Pizzicato Pussycat won't go down as one of the greats, but at the same time don't expect that, expect for some good entertainment for 6-8 minutes or so and you'll find much to enjoy with Pizzicato Pussycat. The story is kept simply which is good and has good energy, there is very little new though and things can feel on the routine side. The animation is great though, very clever stylised drawing and the vibrant colours just pop out at you. There are also some funny gags that keep things to the point and never into too-much-irrelevant-filler territory, the climax is particularly entertaining. The characters are likable and sweet in their own way and while not especially memorable carry Pizzicato Pussycat nicely. The voice acting as always is solid as rocks, and what there is of the dialogue is good. But it's the music here that stands out, the jazzy style works so well for the cartoon and it's beautifully orchestrated and most importantly it's music that you won't forget in the long run. And of course, it synchronises so well with the action and the gags as well as with how the characters are feeling, something that Freleng always did excel at doing and better than most as well. All in all, a routine idea but done to clever and entertaining effect. Not a favourite, but worth a visit and even a couple of re-visits too. 8/10 Bethany Cox
8 Reviews
A charming, simple pleasure
phantom_tollbooth9 January 2009
Friz Freleng's 'Pizzicato Pussycat' is an extremely unusual but thoroughly delightful little tale. Featuring extremely stylised drawings and animation (occasionally boarding on childlike in its simplicity) and two rather uncharismatic lead characters, the cartoon overcomes these potentially detrimental elements with extremely fine storytelling of a simple but effective anecdote. The pleasant, storybook pacing is perfectly complimented by the angular illustrations and the script trims away the fat to leave just the important plot points, making for a constantly engaging experience. 'Pizzicato Pussycat' is best the first time you see it and it isn't a cartoon I'd return to regularly but every so often the fancy takes me and I always enjoy its simple charms. Almost ten years later, Robert McKimson would attempt a similarly picture-book inspired short called 'Bartholomew Versus the Wheel', which went a bit too far into the kiddie-esquire stylisation but, with 'Pizzicato Pussycat', Freleng pitches it just about right.
They say that if you let a million monkeys pound on a million typewriters . . .
oscaralbert14 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
. . . for a million years, one of them will type up HAMLET. (Evolution being what it is, by then 10 of them will be able to PORTRAY Hamlet better than Laurence Olivier and Mel Gibson, combined.) Warner Bros.' animated short PIZZICATO PUSSYCAT is based upon a similar premise. It contends that if you have enough pets, and expose them to the full range of orchestral musical instruments, a couple of them will prove proficient enough to play for the Boston Pops. Nowadays, with modern amplification techniques and Autotune, Music's all in the Mix, anyway. NPR reviewed a movie yesterday about an old-time Rich Lady who was able to give concerts featuring her own stabs of operatic singing, even though she was the worst screecher in world history. Modern Technology would be able to transform such a shrieker into Maria Callas, leaving Jackie O. to cry her heart out. Where there's a dollar, there's a way. Therefore, the need to have pets playing people instruments has been eliminated since PIZZICATO came out in the 1950s. Now all pet-owners need do is to amplify their critters' natural sounds and perform a remix. With any luck, your stag beetles could rival THE Beatles.
Re: Pizzicato?
philipmassey5 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
My guess for using the term "Pizzicato" in the title was to have an alliterative musical word to go with "pussycat." In music, the term "pizzicato" refers to playing a stringed instrument such as the violin by plucking the strings with the fingers instead of using the bow. Interestingly, neither the cat nor the mouse ever play a stringed instrument in the cartoon. In the final scene, the cat is shown playing the drums, and there is a double bass instrument behind him, but he does not play the bass. Bass players in jazz ensembles often play the instrument in a pizzicato style, so if the cat had ever played it in the cartoon, he could literally have been a pizzicato pussycat.
Well worth watching!
slymusic22 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"Pizzicato Pussycat" is a brilliant musical Warner Bros. cartoon directed by a man who utilized music better than any other cartoon director: Friz Freleng. The plot is centered on a sly-looking house cat and a studious, bespectacled mouse, both of whom might possess some musical talent! (Don't read any further until after you have seen this cartoon.)
My favorite moments from "Pizzicato Pussycat" include the following. The mouse impresses the cat with a boogie-woogie/stride piano adaptation of Chopin's Minute Waltz. When the cat (who takes all the credit for the mouse's pianism) gives a concert at Carnegie Hall, the mouse hides inside the grand piano where he plays his own little toy piano while the cat pretends to play the grand; soon the mouse's glasses break, rendering him unable to read the sheet music, causing the mouse to look bad and the caricatured stone-faced maestros in the audience to walk out in disgust. And at the end of the cartoon, the cat and mouse (on drums and piano, respectfully) joyfully play a wonderful jazz standard titled "Crazy Rhythm," which we don't really hear very often today.
As a jazz musician myself, I truly enjoy "Pizzicato Pussycat," and I would encourage you to enjoy it as well. You can find this cartoon on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 4, with an additional audio commentary by a very knowledgeable music historian named Daniel Goldmark.
My favorite moments from "Pizzicato Pussycat" include the following. The mouse impresses the cat with a boogie-woogie/stride piano adaptation of Chopin's Minute Waltz. When the cat (who takes all the credit for the mouse's pianism) gives a concert at Carnegie Hall, the mouse hides inside the grand piano where he plays his own little toy piano while the cat pretends to play the grand; soon the mouse's glasses break, rendering him unable to read the sheet music, causing the mouse to look bad and the caricatured stone-faced maestros in the audience to walk out in disgust. And at the end of the cartoon, the cat and mouse (on drums and piano, respectfully) joyfully play a wonderful jazz standard titled "Crazy Rhythm," which we don't really hear very often today.
As a jazz musician myself, I truly enjoy "Pizzicato Pussycat," and I would encourage you to enjoy it as well. You can find this cartoon on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 4, with an additional audio commentary by a very knowledgeable music historian named Daniel Goldmark.
Nothing special, but cute nonetheless
llltdesq18 December 2000
This cartoon isn't particularly special or terribly novel (various aspects of it and its general theme have been explored before and since-often to better effect), but it is a cute cartoon. The music throughout, but especially at the end, is particularly enjoyable. Worth seeing, even if its been done better.
Pizzicato?
lee_eisenberg1 November 2006
In one of a few instances in which a cat and mouse are forced into an alliance, a cat tries to use a mouse's musical talent to make himself look like a virtuoso. I guess that overall, there's nothing particularly special about "Pizzicato Pussycat", although it's a good opportunity to hear some classical music (the Looney Tunes cartoons certainly had a way with classical music, as "A Corny Concerto", "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Long-Haired Hare", "The Rabbit of Seville", "What's Opera, Doc" and "High Note" all showed). Worth seeing, if only once.
I wonder what they meant by "Pizzicato". The only know Pizzicato that I know is a pizzeria.
I wonder what they meant by "Pizzicato". The only know Pizzicato that I know is a pizzeria.
Good Art; Good Music & Good Ending
ccthemovieman-19 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
The first thing that stuck out to me here was the artwork. It was different from all the other Looney Tunes cartoons I was used to seeing. Sharp, thin lines that looked more like stuff I would see in the '60s with the Panther Panther animated shorts. I enjoyed the wild colors and different drawing approach.
The story, about a mouse with glasses who was educated and a master at playing the piano was okay. It wasn't anything that provoked a lot of laughs. He shows his talent to a skeptical cat. (Both share the same house.) The humans in the house think the cat is playing their regular piano and they call UPI to get a reporter to come over and witness this incredibly- talented animal. The mouse now is hidden inside the piano and he, of course, is doing the music. Can the cat get away with the ruse, which goes all the way to Carnegie Hall and the fraudulent cat becomes famous until the mouse's glasses are accidentally broken and he can't read the music!
I don't know if Mel Blanc did all the voices, but he's the only one listed here. If he did, it's the first time I can recall him doing a character with a British accent, which the mouse has in this story.
The music in here is excellent, from classical to jazz and overall this was a fun, underrated cartoon, beautifully drawn by a collaboration of four artists: Manuel Perez, Virgil Ross, Richard Thomas and Hawley Platt.
Oh, by the way, the ending is terrific: very clever.
The story, about a mouse with glasses who was educated and a master at playing the piano was okay. It wasn't anything that provoked a lot of laughs. He shows his talent to a skeptical cat. (Both share the same house.) The humans in the house think the cat is playing their regular piano and they call UPI to get a reporter to come over and witness this incredibly- talented animal. The mouse now is hidden inside the piano and he, of course, is doing the music. Can the cat get away with the ruse, which goes all the way to Carnegie Hall and the fraudulent cat becomes famous until the mouse's glasses are accidentally broken and he can't read the music!
I don't know if Mel Blanc did all the voices, but he's the only one listed here. If he did, it's the first time I can recall him doing a character with a British accent, which the mouse has in this story.
The music in here is excellent, from classical to jazz and overall this was a fun, underrated cartoon, beautifully drawn by a collaboration of four artists: Manuel Perez, Virgil Ross, Richard Thomas and Hawley Platt.
Oh, by the way, the ending is terrific: very clever.
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