Saved by the Bell
About Saved by the Bell
Herman works door to door selling bells that warn mice a cat is coming, and he offers to install the first one free. An auto jack under a sleeping cat's head fails, and so do a saw, a pitchfork, and a strap. He forges a steel collar, hammers the bell on, and the mice eat in peace. The cat wakes, rams the bell down over Herman, and swallows it when Herman shoves it into his throat. The cat dances off over the horizon trying to cough the bell up, and Herman dances through the iris and across the Paramount mountain.
Cast & crew
More about Saved by the Bell
Seymour Kneitel directed this Noveltoon, with Dave Tendlar among the animators. Larz Bourne wrote it. Paramount released it on September 15, 1950. It runs six minutes.
Themes
Making
Famous still billed these as Noveltoons. The separate Herman and Katnip series card starts after this picture.
Music
Winston Sharples wrote the score. Herman's exit step is timed to the bell he has just fed the cat.
Preservation
It was the last Noveltoon in the U.M. & M. / NTA library. NTA did not renew the copyright. A restored HD copy comes from Thunderbean.
Notes
- Arnold Stang is Herman. Jack Mercer is the other mice. Sid Raymond is Herman's cousins, not the cat.
- The cat is not yet Katnip. Katnip's first billed pairing with Herman is Mice Meeting You, in November 1950.
- Last Noveltoon sold into the U.M. & M. and NTA television packages.
- Herman had been a solo Noveltoons star since The Henpecked Rooster (1944). This short is near the end of that run.
Scenes
- Herman jacks up the sleeping cat's head to tie on the bell.
- He walks into the cat's mouth and punches the uvula to get back out.
- The cat swallows the bell and two-steps over the horizon while Herman keeps dancing past the fade.
Also available
- DVD: Noveltoons Original Classics (2012, Thunderbean Animation)
- Blu-ray: Noveltoons Original Classics (2019, Thunderbean Animation)
