In Leonard Maltin's book on movie animation studios, Of Mice and Magic, in the Terrytoons chapter, he mentioned Ralph Bakshi's Sad Cat as "perhaps the dreariest character in the studio's history". With the cat's mostly lethargic demeanor being the characterization here, Maltin has a point. This short is a reworking of the Cinderella tale with Sad Cat as the one who has to slave for Stepbrother No. 1 and 2. The title character is a mouse fairy who is trying to step out of his low-class status which he can achieve if he creates a happy ending for someone. So the classic story goes through its paces until some amusing scenes between Gadmouse and Sad Cat has the cat wearing a white dress and literally dancing his butt off (loved Bakshi's angles on the derrière when he cuts on the cat's back). After the time is up with the stepbrothers wanting to punch Sad Cat for deceiving them, an agent arrives and offers Sad a contract for some shows. So supposedly, Gadmouse becomes a first-class fairy because of this. Instead, the title cat still has to clean his own costumes with Gadmouse resigned to his fate. The dance is the highlight of this mostly bland and dreary short from the final days of Terrytoons. Still, worth a look on YouTube for anyone interested in some of Bakshi's earliest work as an animation director.
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