The Hep Cat (1942) User Reviews

falls short of Clampett's usual greatness

[movieman_kev · 6/10 · 31 October 2005]

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

nothing totally new, but interesting

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 27 November 2006]

I can't claim to be a connoisseur of Bob Clampett's work, but I've liked most of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons. A previous reviewer said that "The Hep Cat" falls short of Clampett's usual quality. I, on the other hand, think that this cartoon is actually quite neat, as a cool feline tries to woo a woman, but a dog keeps interfering. I assume that the title referred to the sort of person who would soon be a beatnik. Even if it doesn't, I still have often noticed that the Looney Tunes cartoons had a way with jazz (the ultimate kind of beatnik music).

All in all, not a masterpiece, but worth seeing.

"Adeline" may or may not be the name . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 14 April 2016]

. . . of the creepy white female cat shown in full body only from 1:26 through 1:31 of the six-minute Warner Bros. animated short THE HEP CAT, but few people will be able to Unsee those perverse five seconds of film. Adeline sports a human female face and butt, along with four slender womanly legs wearing four stiletto high-heeled shoes! Otherwise, she is a fairly ordinary feline. Pursued by the Black title character (whose singing and tap-dancing seem to fall upon her deaf ears), this milky dream pus--ah, cat gives her Dark Stalker a literal Cold Shoulder. Apparently, the "leans and the fats" THE HEP CAT croons about comprising his 103 previous conquests were 100% feline and 0% Fraulein. I remember that one of my Great Uncles made a joke at a family gathering about an "X-Rated" cartoon character of the 1900s called FRITZ THE CAT or something. The way I recall it, he was immediately exiled outside for a "smoke break" (even though it was Winter) for bringing up such an unsavory subject with children present. Too bad Warner cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger failed to send his animators for a smoke break when they pipe-dreamed up Adeline!

Loaded with Sly Sexual Inuendo

[buzzdav4 · 10/10 · 29 November 2005]

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.

Expected better from Bob Clampett

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 10 July 2016]

Bob Clampett's cartoons often were high in energy and fun and displayed a uniquely wacky visual style that one can recognise immediately. Missteps were not that many...

Unfortunately, 'The Hep Cat', despite some moments is an example of a Clampett cartoon that doesn't work.

There are definitely things that save it. The animation, while not as wacky as most of Clampett's other cartoons, is colourful, eye-popping, rich in detail and high in imagination. Carl Stalling's energetically high-voltage, luscious, rousing, dynamic and action-enhancing music score and inspired arrangements of pre-existing music shows off his genius.

And the same applies for the voice talents with the most memorable contributions being from Bea Benaderet and Mel Blanc. The final minute and a half is entertaining and imaginative and the chase displays the most energy 'The Hep Cat' gets.

However, 'The Hep Cat' is let down by a thin story, that lacks energy and makes the cartoon feel stretched and too long (and it's only 6 minutes or so), and an even thinner script that doesn't have enough laughs and what there is is not that funny with out of place and out of date hip language.

Pacing is pretty limp until the last minute and a half, and much of the cartoon is high on predictability and apart from some of the animation, the music, the voice talent and the last minute a half low on energy and imagination. All the characters are forgettable and lack the likability or fun factor.

Overall, disappointing though watchable. Expected much better from Clampett. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Liked The Slang, But Little Else

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 21 April 2007]

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.

Very hip with great music

[slymusic · 17 June 2005]

"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!

Atypically dull and slow moving Clampett short.

[phantom_tollbooth · 3/10 · 1 October 2008]

Bob Clampett's 'The Hep Cat' is a distinctly average cartoon only really notable for the fact that it was the first colour Looney Tune (previously Looney Tunes were all black and white while Merrie Melodies were in colour). The tale of a singing, dancing cat's attempts to woo a lady cat and a dog's attempts to catch the cat, 'The Hep Cat' lacks the trademark energy and pace of most Clampett shorts. To be fair, Clampett doesn't have a great deal to work with. Warren Foster's script is embarrassingly thin and, while he has spun straw into gold with other cartoons, Clampett doesn't manage it with 'The Hep Cat'. It's often said of Clampett that you can't mistake his cartoons for anyone else's and it's generally true but 'The Hep Cat' is an exception. There's flashes of Clampett genius, such as the chase scene in which the cat stops to ask the dog "Hey, are you following me". When the dog confirms that he is, the cat simply says "Oh" and the chase immediately resumes. Unfortunately, there's very little of such brilliance on show here. Knowing who directed it, 'The Hep Cat' is a bitter disappointment. We all have off days and this was clearly one of Clampett's!