When you think of Cartoon Modern, Gay Purr-ee may not be the first film that pops into your head. Yet this gorgeous film, the second and last feature-length animation by the legendary UPA Studios, is a vital part of the movement‘s history. Made in the early 1960s, its style is best described as Cartoon Modern meets Van Gogh. Gay Purr-ee features the vocal talent of Judy Garland in her first and only animated role, as well as the debut of one Robert Goulet.

France, 1895. The beautiful Mewsette (Garland) and Jaune Tom are cats living in the French countryside. Frustrated with Jaune Tom’s country bumpkin ways, Mewsette escapes to experience the refinement and excitement of ‘Gay Paris’. But when she falls into the clutches of the sleazy Meowrice, Jaune Tom and his friend Robespierre set off to Paris to find her.

This program screened as part of KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival 2013

Showing in this program

Gay Purr-ee

• Abe Levitow
• United States, 1962
• 85 min.