The Cats Bah

The Cats Bah is a 1954 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones.
== Title ==
The title is a play on "casbah," a sort of fortress found in old citadels of North Africa; it is also connected to the character of Pepe Le Moko, who lived in the casbah of Algiers and was the focus of French novel "Pepe le Moko" by author Henri La Barthe and was made into a film three times: the 1937 French film "Pepe le Moko" (starring Jean Gabin), it's 1938 American remake "Algiers" (starring Charles Boyer), and the 1948 remake of "Algiers", merely called "Casbah" (starring Tony Martin). Pepe le Moko, particularly his take by Charles Boyer in "Algiers", is a basis for Pepe Le Pew; and Pepe is even seen living next to him in this short.
== Plot ==
Pepé Le Pew tells a story about how he managed to get his "greatest love of [his] life".
In Casbah a long time ago, Pepé is preparing to find a date while an American petowner departs a cruise ship with her cat Penelope Pussycat. As the cat exits the boat, a ship painter accidentally drops a stripe of white paint atop of Penelope. Pepé sees the striped cat and immediately flirts with the "skunk", breaking Penelope off her petowner's collar as the latter walks away without noticing. Penelope attempts to hide off inside several vases, but Pepé manages to pick the right one by luck. The cat tries to escape by camel, while Pepé rides on the camel's second hump. Penelope runs inside a casbah, while Pepé hides in a nearby woolen basket. As Penelope continues to escape, Pepé continues to quickly be in the same area as Penelope.
In the end, Pepé reveals that the two are now inseparable, as Pepé managed to chain himself to Penelope at the end of the chase. Stuck in the skunk's grasp, Penelope tries to file her way out of the chains.
== Availability ==
Lt plpst.jpg|(1986) VHS Pepe Le Pew's Skunk Tales
Lt ppst beta.jpg|(1986) Beta Pepe Le Pew's Skunk Tales
Lt longitude.jpg|(1994) LaserDisc Longitude and Looneytude: Globetrotting Looney Tunes Favorites
LTCE VOL 1 ALL-STARS.jpg|(1999) VHS Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 1, All Stars
Zee Best Of Zee Best Correct Cover.jpg|(2011) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars' Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang (2017 - ) (PAL speed)
Lt amazon.jpg|Amazon Prime ( - ) (restored)
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max Latin America (2021 - 2024) (restored)
lt max.jpg|Max Latin America / Brazil (2024 - ) (restored)
== Censorship ==
The version shown in ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show edits out the entire beginning in which the camera assumes the point of view of a reporter interviewing Pepe, due to the presence of alcohol and cigaretteshttp://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-c.aspx (though ABC once aired the 1951 Pepe cartoon "Scent-imental Romeo" left in a similar scene of Pepe opening a bottle of champagne and serving it to the cat uncensored, and Cartoon Network, which censored the champagne part in "Scent-imental Romeo", aired this short uncut). 
== Notes ==
* This is the first cartoon in which Penelope Pussycat is given her name, though her name was not canonized until the release of "Carrotblanca"; after this cartoon's release, she went under different names/aliases in a few Pepe Le Pew shorts, for example Fifi in "Two Scent's Worth" and Fabrette in "Really Scent". Also, although not actually mentioned by that name, the color guide for "Louvre Come Back to Me!" shows that Penelope was renamed Felice in that cartoon.
* The ship that Penelope disembarks from appears to be the "S.S. Phyllis Selzer". Producer Eddie Selzer’s daughter is named Phyllis.
* This short was featured in the last installment of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon that aired 11 September 1999, alongside "Porky in Wackyland", "The Daffy Duckaroo", "To Beep or Not to Beep", "Tree for Two", and "Of Rice and Hen".
== Gallery ==
TheCatsBahStarring.png
TheCatsBahCredits1.png
TheCatsBahCredits2.png
PS117.jpg|Lobby card
Mainniam (1).jpg|Colorized lobby card
TheCatsBahProductionCel.png|Production cel
=== TV Title Cards ===
Screenshot 2021-01-12 at 9.45.53 PM.png|The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show
== References ==
es:The Cats Bah
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:Pepe Le Pew Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:1954
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Bea Benaderet