The Cat That Came Back

The 1988 animation "The Cat that Came Back", has three distinct elements that help push this animation to new heights. The three elements are music, story, and facial expressions. All three work together to help the others out. The story is about a man who finds a cat on his doorstep one day. He at first seems ecstatic, but after the cat destroys his childhood toy, attitudes change.
The first thing that struck me was the use of facial expressions form the man. They are over exaggerated, but it really works; it is not like the expressions of the lady in "Lavatory - Love Story". Whereas her faces are realistic, the old man's faces involve being squished and stretched. I think these transformations helps the viewer feel more of his emotion. From the way the cat acted though, I think my face too would have been changed too.

The story here too, although predictable at times, is funny, clever, and enjoyable. He would dispose of the cat in one way or another, only to have it reappear, destroying his house. The way the story panned out really helps the music too. Every time the cat came back, the old folk song would play, really bringing everything together.
Each time the man would throw the cat out, the gags would grow on a grander scale. it started with him putting the cat back on his doorstep, and ended with him riding the rails to finally finish it off. This railroad scene has some elements that, although random, help show how crazy this story is. While riding on the rails, the old man actually runs over all these women tied to the rails. I believe this is paying homage while at the same time poking fun to the cliched scenario of having damsel in distress tied to railroad tracks. He proceeds to easily ride over at least thirty of them, when he comes to the cow. He miraculously rides over him, and just when the audience thinks nothing can stop him, he encounters the ladybug, which he kills, but at the same time thwarts his plan. That whole gag adds to the depth of humor this animation brings.
Lastly, I believe a very important part to this is that the backgrounds help the story as well. They are usually simple, but they add to the location. Perspective is another thing. The perspective is every changing, just from the old mans way of moving. At one part, he walks back into his house, but before he enters, his body leans forward to the point where it seems as though he is incredibly close to the camera, but as a matter of fact, he his actually right next to his door. I think this technique could be quite useful in future projects. Of all the animations for this assignment, I found “The Cat Who Came Back” to be the most immersive and helpful to express storytelling, animation, background and use of perspective, and humor, something I find to be very, very important.