black and white (cats, that is)

I have come to the realization that while I say that my favorite kitties are calicos, I can't really say I love them all that much because I haven't had any vague connection to a calico since a kitty I had when I was probably about 8. What I apparently really have an affinity for are black and white cats. I came to notice that many of the cats I like and associate with are black and white. And I think I've come across the "culprit" that's the source.




What? You don't know who that is? Why, it's Pussyfoot, of course! Seriously, you *still* don't know who she is? *big sigh* Yeah, I know, lots of people don't know who she is, and many of those who do happen to know *who* she is don't know her name. She is a Warner Bros. character, created by Chuck Jones, that appears in only a few cartoon shorts and is barely marketed, so I suppose it's understandable to some degree that she's not well known, but *I* know who she is, so I'm not sure what everyone else's excuse is. In any case, once you've seen her, how can you not fall in love with her? (Oh, by the way, the dog that's always with her is Marc Antony.)


Here's "Feed The Kitty", her first short. Yes, it's the one with the cookie.





"Kiss Me Cat" - In this short, you actually hear her being referred to as "Pussyfoot". However, I'm also noticing that they keep referring to Pussyfoot as a "him", but I've always considered the cat a "her". Maybe I just like female cats better and so pretty much assume "her" - no matter what. So, beyond all evidence to the contrary, I'm going to keep referring to "her". In any case, this has the wagging finger bit, the chariot, and best of all, Pussyfoot's new look.





"Cat Feud" - This short has her with a different dog, who still looks a bit like Marc Antony but is a different color. It's funny to watch her hiss at the other cat.





She's in another short that I kind of vaguely remember but I can't find it on youtube, but youtube does have yet another short with her, but I watched part of it and don't like it, so I'm not including it here.


If you've ever seen the Pixar animated film "Monsters, Inc.", you may or may not know that there's a connection to Pussyfoot. (I love the movie for lots of other reasons anyway, but this was just an extra little gem.) There's a scene when Sulley is trying to hide Boo where Boo ends up in a trash can, the contents of which gets dumped into the trash chute. Sulley thinks that Boo has been dumped along with the other trash, but unbeknownst to him, she had already climbed out, leaving one of her "antenna", which is why he thinks she's still there. He watches as the trash is crushed and flattened and made into a cube. (And yes, the cube trash made me think of Wall-E, also a Pixar creation. Hmmm...) He melts as he watches all of this through a window and is very sad when the finished cube comes out but then rejoices when it turns out Boo is still alive. This entire sequence is an homage to the "Feed The Kitty" segment when the woman makes the cookies and Marc Antony thinks Pussyfoot has been mixed in. When we saw that part of "Monsters, Inc.", the husband and I were laughing hysterically, and yeah, when we told people about it, they stared at us like we had two heads. Each. And then there are the other people who claim Pixar stole that segment from Warner Bros. Because, you know, they don't know a tribute when they see one. I also think it's funny that Pussyfoot is often just referred to as "kitty", which is exactly Boo's nickname for Sulley.


Someone has put together footage from both "Feed The Kitty" and "Monsters, Inc." so the comparison can be better seen.





Here's a collection of some of Pussyfoot's looks. Isn't she adorable? Yeah, I know, it's the eyes.





As I mentioned, Pussyfoot is not a character that is marketed much, but years ago, back when the Warner Bros. stores were still in existence, they had some porcelain figures, and one day, I saw that they had an armchair with Marc Antony on it, with Pussyfoot perched on top. Wow! Merchandise with Pussyfoot and a really cute one at that! I looked at it for a while, walked around the store and kept going back to look at it. I finally asked for them to take it out of the case so I could see it better. (The husband, SO at the time, said that as soon as I asked them to take it out, he knew it was coming home with me.) And then they showed me that the bottom of the armchair had a secret drawer you could pull out - and in the drawer is the kitty cookie from "Feed The Kitty". That sealed the deal. I had to have it. I absolutely love that piece, and as much a Disney fan as I am, it would probably surprise a lot of people that my most prized and treasured possession is not a Disney property, but rather, this object from Warner Bros.


A number of years ago, on a trip to Magic Mountain, I actually found the cutest t-shirt with Pussyfoot on it. One problem - it was only available in kids' sizes. But I couldn't pass it up, so I bought it, and my giant Thumper plush wears it.


In recent years, Pussyfoot has been marketed a little more, and a friend surprised me one year for my birthday with a cute pillow with Pussyfoot on it. She also told me that there was a whole bedding set as well, which I went looking for.




The pillow on the floor is the one she gave me, and I bought just the comforter from this set.


And then another year for my birthday, the same friend gave me one of the best presents I've ever gotten.




Oh. My. Goodness. Cuteness overload.




Another cat that I'm incredibly fond of is Disney's Figaro, who is probably best known as being in the film "Pinocchio" but is also in some Disney shorts as well.

Here's what she looks like in an Armani piece that the husband got me for my birthday a few years ago.





And here's what she looks like from Robert Olszewski's Storytime Collection.





Here are two other Figaro pieces I have. No, they're not my pictures, and I have no idea what the deal is with the water/lake.










Another well-known black and white cat is Felix, who I'm not as fixated on as Pussyfoot or Figaro, but I still watched his cartoons all the time, and I loved his bag of tricks.







And then, we get to real-life cats. Our cat Orkid is - wait for it - black and white!


On her first day home, she was exploring, and she apparently liked being under my chair.





Here she is next to the Screamin' coaster toy from Disney's California Adventure and the remote control R2-D2, so you can get an idea of her size if you know those items.





I liked how the lighting fell on her face.





Though she doesn't do it as much anymore, she likes sitting in one of the sinks in the master bedroom/bath. She doesn't like it as much if you actually turn the faucet on, even a little.





She loves rustling around in bags and boxes. She decided to hide in this Disney bag.





Here she is, snuggled up with Q, which must be mortifying for him.





One of the more recent photos of her - yeah, I know, I've included it in a blog post before, but I just really love this picture of her.