The Cuckoo Clock (1950)

Mar 6, 2023

Directed by: Tex Avery

This review contains numerous Cartoonish Kitty Carnage Warnings!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A black and white cat is driven mad by the incessant noise of a cuckoo clock and sets out to kill the cuckoo with disastrous results.

Cartoon Cat: At the beginning of the short the cat explains that he is going crazy, using a variety of bad puns such as “seeing things” and “blowing my top”.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat looking scared
The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat seeing things
The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat blowing top

Realizing it is the cuckoo clock that is driving him mad, the cat climbs a ladder and threatens the bird with a baseball bat. Of course the cat is the one who gets klonked.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat threatening cuckoo clock with baseball bat

Next the cat tries a golf club, but the cuckoo simply perches on it and then multiplies every time the cat shakes the club.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with cuckoo sitting on golf club
The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with multiple cuckoos on golf club

At one point the bird cuckoo’s right through the cat’s head!

The Cuckoo Clock - cuckoo cuckooing through black and white cat's head

Next the cat threatens the cuckoo with a gun, but it jams. Of course it works fine when the bird shoots the cat.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat pointing gun at cuckoo

Attempting to reach the clock on a trapeze, the cat instead gets a mouthful of a 1,000 pound barbell.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat hanging from trapeze
The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat biting onto 1000 pound barbell with cuckoo

Still not giving up, the cat uses stilts to reach the bird but finds the clock empty.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with head poking through cuckoo clock

The cuckoo is below, setting the stilts on fire. The cat ends up burned to a crisp.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat burnt to crisp

Finally the cat is sure he’s caught the cuckoo in his paw and pounds it with a mallet, making it paper thin.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with flattened paw

After chasing the cuckoo into a mousehole, the cat reaches inside and the bird paints the cat’s thumb to look like a cuckoo. The cat then shoots himself in the thumb.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat about to shoot his thumb painted like a cuckoo

The cuckoo unravels half of the cat’s fur, leading him to have to knit a crazy replacement (but of course he is back to normal in the next scene.)

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with half his fur gone

Thinking he can trick the cuckoo, the cat pretends to leave, but sneaks back in and sticks his head in the clock.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with hat and suitcases pretending to leave
The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat with head inside cuckoo clock

Not to be outdone, the cuckoo uses a mechanical flying cuckoo packed with TNT and sends it into the cat’s mouth. The cat pauses for a moment of silence after eating the bird, but is blown up.

The Cuckoo Clock - black and white cat bowing head with mouth smoking

Final Mewsings: Cats are cuckoo if they think they will triumph against birds in cartoons!

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