Swallow the Leader (1949) User Reviews

Man, Does This Cat Take A Beating!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 11 August 2007]

Do the swallows still come back to the mission at San Juan Capistrano? I would presume. Anyway, that's the setup for this cartoon in which an unnamed cat awaits these birds' arrival on March 19th of each year.

He has "no vacancy: and similar signs at every nest in sight with a trap set up in one available nest. Like Wile E. Coyote, however, you just know this cat is not going to eat that first of the beautiful birds and you know he is going to take some beatings attempting to do so. Man, does he ever take beatings, especially when it looks like the cat finally prevailed and the rest of the flock - thousands of them - gang up and dive-bomb this feline. It's pretty brutal stuff in some scenes, like the punishment poor Tom got in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it's entertaining.

The cat looks a lot like Sylvester but slightly different, almost a Dr. Suess "cat in the hat" look to him.

A beautiful, visual feast

[phantom_tollbooth · 7/10 · 19 February 2009]

Robert McKimson's 'Swallow the Leader' is a wonderful cartoon which achieves most of its appeal through some gorgeous brightly coloured layouts and a fresh setup. A hungry cat eagerly awaits the arrival of a flock of migrating swallows. What follows is essentially a spot-gag cartoon in the Road Runner tradition but it is so gorgeous to look at that even the most predictable of jokes is glorious to take in. The whole thing builds up to a fantastic finale in which the birds attack the cat en masse, which showcases McKimson at his best. From its clever double-pun title to its uplifting brightness, 'Swallow the Leader' is a joy to behold and while I am sure there are many who consider it a run-of-the-mill spot-gag cartoon, I have a special place in my heart for this lovely visual feast.

This has got to be one of the most unfortunate cats of all time!

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 16 December 2006]

This short is reasonably entertaining and the cat in this one (if I'm not mistaken) is the same one featured in Early To Bet. He needs a good medical plan or he needs to retire, because he's singularly unlucky. Because I want to discuss some of the details, this is a spoiler warning:

You have a situation which you think would be ideal for a cat-the swallows are returning to San Juan Capistrano-Meals on Wings, as it were. But even with the assistance of radar, this cat hasn't got a prayer-one bird beats him at almost every turn. Instead of dining on a swallow, this poor soul gets a jack-in-the-box and a painted metal figurine, with disastrous and painful consequences (for the cat-for the bird and the audience, it's hysterical).

Even when he finally manages to trap the swallow on a piece of flypaper, he still can't catch a break, because then all the other swallows show up to save the first one and bomb the cat with light bulbs and tacks before they pick him up and carry him up to drop him from on high. So he turns to drinking instead.

This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth watching. It and the Collection are recommended.

almost San Juan Bautista

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 10 January 2008]

In basically any cartoon where a cat attempts to eat birds, it's pretty much a guarantee that the birds will give the cat hell. And Robert McKimson's "Swallow the Leader" gives the feline star (he looks like a slightly fatter version of Sylvester) some real hell! Awaiting the return of swallows to San Juan Capistrano, the head swallow makes mincemeat of him...so guess what the whole gang does! What I think would have been neat would have been if they'd set this cartoon in San Juan Bautista. You may recognize the latter as the place in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo". I try to imagine the cat doing what Kim Novak's character does (though for the record, there isn't actually a bell tower in San Juan Bautista).

But that's beside the point. Contrary to McKimson's detractors, he had some good ideas for cartoons. Like Friz Freleng, he just used material that he considered funny (Chuck Jones went for the intellectual stuff). Worth seeing.

We all know it gets pretty sad when doves cry . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 28 May 2016]

. . . but that's nothing compared to the bathos that ensues when swallows sweat. The fat cat in Warner Bros. animated short SWALLOW THE LEADER has no sense of Situational Awareness, not unlike the avian-coiffed Fat Cat writing his Inaugural Address in New York City this very minute. But the Cartoonish feckless feline takes little note as his targeted swallow begins sweating up a storm, just as the Trumpster is unlikely to notice his U.S. Secret Service detail retreating to a safe perimeter distance some day soon. Warner's Pampered Puss is assaulted by a Jack-in-the-Box, magnet, bell, pile-driver, see-saw, dive bombers, tacks, light bulbs, and alcohol. Trump's First Lady of the Month Club is bound to put a centerfold picture into the Congressional Quarterly for the first time ever as soon as impeachment hearings commence. Hopefully, one of the Temps replacing Michelle Obama will be able to carry a tune, such as "Don't Cry For Me, I'm Just Between A--." Or, as Looney Tunes teach us, when the Fat Cat jet-sets away, we people poor as church mice must pay.

Visually a wonder, musically energetic and hilariously clever, if brutal

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 21 July 2013]

Swallow the Leader- what a great title!- is a fabulous cartoon, and quite unique amongst the many WB/Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons seen, that deserves to be seen more. The animation is just gorgeous, it is beautifully drawn and the vibrant colours alone are a feast for the eyes. It is also interesting that the cat is drawn like a criss-cross of a slightly overweight Sylvester and Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat. As with any great music scoring in the WB/Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoon the music merges perfectly with the action and is composed and orchestrated with lovely textures and tremendous energy. The use of Mendelssohn's Athalie Overture is good too. The humour is more visual gag than dialogue(the narration sets things up very nicely), but it is very cleverly engineered and hilarious stuff. It is also rather brutal to the extent that you do feel sorry for the cat. The characters drive the cartoon engagingly, and the voice work from Mel Blanc and Robert C Bruce is excellent. In conclusion, a fabulous if underrated cartoon that works on all levels. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Don't mess with them swallows!

[slymusic · 12 January 2008]

"Swallow the Leader" is a fairly unique Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Bob McKimson. The popular song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" can be heard throughout this short, and the screenwriter - Warren Foster - decided to make a joke out of it. It so happens that every year the beautiful blue swallows fly back to California, taking up residence at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, where a hungry bow-tied cat awaits them. As cute as these swallows are, they are way too clever to get themselves devoured by the cunning feline.

Highlights: The cat mistakenly eats a magnetic bird, after which a horseshoe magnet gets the better of him as he travels - rear end first - up some stairs, through a birdbath, up a ladder, across a rooftop with Spanish tiles, and, eventually, onto a seesaw, where a swallow drops some heavy boulders, causing the cat to repeatedly soar in the air and whack a bell with his head. After the cat finally traps a swallow onto some flypaper, he suddenly gets attacked by hordes and hordes of other swallows acting as fighter jets, complete with an arsenal of tacks and light bulbs.

The plot of "Swallow the Leader" might be somewhat off-kilter, but it is still a fun cartoon to watch. Although he is not exactly the more famous slobbering cat Sylvester, the cat in this particular cartoon might just as well be, not only because he physically resembles Sylvester but also because he's a hapless fall guy, failing in every attempt to capture even one juicy little swallow.