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The Cat Came Back

Cordell Barker

1988 | 7 min

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Synopsis
Education

This hilarious Oscar®-nominated animation is based on the century-old folk song of the same name. Old Mr. Johnson makes increasingly manic attempts to rid himself of a little yellow cat that just won't stay away... Also won the 1989 Genie Award for best animated short film.

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<iframe src="https://www.nfb.ca/film/the-cat-came-back/embed/player/" width="(( width ))" height="(( height ))" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true"></iframe><p style="width:(( width ))px"><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/the-cat-came-back/" target="_blank"><em>The Cat Came Back</em></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/cordell-barker/" title="more films by Cordell Barker" target="_blank"><span>Cordell Barker</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca" target="_blank">provided by the National Film Board of Canada</a></p>

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Credits

director

Cordell Barker
script

Cordell Barker
animation

Cordell Barker
producer

Richard Condie

Cordell Barker
executive producer

Ches Yetman
animation camera

Lorne Bailey
sound

John McCulloch

Ed Ledson

Richard Condie

Cordell Barker
sound editing

Ken Rodeck
voice

Richard Condie
re-recording

Clive Perry
music

John McCulloch

See also

Stories; Animation of folk songs; Folk Music
Subjects: Featured Films; Funny films; Most-Viewed Films in 2018; Animation
Channels: Indigenous Cinema

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Add a new comment

I loved it .I will very happy to watch them again ,many times .I loved every one of them .
Picciottop, 21 Oct 2012
This short is great, it took me right back to my childhood. My nieces enjoyed it, too.
Derezo, 13 Oct 2012
One of the best shorts ever. I have loved it ever since I was a kid and I'm from the US myself. I applaud to the people behind this humorous short.
Julayla, 26 Apr 2012
You can be in the worse mood in the world, take a minute watch one of these, especially this one, the smiles just keep on coming. Thanks for the smiles and laughs!
cartoonfan, 6 Nov 2011
I'm on the same page as you AdrianGould. It might not have been 22 years for me, but I'm going to say at least 10. The cat came back, the very next dayyyy.
Melaniexx, 3 Feb 2011
Ah joy - it's been 22 years since I last saw this, and the storyline and tune were still in my head. Now, there are not many shorts you can say THAT about! I hope this is required viewing on animation courses.
AdrianGould, 27 Aug 2010
I've been watching it regularly since many years. Can't get enough, this is pure genius. Make sure to watch Cordell Baker's masterclass as well here on nfb!
Rob Mayol, 19 Jan 2010