Edgar Allan Pooh . . . is the REAL story of this animated "Merrie Melodies" short from Warner Bros., titled THE NIGHT WATCHMAN. Instead of investing in a "no-kill" ultrasonic deterrent device easy to plug into a kitchen electrical socket, the wealthy homeowners in this tale have squandered their fortune on multi-generations of cats for a failed attempt to cope with their catastrophic rodent problem. Their regular fat cat "Thomas" has allowed dozens of rats to thrive in a well-stocked kitchen. Then he gets sick (or maybe he just is malingering to squeeze in another of his cat naps). Pops cat sends his kitten son to watch the rats feast. After they've devoured everything in sight and grown too fat to move, the suddenly feisty junior feline throws out a few love taps here and there. This probably will endure as Junior's "greatest success," as his owners buy him thousands of dollars worth of gourmet cat food, pricey cat toys, etc., plus shell out big bucks to the vet to have him neutered and then "humanely" Euthanized after 15 or 20 years of sleeping on the job.

Neil Doyle This is a cute but undistinguished Chuck Jones cartoon (his first) and it falls far short of being truly funny. Another drawback is that the kitten is no match for Figaro in Disney's "Pinocchio," lacking the charm and humor of that kitten in the way it's animated.The whole situation is predictable from the start. The kitten's father is ill, so he has to hand over the job of night watchman to the kitty. Naturally, the mice take full advantage of the situation, which gets completely out of hand until the kitten's guardian angel (halo and all) gives him a serious pep talk which turns the kitten into a tiger who puts an end to all the boorish behavior of the mice.Unpretentious, but not a lot of fun. The style is too crude for the film to have the cuddly charm it aims for. In other words, it's a wobbly start for Chuck Jones.

phantom_tollbooth 'The Night Watchman' was the debut directional effort by that great master of animation, Chuck Jones. Typical of Jones's serviceable but rather dull Disney pastiches that characterised his early work, 'The Night Watchman' is an unbearably gooey little offering with a constant lack of energy that is sorely required to bolster the wafer thin plot. A young cat (a clear prototype for Jones's cloying early character Sniffles) takes over the post of night watchman when his father is too ill to carry out the job. Immediately, he falls foul of some tough guy rats who push him around and take advantage of the absence of any real threat to gorge themselves with food and have a big night out in the kitchen. Of course, the cat finally turns the tables when his conscience buoys him up for a big final showdown. Betraying none of the talent he would become famous for (and, let's be fair, this was his first film), Jones lays out the story in a straightforward, no-frills manner. The characters are all severely lacking in charisma, particularly the so-wet-you-almost-don't-feel-sorry-for-him cat, the animation is lumbering and predictable, the musical number is flat and the story doesn't build naturally, instead resorting to a tacked on and completely unsatisfying finale in which the cat does a too-sudden about face and metes out a workmanlike beating to each individual rat, a production line revenge that is less than thrilling to watch. Of course, Warner Bros. was still finding its feet as an animation studio and 'The Night Watchman' is not significantly worse than many of the lesser cartoons of the time but, other than its historical importance as Jones's debut, there's really nothing here that I'd recommend to the casual cartoon fan.

ccthemovieman-1 "Thos. Cat," the night watchman, is too sick to go to work so he gives his cap and flashlight to his little son.Soon, the mice (they look more like rats) see the little guy, find out he's subbing for his dad, and then go to work devouring all the food in the building's kitchen. How they eat the food, from bananas to olives to pretzels to watermelons, etc., is very funny.The mice even start cooking some steaks and the little tabby tells them, "Hey, fellas, please don't eat all the food. I'm supposed to protect this place." They tell him to scram, put on a quick floor show and then punch him out. The little mouse's guardian angel gives him a pep talk and things begin to change.Not bad: a cute little cartoon.