April 20, 1935 – The Silly Symphony, The Robber Kitten, is Released to Theaters
“I never took a bath, and I never will, oh, Dirty Bill!”
On April 20, 1935, the Silly Symphony, The Robber Kitten, was released to theaters. It was directed by Dave Hand, with the story written by William Cottrell; the short stars Billy Bletcher, best known as the voice of Pegleg Pete, as the voice of Dirty Bill the robber.
Ambrose continues his game of robber by threatening his own reflection
The Silly Symphony opens on a coach robbery, a voice telling the passengers to put their hands up. The camera zooms out to reveal a kitten named Ambrose holding two pop-guns, playing robbery with his toys. He continues to threaten his toys, and ends up shooting them because they won’t “give up the money.” Ambrose continues to play robber, until his mother is heard hollering his name from downstairs. Ambrose dismisses his mother’s call, telling no one in particular that Ambrose is no name for him, and from now on, his name is Butch.
Downstairs, his mother is preparing his bath. Ambrose sneers into the mirror and tells himself that robbers don’t take baths. He decides to run away to become a real robber, narrowly avoiding his mother as he steals cookies before heading out the open window to freedom from baths, only to land in a rain barrel. He shakes the water off before grabbing his hobby-horse and riding down the road. Unfortunately for Ambrose, his mother sees him through the kitchen window and demands that he come back, but he ignores her and rides away.
Ambrose sneaks up on Dirty Bill, attempting to rob the criminal
Meanwhile, the robber Dirty Bill is sitting in the woods, staring at his own face on a wanted poster and laughing. Ambrose spots him and attempts to rob him, but as Dirty Bill reaches for a real gun rather than Ambrose’s pop gun, Ambrose’s voice breaks. Dirty Bill turns around to see that Ambrose is only a kid, and asks Ambrose if he would really rob another robber. Ambrose is impressed that he’s really around a robber on a wanted poster.
Dirty Bill offers Ambrose a seat, and Ambrose copies the older robber exactly before asking if Dirty Bill’s mother ever made him take a bath. Dirty Bill brags in song that he’s never taken a bath, nor will he ever do so. Teasing him, Dirty Bill asks the kitten if he’s pulled any big jobs lately. Wanting to impress the robber, Ambrose tells him that of course he has, and begins to tell Dirty Bill about holding up a stagecoach (going back to the game of the morning). Unfortunately for Ambrose, his imagination and story-telling skills are too good, making the robber believe that the bag of cookies Ambrose is carrying is filled with treasure, and Dirty Bill attempts to steal it from the kitten.
Thinking the kitten is actually holding treasure, Dirty Bill suddenly turns violent
When Ambrose tries to convince Dirty Bill that he really is only holding cookies, Dirty Bill pulls out a knife, lusting for what he thinks is treasure. Scared out of his wits, Ambrose leaps out of his clothing, leaving the cookies behind as well, and sprints as fast as he can home and into the bathtub, where his mother is waiting to punish him. Sheepishly, he greets his mother, and plays with the bubbles in the tub, his robber days now behind him.
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