Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, and Red Buttons lent their voices to this animated movie about a cat, Mewsette, that dreams about leaving the French countryside to see the bright lights of Paris. When she gets a chance to hop on to the back of the car of her owner going there, she takes it. When Jaune-Tom (another cat obviously), voiced by Goulet, finds out she's gone, he must go after her. He may never see her again! That's okay with his buddy, voiced by Red Buttons. She was always in the way of him wanting to hang out and have fun with Tom. Tom did seem interested in Mewsette, but showed it only by bringing dead rats to her and she was unimpressed by such tactics, while probably secretly liking him but not his uncouth, un-Paris-like ways. Such are the temperaments in this tale of love and excitement in a cat's world in France. Then there's adventures abound for Mewsette in Paris and for Jaune-Tom and buddy looking for her on the way to Paris. I thought I remembered liking this years ago, but seeing it recently, I felt it to be an odd mixture of art-like animation and simple juvenile-type humor. But is this geared towards adults or children? Children are the ones who will tire of this first, as this doesn't really grab you in the beginning. Instead it relies too much on the charm and talent of its stars, but that will be lost on children, particularly young children, who won't like the singing slowing down the picture. Adults, who love the singing style of its stars, Garland and Goulet, may like its romanticism and feeling somewhat chic, and at the same time moody, but may be feel something's lacking. Also, its silly resolution doesn't really fit in or mix well with the supposed mystique of Paris and L'Amour, L'Amour. Paul Frees gives a particularly good performance as the film's villain; one could say his hammy, over-the-top performance steals the show. Parents, who aren't Garland fans, who see this for their children may be minimally pleased. Children may like its quaintness, but won't be overjoyed by it. Judy Garland fans, who try to find everything she ever did, will probably be more impressed with it than most everybody else. Its major flaws are its ending and the lack of three-dimensional characters. But, maybe if you can find this little film, you can find more than meets the eye in Gay Purr-ee.
Review of Gay Purr-ee
