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Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

Sadly Over-hyped

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

"Chow Hound" is a 7-minute cartoon from 1951, so this one had its 55th anniversary last year and as a Warner Bros work, it once again unites some of the best in the business back then like Jones, Maltese, Benederet and Blanc of course. In this little movie we may not have any of the company's biggest cartoon stars, but a dog, a cat and a mouse fill in nicely. Cats usually don't have it easy in these old cartoons (just look at Tom and Sylvester) and this one is no better for the feline protagonist. A hunky dog pushes him around collecting food and when the people say the cat is missing, then the dog acts like a savior and collects even more food while still finding a way to take the kitty with him again. But eventually and not unsurprisingly, the cat and mouse have the last laugh as the dog's greed eventually destroys him. It was a good and entertaining seven minutes here. Definitely worth seeing if you like old cartoons. It may not have had any really great moments, but I enjoyed it enough for a thumbs-up. Go check it out.

All I wanted to do was make a simple comment on how this is a classic piece of Warner Brothers Animation. I didn't realize I had to make a separate summary on the movie. I thought I would be doing that with my commentary. The whole gag is classic. The Dog uses the Cat ( and the mouse in the cats mouth)to get free food. The line "And don't forget the Gravy" soon gets forgotten when the dog yanks the cat back to him, gobbles up the food, then slaps the cat and says " What?! No Gravy??" Like the cat had time to even get the food in his mouth in the first place. The truly classic part comes after the Dog buys the butcher shop. The doctors commenting on his bloated fat body, unable to even move and after they leave the cat and mouse letting him know that " This time we didn't forget the gravy!". Funnels are so helpful. Just classic. I wish I could get a copy of the thing. But with so many studios keeping things "PC" I don't think the thing will be out soon. The scene where the dog gets paid for returning the Saber-toothed pussy cat to the ZOO and the cat is trussed up and held by the mouse dressed like a ZULU Warrior would have a hard time getting by the PC police. Tragic really. This is a great little movie.

As a boy, every kid in the neighborhood was repeating the "No Gravy?" line. This Chuck Jones at his edgiest. The ending is truly (and deservedly) sadistic. Amazing, that this cartoon couldn't be made today. Now lets hope Warner Bros. releases it on DVD. This is one of those one-off gems that don't make there own collection. To a child, the dog represented everyone who tells you what to do, orders you about, and generally makes life hell. Interesting that the dog, cat, and mouse, behave much like an abusive Father, repressed Mother, and abused child, but that's probably reading too much into it. When the dog receives his gravy, which he has "hounded" the cat & mouse about for the entire cartoon, it is divine justice in the 1951 sense.

Not only is this a great cartoon, but it represents a change in Chuck Jones' style while at Warners. In the late 30's and early 40's Jones made cartoons in the Disney mode, or rather he tried to. Most of those cartoons were rather dull and humorless. By mid-forties, though, Jones had seen the light and started to make funny cartoons like his contemporaries Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng and Frank Tashlin. But it was when he was teamed up with writer Mike Maltese in the late 40's that Jones' cartoons really started to gel; they became funnier and more polished as well as being stylistically unique, especially when compared to the cartoons Freleng and McKimson were turning out during the same period at Warners. Maltese's writing was much darker and more cynical than anything Jones had worked with before. (Jones tended to make rather sweet and sentimental cartoons when left to his own devices.) "Chow Hound" shows how well Jones and Maltese complimented one another's styles. It is Jones' strong sense of design, superior draftsmanship, funny expressive characters, and expert timing that keeps the cartoon from getting too dark or grotesque.The plot involves a bully of a dog (who looks like a beefier version of Charlie Dog) who uses a cat and mouse to run several scams on some unsuspecting pet owners in order to get himself a running supply of meat. However, the dog's own gluttonly and greed drive him to think up the ultimate plan to get a bigger score. The cartoon moves at a brisk pace, and scenes build on top of each other, leading nicely to the next until the final surprise ending. And it is a great ending!In one scene, featuring a close up of a newspaper want ad, several of the animators' name are printed as an injoke.