I saw “Gay Purr-ee” at the Whitman Theater when it was released in 1962. I took Georgie MacLaughlin from the neighborhood because I thought I was too old to see it and Georgie was the perfect age. He didn’t like it, and I admit I wasn’t too crazy about it at the time.
BUT I WAS WRONG!!!
This is the ideal talking cat movie. They don’t just talk. They SING. Since Judy Garland (Mewsette) and Robert Goulet (Jaune- Tom) were legendary singers, this is a chance to hear them at their best. There are some famous performers from 1962 lending their voices to GAY PURR-EE, along with legendary cartoon voices Paul Frees (as the villain Meowrice), Thurl Ravenscroft, Mel Blanc and June Foray.
Most of the action in the film takes place in Paris, but we begin on a farm in the countryside. The beautiful cat Mewsette longs for the excitement of the big city she has heard about from humans. She and the shy mouser Jaune-Tom love each other, but she thinks there is a better life for her. She believes she is far too sophisticated for Jaune-Tom and runs away on a train bound for Paris.
Her troubles begin when she gets to Paris and evil Meowrice convinces her that he will make her “The Belle of all Paris.” He claims she will be painted by all the great artists. And that is what takes GAY PURR-EE into a special place for me. The action of the movie stops for a delightful session in Art History. Each of the great artists’ style is demonstrated using Mewsette as the subject.
As you can imagine, Meowrice has bad intentions, and Jaune-Tom and his friend Robespierre must find and rescue her before she is packed off to America. Things do not go well for them. Things get better eventually.
The songs are lovely, especially “Little Drops of Rain” and “Paris is a Lonely Town” sung by Judy Garland. The songs were written by the composers of “The Wizard of Oz.” The script was written by Dorothy Webster Jones and her husband, legendary animator Chuck Jones. It is a beautiful movie that was not well received in its own time. Today you can find GAY PURR-EE on Youtube and TCM has been showing it as well. If you can find this rare treasure, check it out. This is an unknown classic that deserves to be known.