Watch The Hep Cat For Free

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Better Late Then Never

Best movie of this year hands down!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I love to hear the slang of the day, whatever decade, and this one has a lot of it of the '40s beginning with the title. For those you don't know, "hep" used to mean "hip" or "cool" or whatever. Here, it's cat who struts his stuff in words, song and dance. He spots this hot female feline and is smitten. The trouble is this stupid dog - and he is portrayed as really stupid at times, clever at other times - keeps interfering. Getting back to the slang: just read the note the Hep Cat receives one day: "Dear Gorgeous Hunk, If you would like to pitch some woo - come back to the fence for a rendezvous!" I love it! Words like "hunk," come back around every other generation but "woo" has been out of our vocabulary since about 1950.Unfortunately, this was the only funny thing in the cartoon. I enjoyed the artwork and the direction the humor was not much. There seems to be a big difference in a lot of these Looney Tunes, depending on the decade. The early '50s still hold up well today, but some of these '40s are too dated to be funny.

I am a huge fan of this cartoon. I'll skip all the editorializing and simply list my favorite parts: the short vignette of the cold-shouldered little female kitty , with her high-heeled feet, moving in beat to a fine boogie-woogey score, and the resulting tongue-wagging suitor panting along to the beat is hilariously sexy (I can't believe the censors missed it).And the horny tomcat romances the pussycat puppet, excitedly feeling her posterior (the dog's nose)--finally receiving a kiss, springing out erect (!) and then streaming down the steps in a flaccid puddle...incredible-! The cat & dog chase scene is a little tiring, and a letdown after the hot & heavy courting. But--this is one heckuva cartoon. Eleven stars.

A swinging hep cat is trying to make it with a cute female cat but a dog is in the way at every step. When I usually think of the name Robert Clampett, the word that automatically comes to mind is "sheer greatness", which only makes this short all the more disappointing. In fact if I didn't read the title screen I would've had to no clue he even made this short. In other Clampett cartoons you can come in at any point and sit down to watch and KNOW he made that given short. His hand in it was usually that great. Sadly, this one I don't like nearly as much as it's not a good barometer of his major talents. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: C

"The Hep Cat," a musically energetic cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, showcases a singing & dancing male cat who is fascinated by show business.Here are some of my favorite highlights from this cartoon (if you have not seen it yet, watch it first and THEN read my commentary). The cat is certainly in a good mood at the opening of this short as he hoofs to the tune of "The Five O'Clock Whistle," which is heard throughout the short, and he sings a neat, swinging tune about how he loves the gals and the gals love him. (Mel Blanc's voice is unmistakable and really adds to the character.) The cute little white lady cat with the built-in high heels is rather funny with her bop-stepping in time to the music! Later on, Rosebud the dog places a female cat puppet on his arm and adopts a lady's voice as he calls "Yoo-hoo!" to the male cat, but one "yoo-hoo" is mistakenly done with Rosebud's normal, dopey male voice! When the male cat rushes over to his new "girlfriend," "she" actually grabs him and stupefies him with a big smooch. And finally, as a testament to the musical genius of Carl Stalling, several adaptations of Felix Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" are heard throughout the short, but the best version is the brief swinging big band arrangement as the male cat prepares for his "rendezvous."Overall, "The Hep Cat" is an enjoyable Bob Clampett cartoon with a great deal of energy (characteristic of Clampett). The characters may be unfamiliar and not quite as elastic as in some of the other Clampett cartoons, but don't let that stop you from enjoying this cartoon, made in 1942 during the heyday of the Swing Era!