It's morning, and Puss is trying to catch an impolite mouse. In the Princess's room, she can be heard shouting as if in pain and the Maid is saying things like, "Come back here!". The narrator is concerned about this, especially when the Princess runs from her room shouting, "NO!". She's carrying a comb, and tries to hide it in a houseplant but changes her mind. The Maid calls for the Princess, while the narrator is now less concerned and more bemused. When the Maid comes downstairs, the Princess hides the comb in the pets' basket and says, "Don't tell" to the narrator.
Later, the Maid complains to the King and Queen about the Princess hiding combs, of which she has apparently hidden five that week. The narrator asks what's going on, and the Princess, hiding behind a chair, explains that she's been hiding combs because they hurt her head and she has a small tangle in her hair that day.
The Maid finds the Princess and the Queen says that she may take the Princess to the hairdresser. The Princess disapproves, so the Queen says that all princesses require hair-combing. The Princess explains that it hurts when someone else combs her hair and wants to do it by herself. After a moment's thought, the Queen puts the Princess "in charge of combing" but says that if she doesn't do it, the hairdresser will.
The Princess retrieves the combs from the knitting basket, a rabbit's burrow, an upturned flowerpot, a birds' nest, the pond (where the Admiral has mistaken it for a mutilated fish), and the pets' basket.
She then goes up to her room and combs the hair of three dolls, but has trouble combing the hair of a fourth and gives up after accidentally beheading it. It also turns out that she misinterpreted the Queen putting her "in charge of combing", so she wants to comb everybody else's hair before combing her own. She tries to comb Puss's fur, but he runs away, so she combs Scruff's fur.
The Princess then comb's what little is left of the Prime Minister's hair, then tries to comb Puss again but he runs into the kitchen, slips on the tile floor, and lands in the pantry. The Princess asks the Chef if he's seen Puss, but the Chef hasn't. He wants to, though, because of the mice. Puss sees the mouse again, then the Princess combs the Chef's hair and puts bows in it.
Some time later, the Princess is frustrated as she has combed everyone but Puss— she combed the General's hair while he cleaned his bearskin, put a flower crown on the Gardener's head (he's bald, so she couldn't comb his hair), and combed the Admiral's beard and put a bow on it. Scruff wants to be combed again, so he messes up his fur on purpose.
The Princess then gets called in for dinner. The narrator points out that her hair is very messy now, so she screams and tries to straighten it but only gets the combs stuck in her hair. She goes down to dinner with her hair in a headscarf, claiming to be emulating the Queen. Then, it turns out that the Princess had previously put the Maid's hair into pigtails.
That night, the Princess wears a nightcap, lying that the weather is cold. She has a hard time getting to sleep as the combs in her hair hurt. She goes to the Maid for help, but the Maid calls it a rat's nest, scaring the Princess, who takes it literally. Then, the mouse arrives, causing both ladies to scream— the Maid because she's afraid of mice and the Princess because she thinks it's a rat come to live in her hair.
The Princess runs to the King and Queen and demands they cut her hair off. When they say they can't, the Princess demands to be taken to the hairdresser. The Queen takes the Princess to the hairdresser, while the other adults take their hair decorations out.
Later, the Princess reveals that the hairdresser (who didn't cut all her hair off by the way) gave her a new comb that works on cats. She then combs Puss's fur and puts a bow on him.
This episode provides examples of
- Big "NO!":
- The Princess runs out of the room shouting, "NO!" as a response to painful hair-combing.
- She shouts, "NO!" again when the Queen suggests a trip to the hairdresser.
- Blowing a Raspberry: The mouse blows a raspberry at Puss twice and at the Princess and Maid once.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: A rooster is seen crowing in the morning at the beginning of the episode.
- Informed Attribute: The Princess claims to be getting muscles, and shows the narrator her arm, to which he replies, "Impressive!". She doesn't look any beefier than usual.
- Literal-Minded:
- When the Queen puts the Princess "in charge of combing", the Princess thinks she has to comb everyone's hair.
- When the Maid calls the Princess's messy hair a "rat's nest", the Princess thinks there is an actual rat living in her hair.
- Nobody Touches the Hair: Even though the Prime Minister only has three hairs on his head, he still says, "Must you?" when the Princess combs it.
- Shout-Out: When the Admiral says that a terrible sea creature is in the pond, the Jaws theme plays.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The Maid's fear of mice crops up again.
