Trivia / Gay Purr-ee

• Box Office Bomb: Many sources claim it was one, but the film's budget and box office results have not yet been released to the public.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: One of the most blatant examples from this period. Even years later, the two lead voices need no introduction.
• Channel Hop: The film was originally slated to be released through UPA's long-time distributer of Columbia, but was dropped following diminishing returns from their short films and especially their first and only other feature, 1001 Arabian Nights. Warner Bros. wound up distributing it instead.
• Creator Couple: Screenwriter Dorothy Jones was married to Chuck Jones at the time of the film's production.
• Dueling Shows: With The Aristocats, more or less. The films were made nearly a decade apart, which really makes this more of a Spiritual Predecessor than anything; they simply get confused by people who think All Animation Is Disney. However, it is "coincidental" that you have two animated movies about anthropomorphic cats living in the Gay Paree of the Gay Nineties, and that the leading romantic couple in both movies are a white female cat and an orange male cat.
• Executive Meddling: Chuck Jones, who co-wrote the screenplay with his first wife Dorothy, was contractually obligated to not work for any company other than Warner Bros. at the time. As this was still when UPA's films were being distributed by Columbia, he assumed that he wouldn't be found out. He didn't count on its Channel Hop from Columbia to Warner Bros. and was fired as soon as they found his name on it.
• Playing Against Type: UPA, a studio that billed itself as the "artsy" alternative to Disney and Warner Bros. and made a conscious effort at its start to prove that not all animation has to be singing cartoon animals, doing... a musical with cartoon animals.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Chuck Jones's involvement in Gay Purr-ee ultimately led to his 1962 dismissal from Warner Bros. as soon as they found out his name on it, in violation of their exclusivity contract.
• What Could Have Been: According to a 1961 Army Archerd column cited by this blog, Elvis Presley was offered $250,000 to play Jaune-Tom, but couldn't fit it into his schedule.

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