by Linda Kay
Original Air Date: December 9, 1972
Directed by: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: A mouse named Gumdrop (voiced by Daws Butler) and a basset hound named Goober (voiced by Paul Winchell) set out to delivery a boy’s letter to Santa on Christmas Eve.
Cartoon Cats: While searching the town for Santa Claus, Gumdrop ends up in an alley alone where several cats emerge from trash cans. Sleezer, the leader of the cats, rings a dinner triangle.
The cats confront Gumdrop and one named Tall Cat tells Gumdrop that he’s going to join them for dinner.
Gumdrop nervously refuses, saying he needs to find Santa Claus. At this point a cat named Fat Cat dons a Santa beard and hat and starts singing Jingle Bells.
Sleezer grabs Gumdrop and informs him that he is dinner, which Gumdrop was already deducing.
Gumdrop takes off running and the cats chase after him, piling on top of one another as Gumdrop slips away.
Next Tall Cat and Sleezer try catching him with garbage can lids only to slam the lids into each another.
Fat Cat tries to stab Gumdrop with a hooked claw but it gets stuck in a fence and eventually the board flies out and hits the cat.
Finding himself cornered at last, Gumdrop calls for Goober who finally comes running. But the dog trips and rolls towards the cats, forming a giant snowball which sweeps them all away.
The cats take off running with Fat Cat needing a little help over a fence.
As Goober and Gumdrop continue to look for Santa, they call upon the help of some other animals who spread the word. One dog runs into a pet store and releases all the animals who run outside to help in the search, including one ginger cat.
A bulldog then runs into the alley and tips over a garbage can to spill out Sleezer and another member of the cat gang whose name was not previously mentioned (but might just as well be called Short Cat, if we go by the other names).
Short Cat runs up a pole to look and eventually does spot Santa in his sleigh in the sky.
Final Mewsings: You’re lucky to get a cat to do anything on an empty stomach.
Many thanks to Ted Davis for letting us know about the cats in this special.
Relevant Links:
To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and X.