Judy by the Numbers: "Take My Hand, Paree"
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 8:30AM 
This week's number is hands down the weirdest entry in Judy's filmography. It doesn't fit neatly into Judy's biography or star image; it really appears to be one of those things that happened because the timing was right. In 1962, Warner Bros released a UPA animated feature called Gay Purr-ee. It's a movie about Parisian cats that feels like An American in Paris meets The Aristocats as played by the Looney Tunes. In a bit of early celebrity stunt casting UPA cast two big voices for its dimunitive feline leads: Judy Garland and Robert Goulet.
The Movie: Gay Purr-ee (WB, 1962)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen (music) & E.Y. Yarburg (lyrics)
The Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermione Gingold, Paul Frees, Mel Blanc, directed by Abe Levitow.
The Story: Gay Purr-ee really needs to be seen to be believed. Done in the limited-animation style of UPA, the movie sets jittering characters against beautifully drawn backgrounds. As the casting of Mel Blanc may have tipped some readers off, the movie was actually produced and co-written by famous Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones. (Jones was fired from Warner Bros after making this film as he had violated his contract with them.) However, though the movie is occasionally stunning, it lacks the focused insanity of Jones's animated shorts.
Judy is credited with having brought her "Over the Rainbow" songwriters onto the film. Despite this, neither the film nor the soundtrack did well. When the film fizzled, Judy continued her successful touring schedule. However, another new opportunity was about to present itself to her.
Reader Comments (5)
Did that look like one of Rankin/Bass' "trippy moments" to anyone?
This used to play on Cartoon Network sometimes when I was a kid, back when the network would air classic animation... It was always so inexplicable to me. Truly a really bizarre entry into pretty much any canon it fits into.
I haven't seen this in years and forget it was so hallucinogenic. All I really recall is that it was an odd little number.
But looking back on it today in this age when even the biggest stars do voice-over work Judy and Goulet were sort of pioneers in being big names doing that kind of work.
I don't remember seeing it when I was a kid but my nieces loved it when they were small.
I think Judy's been hitting the catnip again!
I have never seen this movie, but based on this clip I think I'd like to. It looks like Marc Chagall goes to It's A Small World.
Does Judy just sing in it or does she do all the dialogue work too? Surprisingly, I think her voice kind of fits this.
Never seen this, but it reminds me of those Rita & Runt shorts from Animaniacs when I was a kid, where all of a sudden the cat -- voiced by Bernadette Peters -- would just burst into song.