The National Film Board of Canada
He’s back, and no, I’m not talking about the feline who stole my heart back in the day. Coming soon from Cordell Barker is The Anta Claus of the South Pole. While not everyone may recognize his name, many animation fans know his work. Barker crafted the wonderful animated short The Cat Came Back, a tale about Mr. Johnson, a man pushed to the edge by a feline who keeps finding a way to this hooman’s home. He wants nothing to do with the cat and, much like Wile E. Coyote, becomes increasingly inventive in his attempts to get rid of it rather than simply accepting its presence.
But when cartoon logic rules the universe, every trip home reveals the critter waiting inside, tearing up a carpet, couch, or something even worse. This short is hand-drawn and surprisingly elegant. Some viewers might liken it to an old Tex Avery cartoon. When every gag lands like a mousetrap with a marching band inside it, the shock and surprise is all worth it. And when the beat is set to the folk tune of the same name, we know that this cat is not using up all of his nine lives.
Barker has a knack for turning escalating chaos into comedy, and every homage he makes shows why he is one of Canada’s masters of animated catastrophe.