The Unexpected Pest (1956) User Reviews

Old Story, But The Mouse Keeps It Entertaining

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 10 August 2007]

Poor Sylvester: his owners sure are cold people. Listen to this: Sylvester is shown sleeping on the couch. The father comes home, spots the wife and says to her, "Marsha, why do we have to put up with that dirty old cat,. scratchin' up the furniture and makin' a mess out of the house?" She answers, "Well, John, we got him to get rid of those mice, remember?"

"Yeah, but there hasn't been a mouse around the house in months."

"Yes, that's right. Well, I'll the society tomorrow and get rid of him."

Wow, talk about a pet feeling loved in his house! Sylvester freaks out. "Sufferin' succotash," he says, "I have to get a mouse to keep my happy home."

The problem is that there are no mice in house, but our hero spots one outside among the garbage cans. "A lifesaver!" he exclaims.

The rest of the cartoon builds on this premise, and then adds a twist near the end when the mouse gets tired of playing "slave" to Sylvester and wises up. It turns out he's a pretty funny mouse.

Overall, this is a pretty decent effort with some cleverness, although there are a couple of gags used in previous cartoons, like the mouse dropping dishes from a high ledge and having the cat trying to catch them. However, that might not have been Looney Tunes but a Tom & Jerry. Whatever, this is entertaining overall as most Sylvester stories tend to be. I still prefer to see him paired with Tweety, though.

Very amusing if somewhat familiar stuff

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 13 August 2013]

Looney Tunes, Sylvester and Robert McKimson are a good mixture, the Looney Tunes cartoons are childhood favourites that a vast majority of the time hold up very well and are even better from an adult perspective, Sylvester is a great funny character who can work equally well with another character or on his own and Robert McKimson(while somewhat in the shadow of Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Fritz Freleng) has been responsible for lots of fun cartoons and some classics also. The Unexpected Pest doesn't see either of them at their best, with a predictable set-up and a few gags that while nice we've seen many times already and since(ie. throwing objects from a great height, getting hands caught in mouse-traps). The beginning sets the cartoon well but there isn't really anything that wows, it's really when the mouse comes on the scene when The Unexpected Pest comes to life. The animation is very good though, simple but colourful and careful in design, while the music score keeps the energy levels high and brings much character to the proceedings. While you have seen some of it before, that doesn't stop The Unexpected Pest from being strong amusing entertainment, with nicely timed gags and very witty dialogue(Sylvester gets the best lines). The set-up is predictable, but the execution of the actual story is neat and is paced well with some nice twists. The ending works especially well, with a turning-of-the-tables sort of situation. The mouse is a fun character as well as cute, Sylvester as ever is the one who steals the show. Mel Blanc's vocals are superb, every single character he voiced came to life and largely because of him. He was one of those few voice actors who could voice more than one character in the same cartoon and not only give them different personalities and such but also make them funny and memorable. To conclude, familiar but neat and amusing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

You can never trust a rodent . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 5 May 2016]

. . . seems to be the main lesson of Warner Bros.' animated short, THE UNEXPECTED PEST. Just when you think there's no more dirt to be dug up about a particular rat, it turns out that their Pops may have assassinated JFK. Some will argue that just because the longest-serving Rodent Speaker of the House reveals that he's been a serial Child Molester all along, doesn't automatically mean that the rest of the Mouse Leaders were (or are) Chesters themselves. Sylvester decides to make a pact with the Devil Mouse to keep his spot on a Comfy Sofa in PEST. Naturally, the rodent double-crosses him, because pathological lying is a Rodent's Nature. With PEST, Warner is warning America NOT to crawl into bed with a rat, no matter how much Security seems to be offered. Sooner rather than later the rodent will stab you in the back, forcing you to hobble away from the only Homeland you've ever known on crutches, just like Sylvester here. You may think that the Rodents are speaking your language, but they're actually only interested in squirreling away America's wealth for themselves, like pack rats!

"Sufferin' succotash! I gotta get a mouse to keep my happy home."

[slymusic · 12 January 2008]

Directed by Bob McKimson, "The Unexpected Pest" could hardly rate among the top Warner Bros. cartoons featuring Sylvester the cat, but it is still entertaining. Sylvester's owners make it a requirement that he consistently catch mice in order for them to consider keeping him around the house. Sylvester eventually finds a mouse that he can repeatedly chase around (and subsequently dupe his owners into believing he is chasing a different mouse each time), until the mouse grows tired of being a slave to the slobbering feline.

"The Unexpected Pest" unfortunately does not boast many laughs, but here are a couple. While loafing on the couch, Sylvester gives a rather funny "Eeyew!" reaction upon spotting his owner staring at him. He is also funny when he yells upon getting his hand caught in a mousetrap and when he gets crowned on the head by an iron. Enough said.

A solid cartoon that throws the spotlight firmly on its neatly plotted story

[phantom_tollbooth · 7/10 · 9 January 2009]

Robert McKimson's 'The Unexpected Pest' is a neatly plotted little cartoon with some unusual twists and genuine laughs. When Sylvester's owners realise that they don't need him now that he's got rid of all the mice, the cat has to seek out a mouse to save himself from becoming homeless. Threatening him with being eaten unless he follows his instructions, Sylvester uses the mouse hundreds of times in order to convince his owners that they have an infestation. I won't spoil the fun by elaborating further but the final few plot twists make for some very funny moments indeed. 'The Unexpected Pest' moves at a fairly leisurely pace and isn't much to look at but the script is great and McKimson wisely throws the spotlight firmly on the story. It's best the first time you see it but, with the delicious knowledge of what's to come also enhancing the fun, 'The Unexpected Pest' stands up to repeated viewings too. It's a solid cartoon and it's always a pleasure to see Sylvester without either of the twin drag factors, Tweety or Speedy Gonzalez.

geopolitics actually gets like this

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 10 February 2008]

I'm 99% sure that Robert McKimson intended "The Unexpected Pest" as purely wacky entertainment, and it certainly entertains. However, I noticed that the plot - Sylvester forces a mouse to be his slave, but then the mouse uses the predicament against Sylvester - is not unlike situations that we see in geopolitics. One example is US-Saudi relations: Saudi Arabia's government can't survive without US support (lest the people rise up against the government), and the US economy can't survive without Saudi Arabia's oil (if Saudi Arabia's government cut off oil shipments, what do you think would happen to our country?). Beyond that, the US government considers Sudan's government a terrorist government, but can't criticize them over atrocities in Darfur because Osama bin Laden once lived in Sudan, and so dictator Omar al-Bashir can give us information about him. At every turn, one country uses a tense situation to blackmail another country, and what the hell kind of neurosis would prompt anyone to relate this to a silly cartoon?!!!!!!!!! OK, I'll stop. The point is, this is a pretty funny cartoon. Far from the greatest cartoon, but I like how the mouse turns the situation on Sylvester. Is he just a doomed cat or something? Worth seeing.

Confusing Setup

[nlathy-839-300677 · 7/10 · 25 August 2023]

It just doesn't make sense for couple to want to get rid of Sylvester. If there are no mice, that's a good reason to keep the cat. And if Sylvester finds a mouse for a stooge, the couple should get an exterminator if one is around that much. I don't want to play movie police. This cartoon has its share of laughs. Sylvester's unimpressed reaction when he sees the owner early in the short is priceless. And you can't help but laugh when Sylvester gets walloped. Still the final gag has been done better elsewhere (See Bugs Bunny). It. You know what luck Sylvester has with mouses. You know what he's getting into. Not the best cartoon. Still it's Sylvester, a comic icon.

"Cheese works better than smelling salts for mouses."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 16 September 2015]

Sylvester's masters are going to get rid of him because there are no mice around and his main job was as the mouse catcher. So Sylvester finds a scared little mouse to be his slave, catching him over and over in front of the masters so they will think he is valuable to the household. But the mouse gets wise to Sylvester's game and turns the tables on him. This is a funny short, thanks in large part to the little mouse. He's a hoot! The animation is bright and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is lively and fun. Wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. An enjoyable cartoon with great characters and a cute story.

Sylvester decides that having his own mouse equals job security

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 26 November 2006]

This is a very funny Sylvester short which has at its plot base a very interesting idea and that idea is very well handled in this short. Because I want to discuss the short in a little detail, this is a spoiler warning:

The short opens with the husband of the house coming home and spotting Sylvester sprawled lazily on the couch. Sylvester's reaction to him is priceless. The husband then asks his wife why they still have "that cat", to which she replies, "to get rid of the mice". When he points out that they haven't seen any mice lately, she decides to "call the Society in the morning." Leaving aside the logical flaw in this decision (after all, if a cat is doing the job intended, you wouldn't be seeing too many mice), this starts Sylvester thinking that he needs a mouse to keep his happy home. So he starts looking for one.

He finally catches one and it faints. He revives it with a piece of cheese. He then tells it to go in the kitchen and "scare the lady good, or it's 'down the hatch'". The mouse does just that, Sylvester rushes in and pounds the mouse silly and the wife tells the husband Sylvester just caught a mouse and they had to keep him, as there might be more. Sylvester gives an evil chuckle and says, "Or the same mouse lots of times!" Next comes a montage over a series of torn off calendar pages, showing repeated visits by "mice" that look exactly like the first one-until one day, when the mouse tells him that Sylvester needs him or he'll lose his home. Sylvester starts to threaten him when the mouse jumps in his mouth and dares Sylvester to eat him. A smart cat would do just that and then look for another mouse-but that's what a smart cat would do and this is Sylvester, not exactly a whiz kid on a good day.

The mouse starts running around, causing trouble and threatening to do himself in. His antics get Sylvester in trouble repeatedly and finally get him beaten, bandaged and thrown out. The ending is cute and altogether appropriate, so I won't spoil it here.

This short is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended.