sylvester with the key! I think I liked this cartoon so much because it had a really dark sense of humor--making you really feel terrible for the poor cat! It made me laugh out loud many times throughout the cartoon.

Good idea, but really mean mouse

[crazydude1989 · 7/10 · 24 June 2007]

This was a good idea for a Looney Toons short, BUT that mouse was so mean to poor Sylvester, when he was just trying to eat something. It would've been better if Sylvester won at the end.

We find that his owners have taken off to California, leaving Sylvester locked in the house alone, with no milk. (He also tries opening the door but to no avail--how can the door be locked from the inside?) He then believes he'll starve to death, until he finds an entire cupboard of canned tuna fish. And all he needed was the can opener. Of course, that evil little rodent has stolen it, and will not give it to Sylvester. The mouse tries everything to make him miserable, when all he wants is cat food. How would that mouse feel if Sylvester was keeping him from a huge refrigerator of cheese?

At the end, Sylvester stuffs loads of dynamite in the mouse hole and blows it up, and the can opener is amidst the rubble. He grabs it and runs to the cupboard to find it padlocked, and that mean mouse has stolen the key. Why did the writers of this short have to make Sylvester lose at the end after all he went through?

I do agree--some shorts, Sylvester was being a jerk, and got what he deserved at the end, but in this one, you can't help but feel really sorry for that cat. (Same with Tom and Jerry.)

Like I said, good idea, but that mouse deserved to get eaten by Sylvester. 7/10.

Funny, clever and inventive

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 14 June 2011]

Canned Feud is an excellent cartoon- very funny, very clever and very inventive. While it could've been perhaps a tad longer, I enjoyed every minute. We know right from the start the mouse is not someone to be reckoned with. Is he likable? No, but that was the intention I think. Besides, it is very fast paced and along with Falling Hare has one of the most effective character mental break downs in cartoon history. The animation is excellent, the music is energetic and the whole cartoon is one funny and clever sight gag after sight gag after sight gag. Sylvester is wonderful to watch, and you do feel seriously sorry for him which was nice considering most of the time he is quite crafty and takes the laughs of each cartoon he features in. Overall, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Evil Mouse

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 28 December 2014]

Sylvester's owners have gone on vacation and left him alone in a locked house. That's pretty messed up! Sylvester does find a stash of canned tuna in a cupboard but the problem is he can't find a can opener. Turns out a little mouse that's a real jerk has the can opener and taunts Sylvester throughout the cartoon, refusing to let him have it and making him do desperate things to try and open the cans. As others have mentioned, this is one short where you really feel sorry for Sylvester. He's the victim here, both of his owners' neglect and this bastard mouse that torments him for nothing. It's a pretty good cartoon with great animation and music. Some of the gags are very funny although, as I said, you really feel bad for poor Sylvester.

Rodents can be highly irritating . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 31 January 2016]

. . . Warner Bros. affirms in its animated short, CANNED FEUD. I've seen mice during waking hours in the midst of family gatherings in my city-based grandpa's living room, my farm aunt's dining room, and my mom's suburban kitchen. Mice were INSIDE another grandma's refrigerator, but at least they had the excuse that SHE was a sloppy housekeeper (unlike the first three families). Warner's Sylvester always seems to be based in a household plagued with mice, and CANNED FEUD is no exception. CANNED FEUD features a CURRENT or ACTIVE mouse infestation, since Sylvester interacts with at least one living mouse. Obviously, the first three rodent invasions I recalled just above were in the same category as Sylvester's in CANNED FEUD. What's particularly aggravating is a situation where you find mouse droppings and half-eaten "food" (which can be almost ANYTHING for a mouse)--as in my sloppy grandma's fridge--WITHOUT seeing a mouse moving around. Unless you're an expert on rodent scat (and how many of us are?), you don't know if these droppings were left by a mouse still extent, or one who passed away Seven Generations earlier. Perhaps Sylvester has the best policy: Always have loads of dynamite at your fingertips!

Dammit, Warner Brothers!

[royhsmith · 6/10 · 16 September 2020]

Dammit, Warner Brothers! A cat's gotta eat! And you guys won't even give him a can of tuna? Bastads. I was really rooting for Sylvester here.

One Of My Favorite Sylvester Cartoons

[davidthecartoonist · 10/10 · 27 December 2023]

My Favorite Parts is Where Sylvester's Owners Are Going To California For Vacation And Sylvester is Saying to The Audience "THEY FORGOT TO PUT OUT THE CAT, THE CAT I'M THE CAT!!!" Then Sylvester Goes To The Kitchen And He Opens The Cabinet And Sees Cans Of Fish And Sylvester Tries To Find the Can Opener but The Mouse Has The Can Opener. Sylvester Rushes And Says to The Mouse Gimme The Can Opener. Then The Mouse Throws The Can Opener In The Mouse Hole. Sylvester Tries To Open The Can of Fish with An Axe. Then Tries to Get The Can Opener from The Rodent With A Hanger then The Mouse Tricks Sylvester and Tries to Electrocute Sylvester With A Wire.

too much naked Sylvester

[movieman_kev · 7/10 · 2 November 2005]

Sylvester the Cat is left alone in his house all by his lonesome by his neglectful owners who lock him in with nothing to eat or drink. He finds a stash of canned tuna, but a deviant mouse has stolen the can opener and holds it just out of his reach, needlessly tormenting him. This is a somewhat amusing shot, but the mouse is just being a dick for the sake of being a dick which kind of tainted the overall feel of the short a tad. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 and features an optional commentary by Jerry Beck.

My Grade: B

I Agree: Sadistic Mouse No 'Good Guy'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 3/10 · 7 February 2007]

(NOTE: I thought I'd be the only one writing what I did below, but I see the others here agree. I guess it was pretty obvious - this was overdoing the bait-the-cat bit. Anyway, here is what I had written:)

The owners have left on vacation for two weeks - a trip to California - leaving the cat (Sylvester) all alone and locked in the house. That means no milk, but the cat, to his relief, does find a bunch of canned tuna. However, to his dismay, he can't find the opener.

It turns out the little mouse in the house has it...and baits the cat with it. This is a mean rodent who keeps teasing Sylvester with the opener and then yanking it away at the last second. Sylvester tries everything possible to open the can of tuna but can't do it.

This is a frustrating story, and why they make the sadistic mouse the "good guy" is beyond me. It's like some of the Tom & Jerry cartoons where poor Tom always gets the worst of it even though many times the little mouse starts the conflict!

How dare a married couple goes on vacation and leaves the cat to starve!

[slymusic · 11 January 2008]

Sylvester the cat is stranded at home for two weeks with no milk but plenty of canned food. All he needs is a can opener, but a sly, mischievous little mouse - who was never even provoked - always keeps the utensil just out of poor Sylvester's reach. And that, my friends, is the basic story line for "Canned Feud," a terrific Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.

Here are my favorite highlights from this cartoon (DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen it). Sylvester is hilarious as he reacts in horror and runs around the house tripping over tables when he finds out that his owners left him with no milk for two weeks. He is also funny when he excitedly and hurriedly asks the mouse to give him the can opener. Among Sylvester's numerous failed attempts to capture the mouse and retrieve the can opener, two of them stand out: First, Sylvester hoists a grand piano up in the air with a rope, intending to slam the instrument on top of the mouse, but, of course, Sylvester ends up slamming himself through the floor instead. And second, Sylvester tries to vacuum the mouse but ends up vacuuming himself, after which the mouse adds some burning coals to the vacuum bag.

"Canned Feud" is a very enjoyable cartoon to watch. Even when Sylvester doesn't have Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippity Hopper as his usual foils, it seems like just about ANYONE can whip his carcass!

once a sadist, always a sadist

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 15 January 2007]

I've long wondered why the Termite Terrace crowd tortured Sylvester so much. In "Canned Feud", his owners go on vacation and leave him locked in the house. He has plenty of cans of tuna, but a nasty little mouse keeps holding the can opener out of reach, forcing Sylvester to come up with all sorts of unpleasant gags to try and get it.

So why would a mouse want to be a sadist? Your guess is as good as mine. Of course, these cartoons were chock-full of sadists (or at least characters with a New York side): Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, even Tweety himself. If nothing else, it goes to show that these cartoons weren't really intended for children; they were created to get shown before feature films in the cinema.

Anyway, it's not a bad cartoon, but I've seen better.

THE CAT!!! I'M THE CAT!!!

[PeachHamBeach · 9 February 2004]

Hilarious cartoon in which Sylvester The Cat is accidentally left inside the house when his owners Sam and Violet go off to California for vacation. The puddy tat panics until he finds a cupboard full of tuna and other feline-friendly treats, but he can't find the can opener, because a mean-spirited mouse has appropriated the device!!! I felt sorry for poor Sylvester and wished he'd catch that mean rodent and eat him up!!!

Brings persecution of cats in Hollywood to a whole new level.. :( *SPOILERS*

[anxietyresister · 5 July 2004]

I'm sorry, but I found it impossible to get into the spirit of this short, due to the fact that my sympathies lay not with the nasty little mouse, but with poor Sylvester who does all he can to just to get a bite to eat, but ultimately ends up with nothing. Why should I feel any affection for this vile vermin, who tortures the innocent cat for all of 7 minutes for no other reason other than he is obviously deriving some sick pleasure in watching our favourite feline injure himself terribly just to get his paws on some food? In other cartoons maybe Sylvester deserves what he gets, but in this particular animation all he wants is a decent meal, and he doesn't even get a good pay-off in the end.. Just when he thinks he's won, that rancid rodent has one more trick up his furry sleeve. Yes, like most Fritz Freleng classics, it's fantastically inventive and devilishly clever in it's own right, but so what? After it had finished I was left with a bad taste in my mouth no amount of soap and water could remove. Its not over yet though.. when I have the time and resources, I will remake "Canned Feud", this time putting in a far more satisfying ending than the current atrocity. Sylvester will have his tuna yet.. ;)

Fun Short

[Michael_Elliott · 19 April 2009]

Canned Feud (1951)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Hilarious cartoon has Sylvester being left alone for two weeks and thankfully he has a cupboard full of food to eat. Sadly the mouse has the can opener so Sylvester must do battle in order to get it. I'm really not a big fan of Sylvester but this is a great short with one wonderful joke after another. The movie gets off to a very fast and furious pace and never slows down until the final credits come on. There are many great moments but my favorite would have to be seeing the fur-less Sylvester. That site is certainly worth anyone's seven minutes. The final gag at the end also works quite well. The mouse here is certainly the bad guy even though poor Sylvester takes all the beatings.