AllMovie

Though Warner Brothers had been making color cartoons since the 1930s under its Merrie Melodies banner, director Robert Clampett's The Hep Cat was the first color animated short in the Looney Tunes series. A fairly simple dog-versus-cat story, the cartoon begins with the titular cat once again sneaking through the yard guarded by Rosebud the dog, who naturally gives chase. The chase is punctuated by a couple of musical numbers, as the Hep Cat attempts to romance the neighborhood lady cats. Rosebud decides to use the feline's amorous streak to his advantage, planning to trick him with a hand puppet made up to look like a female cat. But though the Hep Cat does fall in love and attempt to woo the puppet, the dog's scheme is still less than a total success. Many of the short's best gags border on the risque -- at one point, when caressing the puppet, the Hep Cat's hands move down too far and touch the dog's nose; when he feels the strange bulge, he happily notes that "something new has been added!," and he resumes his embrace.