Dough Ray Me-ow (1948) User Reviews

Heathcliff: Dumb And Pretty Funny

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 9 August 2007]

The first shot we see is parrot reading a book called "Rooster's Millions," (a pun on "Brewster's Millions.). Anway, the whatever the title, it aptly fits the story here. The parrot's name is "Louie," by the way, another Mel Blanc character with a strong Brooklyn accent.

"Heathcliff the cat" is the other main character and this fat cat is about as dumb as a brick. He gives Louie a sheet a paper he found and asks the parrot to read it for him. It reads, "Last will and testament: I leave one million dollars to my pet cat Heathcliff. In the event of his disappearance, the money goes to my pet bird, Louie."

This actually was better than I thought, thinking that Heathcliff would act so stupid this cartoon would be dumb, but it isn't. Heathcliff is so stupid, he's funny. He's so good-hearted you have to root for him. No matter what the greedy parrot does to plan his demise, of course, it backfires. The sight gags are very, very funny.

I've seen a similar story with "Droopy," in which Spike tried to get the inheritance money but Droopy was a lot smarter than Heathcliff, and the cartoon had a better ending than this one. Still, this one had its moments.

The Saga of Louie and Heathcliff, a poor man's George and Lenny

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 22 November 2006]

There are quite a few shorts which have been made that were modeled on the characters of George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men and this cartoon is along those lines-with a modification in the standard riff played in such cartoons. As I want to talk specifically about parts of this short, this is a spoiler warning:

Heathcliff is possibly the most moronic character to show up in cartoons-and that's saying something. Heathcliff has to be told to BREATHE at one point by his "friend", a parrot by the name of Louie. Heathcliff is a very large cat. Why Heathcliff doesn't introduce Louie to his digestive system can only be blamed on the fact that he clearly has only one active brain cell.

The start of the cartoon has Heathcliff rushing in to have Louie solve various problems, much to the exasperation of Louie. Then Louie reads to Heathcliff "what is on this pretty paper" Heathcliff brings to his attention-it's a will leaving a million dollars to Heathcliff, with an addendum which gives the money to Louie if something happens to Heathcliff. Greed jumps on Louie's head and he decides to make something happen. Louie isn't exactly a Rhodes scholar himself, because all he has to do is just stop helping Heathcliff and the cat will give up the ghost inside of two hours, tops.

There are a bunch of hilarious sight gags involving Heathcliff and eating (and cracking) nuts. Louie's attempts on Heathcliff's life are as funny as they are unsuccessful. He tries to electrocute him by having him play a game of "Radio", tries to bribe a bulldog into taking Heathcliff out and so on, with zero success.

Finally, he tells Heathcliff it's his birthday and gives him a cake with three candles and a stick of dynamite. Heathcliff decides he's only three years old and gives Louie the stick of dynamite. There follows a lengthy tug of war between the two regarding his age until Heathcliff finds his birth certificate and it says he's four.

The ending is hilarious and I won't spoil it here. This short is available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended.

Most if not all viewers will be left wondering . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 22 August 2021]

. . . WHY a parrot has a stash of ready cash after "Louie" the big bucks bird hires a nearby bulldog to bump off his feline best friend. Furthermore, IF Louie keeps his clams in a wallet, where is the pocket for such a money holder? This is just one of the many unsolved mysteries of DOUGH RAY ME-OW.

No matter who attempts harm, it always backfires!

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 30 December 2007]

One of the few cartoons directed by Arthur Davis during the approximately two years when he headed what had been Bob Clampett's unit (Warner Bros. discontinued it in 1948), "Dough Ray Me-ow" shows something that we Looney Tunes fans know well: the more that you try to hurt someone, the more you get hurt. Think of Wile E. Coyote going after Road Runner, or Sylvester going after Tweety.

Of course, it's always a hoot to see how this poetic justice plays out. In this case, wise-guy parrot Louie reads in his master's will that the inheritance will go not to Louie, but to the master's oafish cat Heathcliff. So, Louie goes about trying to kill Heathcliff, but the latter seems to have the best luck in the world! Which of course means that one mishap after another befalls Louie.

So, this was probably a place holder in between the really great cartoons, but you really gotta love what happens here. I guess that Davis never had a chance to develop his own specific style, but he released a few neat cartoons during his brief directorial career (namely "Bowery Bugs"). Worth seeing.

Hysterically funny, dark and unusual. Arthur Davis's best cartoon

[phantom_tollbooth · 9/10 · 9 January 2009]

Arthur Davis's 'Dough Ray Me-ow' is an absolutely hysterical cartoon and easily my favourite of the director's films. Starring two boldly drawn one-shot characters, a grumpy green parrot named Louie and an ugly and ludicrously moronic cat named Heathcliff, 'Dough Ray Me-ow' quickly sets up its dark scenario leaving ample time to have tons of fun with it. When Louie discovers that Heathcliff stands to inherit a large sum of money which will go to Louie in the event of the cat's disappearance, the parrot sets about trying to dispense with his "friend" permanently. It's an idea filled with potential which becomes even funnier when Louie realises to his horror that Heathcliff isn't only startlingly stupid, he is also practically indestructible! 'Dough Ray Me-ow' is slightly cheap looking with a style that's akin to TV animation but it fits the feel of the cartoon beautifully, the more stylised character designs reflecting the bigger exaggerations of their personalities. There are loads of great bits but my favourite is the train sequence, the final battle over a stick of dynamite and a series of throwaway gags involving Heathcliff's novel methods for cracking nuts. One of the great one-shot cartoons, 'Dough Ray Me-ow' starred characters who were perhaps too extreme to ever be considered as potential stars but their one appearance still delights me and makes me laugh out loud to this day.

Arthur Davis at His Best

[agj8012 · 10/10 · 17 April 2010]

This is one of my personal favorite cartoons, and by far my favorite cartoon directed by the underrated Arthur Davis. The cartoon stars a dumb cat named Heathcliff and an intelligent yet malevolent parrot named Louie. When Louie discovers that Heathcliff will inherit a large sum of money, Louie fabricates multiple nefarious schemes in order to kill him(the will states that Louie will inherit the money upon Heathcliff's passing.) Most of the gags are pretty predictable, but that is not why it is such a great cartoon. The personalities of Heathcliff and Louie are what makes this cartoon so funny. It is so hard to believe that they only appeared in one cartoon. The animation is fluid and very expressive, and Mel Blanc, who voiced the characters, is funny as always. The writing, as always for a Warner Bros. cartoon, is sharp and witty, and the timing is extremely impressive. Cartoons like this are the reason Warner Bros. cartoons will always be the greatest cartoons ever created.

Hilarious and a great cartoon in its own right

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 20 August 2013]

One of the best and funniest cartoons seen recently. The animation is nicely stylised and fluid with expressive colours and well drawn backgrounds. Not quite as refined as other cartoons seen with somewhat of the TV animation look at times with the character designs, but it never becomes distractingly bad. The music is energetic and characterful, adding so much to the action as well as sounding great. Always one of the best things about a Warner Bros cartoon and not a disappointment at all in this regard in Dough Ray Me-Ow. The story is crisply paced and amusing though with Louie's attempts to kill Heathcliff deliciously dark. While the writing is fresh and witty, the banter between the two characters is a joy to hear and highlighted by the brilliant one-man show vocals of Mel Blanc, and the gags are hilarious to the point you're in hysterics while watching and after(the cracking nuts, dynamite, birth certificate and ending fare the best). Louie and especially Heathcliff carry the cartoon wonderfully and while an unlikely pairing are vastly entertaining in chemistry, they are not the best characters but are underrated ones that deserved to be much more than one-shot. Their personalities range from almost sadistic to very stupid, but the writing helps them to be endearing in their own right. To conclude, a truly great cartoon and has great entertainment value, one of the better and funnier cartoons seen personally in about a month or so. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Shakespeare once wrote that "The Love of Money . . . "

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 5 May 2016]

" . . . is the Root of All Evil," and Donald Trump has been proving the Bard Righter and Righter As Time Goes By. Warner Bros. tried to warn America about The Donald with this animated short, DOUGH RAY ME-OW. Parrot Louie represents Trump, as the only book the fowl talker owns is "Rooster's Millions," and the Tower-Water-Wine&Steak Man sports a trademark Rooster Haircut. When Louie learns that he can inherit $1 million by slaying his trusting house-mate, Heathcliff Fat Cat, Louie hatches one murder plot after another. Heathcliff seems doomed to a shorter shelf life than a Trump wife's. But despite Louie sticking a claw into every fire, all of his conflagrations produce back-drafts aimed at himself. He exercises his Art of the Deal with the neighborhood bulldog, but this only succeeds in flattening the canine. Louie's attempt to electrocute Heathcliff short circuits, his William Tell shot misses the mark, and his train attack gets derailed. Even Louie's seeming success with dynamite is short-lived, as the Dirty Bird snatches Defeat from the Jaws of Victory by opening his Big Mouth. Does any of this sound familiar?

Nostalgia....

[lukeneedssand · 10/10 · 29 June 2021]

This cartoon is kinda brutal to the poor cat, but the entertainment value here is awesome, I wonder what the audience would have been like reacting to this cartoon in theaters. Its such fun, and the jokes and animation are once again near perfect, and feel fresh, unique, and laugh-out-loud content. Heathcliff the cat Is a really funny character, and I'm glad he was only in this cartoon, He only works as a one-shot character. I completely forgot about this cartoon when I was older, so I'm glad I'm able to watch it now.

10/10.

Hey, Louie! He's three!

[slymusic · 26 May 2009]

Directed by Arthur Davis, "Dough Ray Me-ow" is a really good Warner Bros. cartoon starring an unlikely team: Louie, a wiseacre parrot, and Heathcliff, the world's dopiest cat (yes, even dopier than Sylvester and Claude). Both characters benefit from the brilliant vocal talents of Mel Blanc.

My three favorite scenes from "Dough Ray Me-ow": A.) Heathcliff's face turns purple because he forgets to breathe. B.) Heathcliff pretends he's a radio and listens to some funny flatulent sounds. C.) Funniest of all, Louie chases Heathcliff all over the house in attempting to give him a birthday cake with three candles and one stick of dynamite, trying to convince him that he's four years old.

You can find "Dough Ray Me-ow" along with a bunch of other feline-related cartoons on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 4. Too bad the ending of this short is pretty lame, isn't it?