"Dick Wittington's Cat" is both a fun little cartoon and an abomination--depending on how you look at it. On the abomination side, the cartoon features many frightful things--such as a child being told to drown a cat and later a group of rats drown themselves! On the other hand, the cartoon is exactly what most Ub Iwerks cartoons were not--edgy and a little sadistic...and I mean that in the best possible way. Normally his cartoons were just too gosh darn sappy and sweet...and this is certainly neither!
The story is about a wimpy cat who is afraid of rats. Not surprisingly, that makes him a cat without a job and a hungry cat as well. When he comes into the baker's shop, the little boy (this same kid shows up a many of the Iwerks cartoons) takes care of the cat...but the nasty owner demands the boy kill the cat!! Instead, he switches the cat in the bag with a parrot (as if it's okay to murder the parrot instead) and the cat ends up going to a far away land which is inundated with rats. What's next? See the cartoon.
While this is no great cartoon, for a non-Disney or non-Fleischer Brothers cartoon from the 30s, it is outstanding. Sick...of course...but outstanding.
The story is about a wimpy cat who is afraid of rats. Not surprisingly, that makes him a cat without a job and a hungry cat as well. When he comes into the baker's shop, the little boy (this same kid shows up a many of the Iwerks cartoons) takes care of the cat...but the nasty owner demands the boy kill the cat!! Instead, he switches the cat in the bag with a parrot (as if it's okay to murder the parrot instead) and the cat ends up going to a far away land which is inundated with rats. What's next? See the cartoon.
While this is no great cartoon, for a non-Disney or non-Fleischer Brothers cartoon from the 30s, it is outstanding. Sick...of course...but outstanding.