Scaredy Cat  Reviews & Ratings - IMDb
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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A classic cartoon in which the horrific is just as important as the hilarious
from Lincoln, England
18 August 2008
Chuck Jones's 'Scaredy Cat' is the best of the few pairings of Porky Pig and Sylvester. Casting Porky as Sylvester's owner (Sylvester is more cat-like than usual, remaining silent for the whole cartoon), 'Scaredy Cat' finds the pair moving into a spooky mansion which terrifies Sylvester from the outset. Rather than ghosts, however, the mansion is populated by murderous mice who ritually execute their victims. Somehow this makes 'Scaredy Cat' all the more frightening. And it is frightening! There are several morbid sequences including a scene of a cat being carted off to his death by a mousey executioner and a moment in which Sylvester attempts suicide rather than being sent out to face the vicious vermin alone. Most terrifying of all though, is an infamous sequence in which the mice take Sylvester to the basement. We never see what they do to him but he emerges nearly three hours later, a pale white zombie scared rigid by what he has experienced. It's a classic example of the human mind conjuring up far worse scenarios when the details are left to the imagination. All in all, 'Scaredy Cat' is an indelibly creepy and extremely well staged cartoon which relies on horror as much as laughs to achieve its impact.
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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
The first in a series of Sylvester/Porky cartoons
from Karachi, Pakistan
17 July 2004
Scaredy Cat is the first in a series of Porky/Sylvester teamings directed by Chuck Jones, and the series certainly started with a bang. Sylvester and his master Porky move into the last house the real estate agent had, for reasons only Sylvester understands. The house is inhabited by homicidal mice, who will stop at nothing to kill the intruders most painfully. Sylvester is the only one who knows what's going on, and the oblivious Porky mistakes Sylvester's attempts to save him as murderous. The animation of Porky is good, but Sylvester doesn't really look like himself. We must take into consideration that Sylvester was quite a new face in '48, and besides Jones never really drew him like Freleng did. The best horror scenes are those in which the mice's plans don't come off, like Sylvester's empty basket descending. The audience never knows what happened to the basket, nor what happened to Sylvester when he goes all white. This is a brilliantly funny cartoon, essential for all Looney Tunes fans, and as all Looney Tunes fans will have the Golden Collection DVD, all fans will see it!
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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Both funny and freaky
from United Kingdom
14 June 2010
While not the best of the Looney Tunes canon, it is still enjoyable with a lot to recommend it. The villainous mice could have been developed more, but other than that I had little problem with Scaredy Cat. Porky and Sylvester are both great, especially Sylvester who gets the worst of the scares, particularly the infamous sequence down in the basement, that and the scene after did scare me as a kid. As well as being freaky, there are some funny moments too, slapsticky yes but they were well timed and funny. The animation is excellent, Sylvester is somewhat different-looking, but Porky is drawn very well and the backgrounds and colouring are audacious. The music is both rousing and atmospheric, the dialogue is great, the gags are fine, the story is well-constructed and quite original and Mel Blanc is once again brilliant as both Sylvester and Porky. Overall, not the best but very well done. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Chuck Jones' Scaredy Cat delivers spooks and humor galore
from Baton Rouge, La.
5 January 2008
In most cartoons starring Sylvester the Cat that are directed by Friz Freling or Robert McKimson, the pussycat is usually the aggressor who's after either Tweety or Hippity Hopper, the baby kangaroo mistaken for a giant mouse either by the red-nosed feline or his son, Sylvester, Jr. In Chuck Jones' Scaredy Cat, he's Porky Pig's mute pet who, despite many attempts of signaling his master of danger, gets admonished as being delusional since Porky always sees something different. This change of characterization is quite convincing in Jones' hands and he stages many scenes of mice about to carry another cat for execution quite atmospheric. The rodents look like Hubie and Bertie, by the way. Quite funny scenes of Porky just being nonchalant almost the whole way when weird things happen behind his back. The ending may be lost to modern audiences but Scaredy Cat is mostly successful in being spooky and highly amusing at the same time.
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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Most frightening scene
12 August 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The scene where Sylvester is lying unconscious on his bed in the kitchen, and was lowered through a trap door from 1:10 am to 4:00 am is probably the most frightening scene I never watched on a cartoon. They never show what happened to Sylvester, but when he returns, he's changed physically and looks completely traumatized (his fur is white and looks aged, he's not shivering anymore, and his eyes are dilated and with a lost look). Not showing what's in the basement urges you to try to figure it, and you'll probably end realizing the horrors Sylvester witnessed are beyond your imagination. That kind of involvement of the audience is, in my humble opinion, the most elegant form of horror to me!
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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
The most freaky Looney Tunes short
from Scotland
28 November 2008
This is one of two cartoons I have watched with Porky and Sylvester (the other being "Jumpin' Jupiter"). Personally, I thought this cartoon worked very well, with a new theme of horror (which is both funny and freaky) and the fact that Sylvester never speaks and is a great deal more of a coward than a hunter of Tweety (who is not in this cartoon whatsoever). Porky is an entertaining character here, who is especially heart-warming closer to the end.
In this short, Porky and Sylvester have moved into a big, spooky house and Sylvester is terrified of his new surroundings. He has good reason to be terrified, as the house is populated with horribly murdering mice. Sylvester, as he is a cat who cannot speak, cannot tell Porky of the horrible creatures in the house and just stays close to his owner, hoping that they will not be killed...
I enjoyed this cartoon for the originality of it and for some of the jokes, which, despite being very slapsticky, were quite humorous. I enjoyed the new character of Sylvester, whom I prefer to his character with Tweety, of which he is more famous for.
I recommend this to people who like Sylvester and Porky and who like/don't mind to see cartoon horror. Enjoy "Scaredy Cat"! :-)
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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Sylvester minus that awful Tweety
from The Penumbra
5 May 2004
Porky Pig and his loyal cat Sylvester move into a big scary looking house and Sylvester (who doesn't have any dialogue in this 'un) is instantly panicky and afraid. He's sure the house is over-run with homicidal mice, booby traps and ominous shadows. However Porky doesn't appear to be listening and insists Sylvester sleep in the kitchen and not beside him, where he feels more safe.
Sure enough, it's not long before the mice are poking at and prodding Sylvester with sharp objects or launching the poor kitty through windows. Despite repeated attempts, Porky will just not pay attention until he himself is kidnapped.
Now it's up to Sylvester to rescue him in an unusual role as the victim turned hero. You gotta love him, he's just so adorable.
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Sylvester the likable hero this time
20 January 2016
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
"Scaredy Cat" is a Warner Bros short film from over 65 years ago that combines once again the talents of Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese and Mel Blanc. Porky enters a haunted house, but initially, the only one who sees all the spooky things is his cat Sylvester and he is scared as hell. Porky thinks Sylvester is a coward until he gets caught by the mice himself in what is possibly the funniest moment of the film. Finally, it is Sylvester's turn to save his master and show he is truly courageous. What we see then is basically almost an example of how Sylvester has some kind of super power. Too bad we don't see the details. And after he manages to chase away all these mice, he is back to his normal incompetent self when he gets knocked out by just one of them. All in all, a solid short film, but nowhere near Warner Bros's best. Still, if you like old cartoons, this one is checking out for the horror aspects I guess. Thumbs up.
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Suffering succotash! The pig's got his tongue!
from The Gutters of Baltimore
30 December 2015
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
. . . At least, Sylvester Cat needs to communicate with Porky Pig through an elaborate method of pantomime, during the Warner Bros. animated short SCAREDY CAT. While Sylvester yaks a lot with other cats in many of his Looney Tunes episodes with Tweety Bird, and he often tries to bridge the Generation Gap with his son, Junior, while getting beaten up during his encounters with Hippety Hopper, there's barely a peep out of Sylvester throughout SCAREDY CAT, whether he's contending with his owner Porky or the mice marauding through their not-so-new home. Though this loyal Super Cat saves Porky's bacon from rodent attacks via falling anvil and rolling bowling ball, Porky is not very appreciative until Sylvester breaks up the Big Ham's date with the Guillotine. Since mice in the basement and suicide-by-gun are facts of American Life that we've all experienced, Warner Bros. should be commended for finding the humor in such situations, allowing us all to laugh about it later (except for the mice and the folks who are steady shots).
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Really funny Sylvester & Porky cartoon
from USA
3 November 2015
Classic Chuck Jones short with Porky Pig and his cat Sylvester moving into a run-down old house. Sylvester soon discovers the house is full of not-so-friendly mice that try to kill them at every turn. This is the first of three cartoons that paired Porky and Sylvester in a spooky place where strange things are happening. The animation is fluid and beautiful with rich Technicolor and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Excellent voice work from Mel Blanc. Lively music by Carl Stalling. This is a great cartoon with nice atmosphere and lots of humor. Sylvester gets the funniest bits, despite his not talking in this entire short. The mice are a hoot! Love the ending.
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