#94 -- The Unexpected Pest

Title - The Unexpected Pest

Director - Bob McKimson

Released - 1956

Reason for Placement --

While Friz Freleng may have created Sylvester the Cat, Bob McKimson gave us a number of memorable shorts with the frustrated feline.  Most of the toons featured encounters with Hippety Hopper (the so-called "giant mouse") and/or Sylvester's son, but a select few focused on the cat alone, including my personal favorite, The Unexpected Pest.  

Sylvester is faced with being evicted from his happy home as he hasn't caught a mouse in ages, and when he is unable to locate a mouse in the house, he finds one outside and threatens it to become his slave.  To keep his owners thinking that he is catching multiple mice, Sylvester has the mouse routinely go into the kitchen to scare up some trouble, allowing him to come in and "save the day".  However, it doesn't take long for the mouse to realize that Sylvester needs him, and he's not about to let the cat boss him around anymore...

This was one of my favorite shorts growing up, mostly because I sided so much with the mouse.  Once he realized that Sylvester wasn't about to hurt him, he got his revenge, and I can remember laughing as everyone's favorite red-nosed puddy tat got his comeuppance.