It is interesting to compare this Chuck Jones cartoon with Bob Clampett's Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), since both were written by Warren Foster and dealt with racial stereotypes. While Coal Black seems to have an admiration for the culture it is ridiculing, and is filled with an exuberance and joy in its portrayal of the characters, Angel Puss seems just mean-spirited. The vain Prince and greedy Queen are the main objects of mockery in Coal Black, but Angel Puss picks on an innocent black child for fun. He is paid to drown a cat but cannot bring himself to do it. While he is arguing with his conscience the cat manages to escape the bag he was kept in. The cat, pretending to be the child's conscience, urges the child to go through with his original plan. The cat then spends the rest of the cartoon pretending to be a ghost and "haunting" the child. This part of the story is just painful to watch. The child obviously doesn't deserve the treatment he suffers through. While many of the Warner Bros. cartoons dealt with a heckling character hassling some milquetoast in a very humorous way, this cartoon seems spiritless, as if director Chuck Jones was just going through the motions. It is interesting to note that this is one of the rare times that Jones worked with Foster, as he usually worked with writers Tedd Pierce and Mike Maltese.
*EDIT* I was mistaken about Warren Foster being the writer of this cartoon. It was actually written by Lou Lilly.
*EDIT* I was mistaken about Warren Foster being the writer of this cartoon. It was actually written by Lou Lilly.