July 28, 1931 – The Silly Symphony The Cat’s Out is Released to Theaters
On July 28, 1931, the Silly Symphony The Cat’s Out was released to theaters. It has been copyrighted as The Cat’s Nightmare, but the studio now refers to it by its original name. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson.
A cat is put out for the night outside a country home, and howls at the door before going off to explore. As he perches on a fence, still howling, neighbors begin to throw shoes, and one lands on the cat’s head. He runs away in a flurry, falls off the fence, and lands in a washtub. After drying himself, the cat hears a bird chirping from its perch on a weathervane.
The cat carefully stalks his prey, which is perched on the weathervane
The cat, now suddenly hungry, stalks the bird, waiting for his chance to attack. He catches the bird by the tail just as it takes off, and tries to remain on the roof by wrapping his tail around the weathervane. Unfortunately, he loses his balance and falls, ripping the vane from the roof. As he lands on the ground, the vane falls soon after, landing on his head. The cat’s lives begin fleeing to heaven, but he is able to grab his last one and save it. The bird he chased shows up, and as he is about to grab it again, it triples in size and begins to taunt the cat.
The cat, annoyed by the taunting, punches the bird. As his feathers fly off, the feathers become more birds, which circle the cat and taunt him mercilessly, trying to peck him with their beaks. Suddenly, the birds disappear, and a herd of owls in the trees scares the cat. He runs to hide behind a bucket, but the water pump, now alive, dumps water on him. The startled cat runs into a pole and knocks down a scarecrow. As the cat hides behind a pumpkin, the scarecrow comes to life and begins to dance. The multiple dancing scarecrows appear and dance together before they merge back into one scarecrow again, who climbs back on his pole.
A bat appears from under the scarecrow’s hat and begins to dance in the moonlight, which frightens the already scared cat
From under the scarecrow’s hat, a bat appears and begins to dance in the moonlight. The terrified cat throws the pumpkin at the bat, which turns into a flock of bats that swarm the cat. The cat flees, only to find himself trapped at the mercy of giant spiders. As they attack, he is able to escape them, but everywhere he goes, he finds more trouble: trees come to life and beat him, and the bird laughs at the cat’s misfortune.
The cat wakes to find that it has all been a dream, and it’s now morning. He goes to the door of his house and howls, hoping the owner will let him in. The owner opens the door and the cat steps inside while the owner grabs the bottle of milk, then shoves the cat back outside. Angrily, the cat paws at the welcome mat, then blows his master a raspberry before haughtily walking away.
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