From the folks who brought you Bugs Bunny, Mister Magoo, THE WIZARD OF OZ and THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW (!!??), 1962's GAY PURR-EE was not a big hit at the time of its release but was television staple for many years. I can't recall if I saw it new in theaters at age 3 or if it just seems like it due to overexposure.
Just Garland was a decade past her last big screen hits when she agreed to voice and sing for Mewsette. (Was the title a wink to the largely homosexual audience who had kept her a viable stage performer in recent years?) Broadway's "Lancelot" from the then-recent CAMELOT, Robert Goulet, co-stars.
The very stylized production was overseen by Warner Brothers cartoon legend Chuck Jones, which got him fired when Warners found out about it.
Judy herself reportedly brought in Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg who wrote the songs for her signature WIZARD OF OZ role to do the soundtrack.
I hope Warner put it out on Blu-Ray, as a Archive Collection edition!
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. It looks like Warner Bros produced it. Why would Chuck Jones be fired for working on it?
ReplyDeleteThere was also a Dell comic book, as I recall. We saw it several times when I was a kid and I always enjoyed Paul Free's villainous vocals, his henchmen (or henchcats). Morey Amsterdam, almost unrecognizable, also does a voice as the shanghaied prospector who takes in the two cats in Alaska.
ReplyDelete- Mike C.