Katnip Kollege
| Katnip Kollege | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
 | |
| Directed by |
Cal Dalton Cal Howard |
| Produced by |
Leon Schlesinger (un-credited on 1945 release) |
| Story by | Dave Monahan |
| Voices by |
Johnnie Davis (Johnny Cat) Poley McClintock (Frog Voiced Vocal) George MacFarland (Professor Jones) Mabel Todd (Kitty Bright) Mel Blanc (Additional Voices) Cliff Nazarro (Additional) Dave Weber (Additional) |
| Animation by | Joe D'Igalo |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time |
7 minutes (one-reel) 82 minutes (full-length) |
| Language | English |
Katnip Kollege is a 1938 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short produced by Leon Schlesinger Studios for Warner Bros. Pictures. It features the characters of Johnny Cat and Kitty Bright playing college students.
Plot synopsis
In the "Swingology" classroom at Katnip Kollege, the professor (a parody of Kay Kyser) requires each student to sing his lessons to a jazz rhythm. Johnny Cat just doesn't have it, so the professor forces him to wear the dunce cap. Kitty Bright returns his fraternity ring as she leaves the room, telling him to call her when he learns how to swing.
Later that night, as all the other cats jam at an outdoor caterwaul, Johnny is suddenly inspired by the rhythm of a cuckoo clock. He runs to join the group and shocks everyone with a flawlessly jazzy rendition of "Easy as Rollin' Off a Log" sung (and trumpeted) to Kitty. At the end of the song the two cats fall into each other's arms, "rolling" off the log they were using as their stage.
Music
The music in the short is pieced together from a number of contemporary Warner Brothers features. The featured song, "Easy as Rollin' Off a Log", is written by M. K. Jerome and Jack Scholl and sung by Johnnie Davis and Mabel Todd in the 1937 film Over the Goal. Other songs used include "You're an Education" by Al Dubin and Harry Warren which was written for, but never used in Warner Brothers' 1938 feature film Gold Diggers in Paris and the Richard A. Whiting/Johnny Mercer song "We're Working our Way through College" from Warner Brothers' 1937 feature Varsity Show. Carl Stalling supervised the music soundtrack.
Availability
"Katnip Kollege" can be found on the 2004 DVD release Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2., and on The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume One laserdisc box set (1991).
It is also available in 1080p High Definition (along with two other Looney Tunes - Robin Hood Daffy and Rabbit Hood) as bonus features on Warner Home Video's 2006 HD DVD release of The Adventures of Robin Hood, as well as on the same title's 2008 Blu-ray release. The short was also presented on Blu-ray on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 (2011).
Since the original titles are considered lost, all these versions are the Blue Ribbon reissue from 1945, however their ending music is restored. Some of the original titles have shown up only as "still photos" on some websites dedicated to classic cartoons.