The Hep Cat

Hep Cat, a rather self-assured feline (with an eye for the ladies), finds himself in the sights of a neighborhood junkyard dog. Rosebud the Dog chases the crazy singing and dancing cat around back alleys of the city.

Hep Cat, Rosebud the Dog, Bird

The first color Looney Tune (yes, it took until 1942 for Looney Tunes to go to color), and the first one to feature wide concentric rings.

The first Looney Tunes short to be incuded in the Blue Ribbon reissue series.

Jerry Colonna and Robert Taylor are caricatured. There is also a reference to Victor Mature.

Songs include: "Java Jive" (Ben Oakland-Milton Drake), performed by the Hep Cat.

Sexual innuendo is featured through much of the cartoon.

In September of 1943, beginning with A Feud There Was, Warner Bros. began re-releasing select color cartoons in their Blue Ribbon program. Typically the Blue Ribbon reissues received new opening sequences with Blue Ribbon title cards and standardized music. Cartoon production credits were also removed. Between ten and fifteen cartoons were released in any given year, with cartoons coming from as far back as 1935. The reissues continued until the close of the studio in the 1960's.

All Blue Ribbon cartoons were released as "Merrie Melodie" cartoons regardless of the original series. The first "Looney Tunes" short to be included in the Blue Ribbon series was The Hep Cat, which was added in 1949. The only current prints of many of these cartoons are the Blue Ribbon releases, although restoration of these cartoons with original elements and titles is always ongoing.