The Stupidstitious Cat (1947) User Reviews

Not Up To Later Standards, But Not Bad Because 'Buzzy' Is Good

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 12 September 2007]

This was the first "Buzzy" cartoon and they only made a half-dozen or so. I've seen a few and they were very funny. This one - the first one made - wasn't up to subsequent ones, humor- wise, but he's still entertaining.

Here he plays second "fiddle," pun intended to a superstitious cat. As another reviewer points out, this cartoon was trying to capitalize on the popularity of Jack Benny at the time. His radio program drew huge ratings, as did his TV program in the '50s. One of the key characters in his show was "Rochester." In the Buzzy cartoons, Jackson Beck provides the voice of Rochester. In this debut cartoon, we also get Benny in the form of the cat. I don't know did Jack's voice in here.

Buzzy was funny as always, although some might object these days to his incorrect grammar as being politically-incorrect. However, his grammar was part of the humor and was not mean-spirited in nature....just funny. Hearing Benny's voice as the cat was very strange and didn't seem to mix.

The gist of the story is the cat, of course, trying to eat the bird but the latter is aware of all the superstitions of the "boss," and uses them to his advantage.

Nothing to laugh out loud but enough to make you smile here and there. All the superstitions were said in rhyme, which was kind of fun to hear.

Feline superstition

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 14 November 2019]

Buzzy the Crow did not last long as a character, active from the late 40s to early 50s, but personally find him amusing enough and liked if not loved his cartoons. They were formulaic in format and story and not particularly exceptional, but they were also well made and scored and had fun gags and interesting voice acting. The cartoons and Buzzy himself, whose manner of speaking is admittedly stereotypical and may be offensive for some, won't work for all, but they just about did with me.

1947's 'The Stupidstitious Cat' is the cartoon that introduced Buzzy and started off his series (the last cartoon of his dated 1954). And it's a pretty good start, not one of the best Buzzy cartoons or a Famous Studios/Noveltoons gem but nice enough and there are far worse representations of Famous Studios and Noveltoons since and even before. If to sum it up in one phrase, it would be, and it is true for most of Buzzy's cartoons, decent but not great.

'The Stupidstitious Cat' is pretty predictable and surprises are very few, something that was true for the Buzzy cartoons in general in what was a somewhat formulaic series. Other Buzzy cartoons are tighter paced, the momentum here sagged in places somewhat.

Do agree that the cat's voice (modelled on Jack Benny), am going to take a guess and say that his voice was provided by Sid Raymond, was an odd fit for the character and didn't gel with the way the cat looked. There is some occasional roughness in how Buzzy is drawn.

However, 'The Stupidstitious Cat' is very well-animated on the whole, back at a time where any low-budgets did not show in the way it would do in a lot of Famous Studios' later cartoons. It is very detailed in the backgrounds and has many lush colours, while the character designs are mostly smooth. Adding much to the cartoon and matching brilliantly with the action, is the music score by Winston Sharples, it's so beautifully orchestrated, the energy is non-stop, use of instrumentation is clever and it's consistently characterful. The music is always one of the best components of Famous Studios' cartoons and it's no exception here.

Found very little to dislike about the gags, which did benefit from mostly solid timing and from being amusing. The ending is hilarious even. The violence is far from subtle but to me it just about avoided distaste, never descending into the sadistic territory of for example the Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry cartoons. Most of the cartoon is lively. Buzzy is a zany foil and his dialect, a big part of the character, has never been an issue with me though can see why it will be for others. The better character is the cat, who's funnier and more interesting and the one one feels sympathy for from the start. Jackson Beck does a great job voicing Buzzy.

Summing up, pretty decent. 7/10

An animated version of The Jack Benny Program

[shadejford · 24 July 2004]

Here, we have toon versions of Jack Benny & Rochester with Jack as the cartoon's eponymous character and Rochester as the tricky black crow Buzzy. However, these characters are not actually voiced by Benny and Rochester. Jackson Beck provides an amusing "Rochester-like" voice for Buzzy. I don't know who does the Jack Benny-like voice for the cat. When this Famous Studios cartoon was released in l947, The Jack Benny Program was one of the most popular radio shows in America. // Buzzy is more known for his comic book appearances which were published for many years by Harvey Comics. The comic book stories are faithful adaptations of his cartoons. In this cartoon, as in the comic book stories, a cat is trying to eat Buzzy and the crow outsmarts the cat. // Basing the characters' voices on popular radio characters makes them appealing. Jackson Beck voiced many characters in Famous' cartoons and his vocal characterization for Buzzy is just as appealing as the voice he provided for Bluto in Famous' Popeye series.// Famous put out their best cartoons during the l940's and this one is no exception. The studios is notorious for putting out cartoons featuring mindless violence that was sometimes more disturbing than funny, but that was characteristic of most of the cartoons the studio produced after l950. Animation fans who dislike Famous' cartoons might find this one a pleasant surprise.

A Sluggish Start for Buzzy

[travisimo · 4/10 · 25 April 2004]

The "Stupidstitious Cat" stars Buzzy the Crow, a cartoon character I've never heard of, and a cat that is very superstitious. This cartoon starts out promising, as we're introduced to the cat as he's sleeping with his fingers, toes, legs, and eyes crossed. He immediately speaks in rhyme when he talks about his superstitions, sort of like, "Don't step on a crack, or you'll break your mother's back." It's been fifteen minutes since I watched the cartoon, and I can't remember what he said. I guess that's an indication of how memorable this cartoon really is!

The cat also has a unique voice. It almost sounds too humanistic. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Sylvester. The cat also has a unique mannerism, which I guess is modeled after a popular actor during the 40's, but I'm not that much of a movie aficionado to know who it is. Then we're introduced to Buzzy, whose voice also surprised me. I guess I was expecting Tweety; instead, Buzzy sounds like a gruff construction worker. Jackson Beck, who did the voice of Bluto in the Popeye cartoons, voices him; so, I guess that explains that!

So in typical fashion, the cat wants to eat Buzzy, but Buzzy uses the cat's extreme superstitious worries to his advantage. Like I said earlier, the cartoon starts out funny, but it wears out real quickly. Some of the sayings and superstitions didn't even ring a bell with me (like "Bread & Butter" and lighting three cigars at once?) It was also interesting that Buzzy or the cat's voices never changed. They just kept the same tone throughout, even when they were nervous, angry, or excited.

Overall, the "Stupidstitious Cat" started out like a funny, unique cartoon, but it wore out its welcome. From what I gather here on IMDb, this was Buzzy's first cartoon, and he would appear in only seven other cartoons up until 1954. After seeing this cartoon, I can understand why his status didn't skyrocket.

My IMDb Rating: 4/10

The worst luck this cat has is running into Buzzy Crow

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 11 February 2015]

This is the first Buzzy Crow short from Famous Studios. There will be spoilers ahead:

Paramount's Famous Studios, the animation department which did their animated shorts, did a brief series of shorts featuring Buzzy the Crow. This short was the first of them and it's a pretty good beginning to the series.

It opens on a sleeping cat as he wakes up and uncrosses himself. He starts to get out of bed when he notices he's about to get out on the "wrong side" of the bed. It's established very quickly that the cat is incredibly superstitious.

The cat mentions having bird for his breakfast, which leads to Buzzy's entrance into the cartoon. Buzzy is voiced in dialect, which was not unusual at the time, but leads some to consider this short racist. It's very good voice work by Jackson Beck and more or less modeled on Eddie Anderson's "Rochester" character on the Jack Benny Show.

The cat traps Buzzy and is about to make a sandwich out of him when Buzzy figures out he's superstitious and uses that against him for the rest of the short. Superstitions pile up until the monumental sin of breaking a mirror happens, coupled with the cat becoming covered in black paint and scaring himself into running through a wall to get away. The ending plays on the overall theme and is hilarious.

This short is on a DVD released by Thunderbean, Noveltoons and it and the DVD are well worth watching. Recommended.