Know Katnip the cat best from his pairing with Herman (who doesn't feature here to save misleading), will admit to quite liking both characters and their chemistry when the material is good (which it not always was). Their earlier cartoons were better and entertained enough, did find that too many of their later efforts showed a decline in animation quality and gags which was true for Famous Studios in general.
As said 1952's 'City Kitty' just has Katnip with no other recurring character pitting against and contrasting with him, and while it is worth a peek for curiosity's sake there is not an awful lot to recommend in 'Citty Kitty's' favour. Consider it one of Katnip's weakest cartoons personally and am not saying that with malice, more like regret. Also a lesser early-50s Famous Studios cartoon and sees them (quite) badly off-form, a period where they were not really in their prime but not declined properly drastically yet, some foreshadowing of it though with it having most of the things that were weak in their later output.
The fault does not lie with Katnip. He is one of the reasons as to why 'City Kitty' is not considered a must-avoid. He does have comic timing and did find it easy to root for him, he goes through a lot in this cartoon.
Other good things are the animation and music, with the latter being the cartoon's best component. Lush, characterful and action-enhancing. The animation is not amazing as such but it is vibrant and detailed enough even if the finesse is not always there. As far as the material goes, the ending is by quite some way the best part.
Because generally the gags are far too few and most of them are stale and struggles to reach amusing let alone funny. Found some of it a bit mean-spirited too, and the mice characters have little personality and are neither likeable or fun. The chemistry between them and Katnip is tepid at best.
Like has been said for quite a few cartoons seen recently, the story is best forgotten. What there is of it, which is really not much, is paper thin and very routine, with momentum severely flagging in the middle where the cartoon was especially predictable and the material particularly tired. The writing tends to be very corny. The voice actors try but have done better elsewhere when they had far superior material to work with.
Summing up, lacklustre. 4/10
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