Goldimouse And Then Three Cats

Goldimouse and the Three Cats  is a 1959 Looney Tunes directed originally by Robert McKimson animated cartoon. This was early made in 1958 and early shown in 1959 with McKimson's unit working in the cartoon by that time Friz Freleng and his unit redesign the cartoon and was later shown in theaters in 1960.

It is one of few cartoons where storyboard man Michael Maltese did the storylines for cartoons from the Freleng unit for the first time since the late 1940s and the only Freleng directed Sylvester cartoon to costar Sylvester Jr. (redesign from Robert McKimson's version of the cartoon).

This cartoon was included the 1982 feature film Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales.

Plot

As the cartoon opens, a narrator (voiced by June Foray) introduces us to the Three Cats: Sylvester (father cat), Mrs. Sylvester (mother cat), and Sylvester Jr. (baby cat alias "Spoiled Brat" as Sylvester calls him). As Sylvester samples his porridge, it's so hot that he leaps out of his chair while screaming and fans his mouth. Mrs. Sylvester, after sampling her porridge, complains hers is too cold. Sylvester Jr., on the other hand, only complains on why they're having to eat porridge instead of mice like other cats. Sylvester suggests that they go for a walk in the woods to wait for the porridge to cool down (commenting "Now where have I heard that before?").

During the walk, Sylvester Jr. complains about having mice instead of porridge, only to be scolded by Sylvester. As the family walks across a bridge over a river, Sylvester warns everyone that some of the boards are loose, of which, he steps on one of them and falls into the river.Back home, while the porridge is cooling, Goldimouse (a mouse with curly blonde locks and also voiced by June Foray) enters the house through a tiny door, spies the porridge, and devours it.

Afterwards, Goldimouse feels sleepy (she even states this after the narrator mentions it). Once in the bedroom, Goldimouse tries the beds: Sylvester's is so hard that it flattens her butt when she jumps on it and Mrs. Sylvester's is so soft that she sinks right through it when she jumps in it. Sylvester Jr's bed is just right, so Goldimouse takes it and goes to sleep.

Later on, Sylvester and his family return from their walk (Sylvester Jr. still griping) and discover Goldimouse's handiwork. While going through the whole "Somebody's been eating my porridge" and "Somebody's been sleeping in my bed" bit, Sylvester Jr. is relieved that his porridge is all gone and that the intruder in his bed is a mouse. When he says this, Goldimouse wakes up, freaks out at the sight of Sylvester Jr., and turns to Sylvester for help, but realizes he too is a cat when Sylvester Jr. begs him to put Goldimouse on the plate and escapes out the tiny door. Sylvester tries to point out that Goldimouse got away, but changes his mind when Sylvester Jr. starts throwing a tantrum (at which Sylvester mutters "Spoiled Brat Cat!"). Sylvester tries to get Goldimouse out of the mousehole, but she clubs Sylvester multiple times, causing Sylvester Jr. to put a paper bag over his head to hide his shame.

Straight afterwards, Sylvester takes a bow and arrow (with the intent of making "MouseShishkabob"), but only shoots himself into the hole instead. Sylvester Jr. calls for Mrs. Sylvester to bring in the toilet plunger, with which they manage to get Sylvester out (only for it to be stuck to Sylvester's butt afterwards), but Sylvester Jr. isn't grateful that his father is out. Sylvester then tries a hollowed out bamboo stick with which to blow a dart into the hole, but Goldimouse jumps the gun and blows through the other end so the dart comes out through Sylvester's tail, making Sylvester Jr. call Mrs. Sylvester for some band aids. Then, from up on a roof support, Sylvester lowers a fold out cage (with a piece of cheese with a stick of dynamite in it) and (using a match on a string) lights the fuse on the dynamite, but Sylvester Jr. calls out for Mrs. Sylvester, making Sylvester fall into his own trap and get blown to bits. Before Sylvester Jr. can say what he wants, Mrs. Sylvester brings in the bandages again.Soon afterwards, to show that the "wheels in his head are still clicking," Sylvester builds a better mousetrap (which is a mallet over a fake hole rigged to hit Goldimouse the second she exits the fake hole).

After Sylvester sets up the trap, Sylvester Jr. feels for sure that this plan is doomed to fail as well and announces that he's changed his mind about having mice and would rather have porridge instead, but Sylvester assures him that they will never have to eat porridge ever again. Sure enough, the smell of cheese lures Goldimouse out of the tiny door, but she avoids going through the fake hole in the trap and heads straight for the cheese (she even says "Cheese! I just love cheese! Rally I do!" in the style ofKatharine Hepburn). Sylvester catches sight of this and chases Goldimouse straight to the trap, but when Goldimouse goes through the fake hole, it activates the mallet, which hits Sylvester over the head.Later, while Mrs. Sylvester and Sylvester Jr. sit in armchairs and read books,

Sylvester is seen passing the doorway, bringing materials (consisting of wood and explosives) for his next trap. Although what Sylvester is working on is never shown, Mrs. Sylvester and Sylvester Jr. know that it's going to backfire like the others and so, without a word (and with their eyes closed) and not putting down their books, just get up and walk outside to the bomb shelter out back. Once the pair are in the bomb shelter, Sylvester's trap goes off, obliterating the house in the process (during the explosion, Mrs. Sylvester reaches out to catch a vase shaken loose from the mantelpiece by the explosion and puts it back without even looking).

Sylvester then opens the door of the bomb shelter, looking worse for the wear (indicating that the trap failed and that Goldimouse has escaped her fate). Thinking that Sylvester finally got Goldimouse, Sylvester Jr. begs if he got him his breakfast (without mentioning if it's Goldimouse) and Sylvester answers the question by hitting Sylvester Jr. over the head with a bowl of porridge. After calling his son "Spoiled Brat" one more time, Sylvester decides he's had it with this family and walks out on them. Sylvester Jr. samples the porridge and complains "Eyeech! Porridge? What a father!" as the iris out closes out the cartoon.