Sick Product of a Sick System

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

" . . . do not knock it," Henry the Skunk-of-a-runaway-husband-and-dad (a.k.a., Pepe Le Pew) says to conclude WILD OVER YOU. Obviously, this punch line is meaningless without knowing what the "it" is. What exactly is "it" here? "It" can be summed up in two words: Rough Sex. Pepe has tried to "close the deal" five times with an escaped wild cat who has painted itself up as a skunk to avoid recapture. (Since Pepe is nose blind, he never quails at his opportunities for inter-species trysts.) The Warner Bros. animators portray these five attempted rapes as cartoon whirlwinds--the representation you might expect if Bugs Bunny tried to get it on with the Tasmanian Devil. Pepe is somewhat ambivalent as he emerges banged up from his first four scrapes with the wildcat, but in the middle of his fifth attack (what he would call "Shooting Zee fish in Zee Barrel," as the pair are crammed into the basket of a rising hot air balloon), sadomasochist Pepe decides it's all good.

Fun Pepé Le Pew short from the great Chuck Jones. It takes place during the Paris Exposition of 1900, where a wildcat has escaped from a zoo exhibit. The cat paints herself to look like a skunk to avoid being captured. If you've ever seen a Pepé Le Pew cartoon before, you know where this is going. Pepé chases the cat and puts the moves on her. The twist this time is that the wildcat rejects Pepé violently, which only seems to turn the skunk on more. This Sadomasochistic angle has made the short more noteworthy for some than your average Pepé cartoon. As always, the incomparable Mel Blanc is terrific as Pepé. The animation is colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The gags are funny with the usual French puns we all love from these shorts. It's not the best Pepé cartoon but it is entertaining.

If you are familiar with Pepe LePew, you will know where Wild Over You is going to go. But that isn't enough to mar the cartoon's enjoyment. The animation is full of simple detail and elegant colour, very Chuck Jones but with also an authentic touch. The music is catchy and beautifully orchestrated, with a lovely amorous French flavour. The dialogue is very witty and quite kinky even for a Pepe cartoon, a series that was uniquely risqué to start with. The gags are as is the case with Pepe and Looney Tunes in general clever and imaginatively timed. The story could be seen as formulaic, but the vibrant pacing and entertainment value more than makes up for that. Pepe is still likable and true to the personality that we are used to seeing him, and the cat contrasts with him very well. Mel Blanc, criss crossing Charles Boyer and Maurice Chevalier, is stellar. All in all, a fine cartoon that has much to like about it. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is the kinkiest of all the Pepe Le Pew cartoons (and the series is pretty out there to begin with!). Pepe's quarry in this one is an escaped wild cat, disguised as a skunk to elude capture. When Pepe goes after her, she doesn't merely run away--she viciously mauls him in a hissing flurry of fur and claws. Rather than deter him, the violence seems to entice him all the more! At the end, he tells the audience, "If you have not tried it, do not knock it". Hard to believe that this cartoon was shown to 1950s theater audiences, or that it is still shown to children. It's twisted and subversive...and funny as all get out! It just goes to show what you can get away with in animation.