GAY PURR-EE (1962)
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes 21 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 -Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Abe Levitow
Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons
Synopsis: Judy Garland and Robert Goulet lend their voices to a pair of star-crossed cats in this delightful, musical, romantic adventure. It's 1890 in France. Young feline Mewsette (Garland) announces to Jaune Tom (Goulet), the cat who truly loves her, the she is leaving the farm and boarding the next train to Paris. But once in the City of Lights, the naïve Mewsette is easy prey for the devious Meowrice (Paul Frees) and his nefarious plan to marry the young beauty to a rich American ... for a commission. Undaunted, Jaune Tom travels to Paris to find Mewsette--and no evil plot that Meowrice and his dastardly minions can devise will stop the heroic Tom from rescuing Mewsette.
I remember seeing this as a kid on TV and not loving it, maybe because I was not ever a huge fan of UPA studio (Mr. Magoo) produced animation style, which is what I would call simplistic, but this feline tale about late 19th century country cat living in rural Provence, France named Mewsette (Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz) looking for a more refined life in Paris surprised me a bit upon re-watch. Yes, the characters are animated in a simplistic style that doesn't really appeal to me, but the artful backgrounds and more impressionistic sequences really caught my attention this time around. Arriving in Paris by train Mewsette is almost immediately falls prey to a sly Parisian con-cat Meowrice (Paul Frees, Rankin/Bass Frosty the Snowman) who wants mold her into a Parisian beauty-cat, with the help of of Paris Madame Rubens-Chatte (Hermione Gingold, Bell, Book and Candle), before secretly selling her a a mail-order cat bride for a wealthy American fat-cat. Her country pals, the would-be suitor Jaune Tom (crooner Robert Goulet), an orange tabby cat and his tiny sidekick Robespierre (Red Buttons, When Time Ran Out...) head to Paris to rescue her and bring her back, but find themselves also conned by the smooth-talking Meowrice who gets them drunk on champagne during the musical number "Bubbles" and skuttles their rescue mission by selling them as rat-catchers on on Alaskan bound boat, which waylays them temporarily.
The premise seems a tad adult for the age-group this was shooting for, but the voice cast is pretty terrific, especially Frees as the sneering, moustache-twirling con-man; and the backgrounds are quite a bit of fun, especially when they get a bit more abstract or impressionistic, such as when Meowrice commissions portraits of Mewsette from the soon-t0-be famous impressionistic painters Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani, Matisse, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Degas, and Picasso which gives the animators a chance to get a bit wild. I also loved the the rooftop musical number "The Money Cat" by Paul Frees and the Mellomen, the animation and backgrounds are quite striking for this one, it's definitely a favorite sequence.
I have not seen this in at least forty years, I appreciate WAC for bringing it back to us with a fantastic looking restoration on Blu-ray, which afforded me the opportunity to re-evaluate it, improving my opinion of this musical animated comedy considerably.
Audio/Video: Gay Purr-ee (1962) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from warner Archive in 1080p HD widescreen 1.85:1. The source is in fantastic shape with not much of any blemish to be found, and grain is fine, tight and well-resolved. The animation lines are clean, bold, and precise looking, the predominantly pastel colors are well-saturated and vibrant, and the backgrounds look terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, dialogue, musical numbers and effects sound just fine, no issues here.
Extras include a set of three Paris inspired WB Cartoons via Bugs Bunny in "French Rarebit", and a double-dose of the romantic-stinker Peppy Le-Pew with "Louvre Come Back To Me" and "For Scent-Imental Reasons", all three in HD, plus five Songwriter Demo Recordings of "Little Drops of Rain", "Rose Red, Violets Blue", "The Horse Won't Talk" , "The Money Cat", and "Paris Is A Lonely Town - these are audio only, in addition to a Song Selector which allows you to go straight to a desired musical number, plus the Original Theatrical Trailer, which makes a nice restoration demo comparison that will make you appreciate just how fantastic the feature the looks. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster, which is also excerpted on the disc itself.
Special Features:
- Classic Warner Bros. Cartoon: Louvre Come Back To Me (6:14) BD, French Rarebit (7:18) HD, For Scent-Imental Reasons (6:58) HD
- Songwriter demo recordings (audio only): 1. Little Drops of Rain 2. Rose Red, Violets Blue 3. The Horse Won't Talk 4. The Money Cat 5. Paris Is A Lonely Town (12:16)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3:44) HD
- Song Selection
