SnoopyStyle
Mr. Johnson is a tuba playing old man who adores his dead mother and lives alone in a house on a hill. He is overjoyed when somebody leaves a cat on his doorstep. It doesn't work out as the cat causes a multitude of problems. No matter how hard he tries to get rid of the cat, the cat always comes back.This animated short is helped by the fun song which degenerates along with Mr. Johnson's frantic attempts. It's simple fun. There is a joy about this that is beyond the comedy. It always leaves a smile on my face.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This 1988 short film brought its director Cordell Barker his first of two Oscar nominations in the animated short film category, but lost to Pixar's very early "Tin Toy". The voice work is done by Richard Condie, another two-time Academy Award nominee from the Richard Condie. The premise for the full seven minutes is accurately described by the title. It's basically all about a man who finds a yellow cat as destructive as clingy in front of his door, but, after initial attraction, tries to get rid of it. Unsuccessfully. Story-wise it reminded me a bit of the Pepe Le Pew short films putting the man in the position of Pepe's favorite lady.It's a decent film for children, but I don't think it offers much value to adults or for a rewatch. The animation is not too great, even for the 1980s and, while the title song is pretty OK, the story gets quickly repetitive, even for such a short running time. The ending is solid and maybe the funniest part of the film, but it can't save it.
MartinHafer
This cartoon was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1989. It lost to an amazing film from Pixar, THE TIN TOY, but that doesn't mean that THE CAT CAME BACK is a bad film--just of a much simpler and older style than the CGI film.The graphics for this short are far from great but given the subject matter, this actually helped the film--giving it a certain kooky charm. The film begins with an angry guy playing the tuba when he is interrupted by the arrival of a cute yellow cat. Despite being cute, though, the cat is super-destructive and impossible to get rid of no matter what the man does. In the end, he does get rid of the cat once and for all....or so he thinks! The craziness and over the top style are what make this simple film. While nothing new here, it is done with such style and fun that anyone seeing it will be hooked.
tedg
If you do simple comedy in the short form, the usual route is to have one comic situation that you elaborate with small jokes. In most cases, it is the small interstitial jokes that are funny, sometimes the things that are afterthoughts.The context here is a man trying to dispose of an unwanted cat and getting foiled Wiley Coyote-wise. Most of these are less funny than you'd find in roadrunner or Toma and Jerry.But one scenario has a side joke that is hilarious. Our man who is tortured by a cat is in a boat with the cat in a bag. He ends up on the lakebottom holding an anchor with the cat safely topside. The big joke is that around him on this lakebottom are dozens of similar bags, presumably with drowned cats.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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