| The Cat Came Back | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Cordell Barker |
| Produced by | Richard Condie Cordell Barker |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
| Release date(s) | 1988 |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The Cat Came Back is a 1988 animated film by Canadian director Cordell Barker, produced by fellow award-winning Winnipeg animator Richard Condie. Based on the children's song The Cat Came Back, it concerns the increasingly desperate and lonely man named Mr. Johnson, an old man who attempts to rid himself of a small, yet extremely destructive, yellow cat that will not leave his home. The attempts to get rid of the cat become more comical, and the cat becomes increasingly destructive, until Mr. Johnson resorts to an explosive solution. The result is a twist ending playing on the end of the children's song, with the cat's nine lives bedeviling Mr. Johnson for eternity.
The ending with the cat's nine ghost lives may have been influenced by Back Alley Oproar, a Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoon released on 27 March 1948 (which, in turn, was a remake of an earlier Warner Brothers short, 1941's Notes to You; both cartoons directed by Friz Freleng).
Produced in Winnipeg by the National Film Board of Canada, the film garnered over 15 awards, including a Genie Award for Best Animated Short,[1] as well as an Academy Award nomination.[2] It was also chosen for inclusion in animation historian Jerry Beck's 50 Greatest Cartoons, placing at #32.[3] It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows.