History WesternAnimation / TheCatCameBack

* DisproportionateRetribution: At first. Mr. Johnson initially wants to get rid of the cat because it knocked a baby rattle out of his hand and broke it (like that ''wouldn't'' happen when playing with a cat?). His efforts become a bit more understandable as the cat becomes more destructive - though considering how the cat didn't really do anything legitimately bad before being tossed out, it's possible that it is getting some retribution of its own in its actions, resulting in an escalating cycle between the two participants. However, his initial reason for wanting to get rid of the cat may be justified, at least to him, in that it's implied that the baby rattle was a keepsake from Mr. Johnson's own babyhood and was therefore sentimentally valuable to him. Judging by the sound it made when it hit the floor, and his horrified reaction, it ''broke''.

** Mr. Johnson tries taking the cat away on a railway handcart, but hits a beetle on the tracks and tumbles over a cliff and into a mineshaft, where he is surrounded by dozens of rats, bats, and other hostile creatures. The cat escapes unscathed again.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJl_4IsQJ2g You can watch it]], [[ShmuckBait and you'll keep coming back...]]

[[https://youtu.be/FJl_4IsQJ2g You can watch it]], [[ShmuckBait and you'll keep coming back...]]

* AndIMustScream: DownplayedTrope and PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:Mr. Johnson will be pestered by the cat for all eternity, but it’s a self-inflicted hell. It’s only this because he just can’t seem to get used to the thing]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Not only does Mr. Johnson get killed off at the end by blowing up his own house, but then the cat gets crushed to death when his dead body falls on top of it and now the cat's nine ghosts will continue to torment the ghost of Mr. Johnson for all eternity.]]

* DerangedAnimation: Especially during the scenes where Mr. Johnson starts to go insane when he tries to get rid of the Cat in many hilarious and crazy ways.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Not only does Mr. Johnson get killed off at the end by blowing up his own house, but then the cat gets crushed to death when his dead body falls on top of it and now the Cat's nine ghosts will continue to torment the ghost of Mr. Johnson for all eternity.]]

* AndIMustScream: DownplayedTrope and PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:Mr. Johnson will be pestered by the cat for all eternity, but it’s a self inflicted hell. It’s only this because he just can’t seem to get used to the thing]].

* AssholeVictim: Mr. Johnson is implied to be a SerialKiller of [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals animals]], as the river is filled with bags exactly like the one he used to throw the cat in there. If this is true, [[IronicHell his self inflicted hell is more then deserved]].

* GodzillaThreshold: Mr. Johnson placing the cat on top of a bundle of dynamite big enough to reach the roof of his home, and subsequently blows the house ''and'' him to smithereens. The song stats it as such:

* BaitAndSwitch: After his first attempt, Mr. Johnson returns home covered in prickly burrs. A brief Velcro sound effect plays as he pulls off each, but when you pulls one off his tongue, the sound just keeps going... because it's actually the sound of the cat shredding his curtains.

* TheCatCameBack: Turned UpToEleven. Every time Mr. Johnson tries to get rid of the cat, he returns home to find it destroying everything it can get its paws on, its destructive tendencies growing with each unsuccessful attempt to get rid of it.

* BaitAndSwitch: After his first attempt, Mr. Johnson returns home covered in pricly burrs. A brief Velcro sound effect plays as he pulls off each, but when you pulls one off his tongue, the sound just keeps going... because it's actually the sound of the cat shredding his curtains.

* AndIMustScream: DownplayedTrope and PlayedForLaughs. Mr. Johnson will be pestered by the cat for all eternity, but it’s a self inflicted hell. It’s only this because he just can’t seem to get used to the thing.

* AssholeVictim: Mr. Johnson is implied to be a SerialKiller of [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals animals]], as the river is filled with the very same bag he used to throw the cat in there. If this is true, his self inflicted hell is more then deserved.

* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: That small blinking pair of eyes next to Johnson in the dark mine -- ''is not the cat.'' Neither are any of the hundreds of ''others'' that appear.

* ChainedToARailway: Old Mr Johnson drives a handcar over no fewer than seven (if not more) women ''and a cow'', before derailing on a beetle (which subsequently divides neatly in two).
* TheChewToy: Poor old Mr. Johnson ...

* CuteKitten: Inverted with extreme prejudice.

* EatTheCamera: On the runaway minecart.

* GhostlyAnimals: The short ends with the death of the cat at the hands of Mr. Johnson. Afterwards, [[CatsHaveNineLives nine cat spirits]] emerge from the body and begin tormenting Johnson's spirit.
* GhostReunionEnding: After numerous attempts to dispose of an unwanted cat, Mr. Johnson fills his house with explosives, then sets them off, killing himself in the process. His ghost returns to laugh at the cat, which can no longer torment him ... until his dead body falls on the cat, killing it. Nine numbered feline ghosts appear, and chase the man's ghost, screaming in horror, into the sky.

* KillerRabbit: The cat, of course, whose destructive powers just grow and grow, as the cartoon proceeds.
* LaughingMad: Mr. Johnson, as the cartoon progresses.

* MatchlightDangerRevelation: In the mine. Unhelpfully blown out by the aforesaid danger.

* OhCrap: Mr. Johnson experiences this several times, most notably when surrounded by rats and when he realizes that the cat will ''always'' come back, ''[[spoiler:even in death]]''.

* TemptingFate: The beginning line "One little cat, how hard could it be?" made it pretty obvious how things would go. Then one of the final verses "The old man knew it couldn't get any worse". [[FromBadToWorse Guess what?]]

''The Cat Came Back'' is a 1988 [[AnimatedFilms Animated Short]] set to the tune of the 1893 comic song "The Cat Came Back" by Harry S. Miller, illustrating [[TheCatCameBack that trope]]. The short, directed by Creator/CordellBarker for Richard Condie and the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, features the hapless "Old Mr. Johnson" and his [[SerialEscalation escalating]] but fruitless attempts to rid himself of a cat.

It was nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Animated Short and has gone on to win dozens more. It's presently the most recent entry on The50GreatestCartoons. Johnson and the cat appeared in two adverts for Hula Hoops, with Johnson still trying (and failing) to get rid of the cat.

It was nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Animated Short and has gone on to win dozens more. It's presently the most recent entry on The50GreatestCartoons.

* CurseCutShort: When Mr. Johnson sees the cow tied to the railway tracks, he blurts out, "What the fff--?"

* PrecisionFStrike: Mr. Johnson comes very close to delivering one when he approaches the cow tied to the railway track and exclaims "What the ffff...?" Doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar because this is an NFB cartoon, after all.

''The Cat Came Back'' is a 1988 [[AnimatedFilms Animated Short]] set to the tune of the 1893 comic song "The Cat Came Back" by Harry S. Miller, illustrating [[TheCatCameBack that trope]]. The short, directed by Creator/Cordell Barker for Richard Condie and the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, features the hapless "Old Mr. Johnson" and his [[SerialEscalation escalating]] but fruitless attempts to rid himself of a cat.

''The Cat Came Back'' is a 1988 [[AnimatedFilms Animated Short]] set to the tune of the 1893 comic song "The Cat Came Back" by Harry S. Miller, illustrating [[TheCatCameBack that trope]]. The short, directed by Cordell Barker for Richard Condie and the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, features the hapless "Old Mr. Johnson" and his [[SerialEscalation escalating]] but fruitless attempts to rid himself of a cat.

* DisproportionateRetribution: At first. Mr. Johnson initially wants to get rid of the cat because it knocked a baby rattle out of his hand (like that ''wouldn't'' happen when playing with a cat?). His efforts become a bit more understandable as the cat becomes more destructive - though considering how the cat didn't really do anything legitimately bad before being tossed out, it's possible that it is getting some retribution of its own in its actions, resulting in an escalating cycle between the two participants. However, his initial reason for wanting to get rid of the cat may be justified, at least to him, in that it's implied that the baby rattle was a keepsake from Mr. Johnson's own babyhood and was therefore sentimentally valuable to him. Judging by the sound it made when it hit the floor, and his horrified reaction, it ''broke''.