Cartoon a Day: Fish Fry

Fish Fry
1944
Directed by Shamus Culhane (as James Culhane)
Available on: Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection

We haven't done an Andy Panda short yet, so I completely randomly ended up on 1944's "Fish Fry," which it turns out was nominated for an Academy Award.

Andy catches the attention of a goldfish while gazing through the front window of a pet shop. He decides to plunk down 10 cents for the fish, but on the way home the fish ends up catching the eye of a hungry alley cat. Andy ends up being a supporting player as the cat and the fish duke it out.

Here's a great sequence of screen shots from when the cat first spots the fish...




I wish that kind of energy had continued, but that's pretty much the only sequence we get like that. The short is still fun, though.

I like a lot of the expressions used on the cat. The harshness of his design is a great contrast to the baby-faces of the fish and Andy Panda.