Claws in the Lease

Claws in the Lease is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Title ==
The title is a play on the phrase "clause in the lease."
== Plot ==
Sylvester lives with his son in a city dump. Sylvester Junior decides to find a home for themselves. He finds one, but the lady who lives there only wants to adopt Junior and separates him from his father. When the lady puts milk in a bowl for Junior, Sylvester starts drinking it but gets bopped on the head with a broom by the lady. Then he gets angry and starts knocking on the door and screaming to give his son back, but gets bopped with the broom again. For Sylvester's next attempt, he takes Junior's can of "Pussy Kins Cat Food" and hides in the Television. When the lady turns on the TV, Sylvester is eating the food ad-libbing a jingle for it, but the lady gets wise and throws him out of the house.
Junior lets Sylvester back in the house, but when he hears the lady coming singing "Home on the Range", Sylvester hides in the shower, but that is exactly where the lady goes. She absent-mindedly uses the cat to scrub her back, but he escapes and hides in her bathrobe, which the lady puts on right after leaving the shower. With Sylvester unknowingly still in the bathrobe, the lady starts inserting rollers in her hair, but a few end up in Sylvester's head. When the cat pops up from behind the lady, she screams and he makes a break for it. Sylvester finally brings out the heavy artillery by placing cheese in strategic spots throughout the house, then filling the house with hordes of mice. Upon the lady's screams, Sylvester comes in wearing a superhero's cape and exclaims, "Thith lookth like a job for Thooper Puss!" He enters the house but is immediately thrown out by the mice, who also eject Junior and the lady. The three head to the dump, and the lady demands Sylvester give her food. Junior thinks they're now one big happy family, before questioning if that is true.
== Availability ==
LooneyTunesSuperStars SylvesterAndHippetyHopper.jpg|(2013) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars' Sylvester & Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem
=== Streaming ===
lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App ( - )
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022)
== Censorship ==
* This cartoon was shown with parts cut on ABC, but there were two edited versions shown—one in 1988 and another that was used from 1994 to 2000:https://web.archive.org/web/20240418084427/https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-c.aspx
** The 1988 version cuts the part where Sylvester Jr. runs to get Sylvester from the dump after Sylvester Jr. finds a home and Sylvester tries to drink from the bowl of milk before getting beaten with a broom repeatedly by the woman who takes Sylvester Jr. in the house, followed by the scene where Sylvester ends up getting beaten with the broom again when he tries to get Sylvester Jr. back. The edited version in 1988 showed Sylvester Jr. being taken in by the lady and Sylvester banging on the door, then cut to the scene with Sylvester Jr. and the lady eating snacks and watching TV.
** The 1994-2000 version left in the part where Sylvester Jr. gets his father from the dump after finding a home and Sylvester drinking the milk before getting beaten, but the beatings were shortened from six hits to one and the part where Sylvester tries to retrieve his son, only to get beaten again was cut completely. Also edited in the 1994 version was the part after Sylvester sings the "Pussykins Cat Food" jingle where he gets thrown out the window and hits a tree and the part after the mice throw Sylvester, Sylvester Jr., and the housewife out where the housewife barks, "And it's all your fault, you stupid feline!" and slams her fist on the top of Sylvester's head.
== Gallery ==
ClawsInTheLeaseCredits1.png
ClawsInTheLeaseCredits2.png
ClawsintheLease2013Restoration.jpeg|Cropped screenshot of 2013 restoration
ClawsInTheLeaseLC.jpg|Lobby card
Gfdshdjtfkuy.jpg|Layout drawings
== References ==
Category:1963
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Sylvester Cartoons
Category:Sylvester Junior Cartoons
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons written by John Dunn
Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Bill Lava