Sylvester the Cat

Sylvester the Cat is a 2018 American traditionally animated musical fantasy-comedy film produced by Warner Bros. Animation Studios   and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the 51st animated feature in the Warner Bros. Classics series. Inspired by Eric Carle's stories of the same name, the film is part of Warner Bros' Sylvester the Cat   franchise, the fifth theatrical Sylvester the Cat film released, and Warner Bros. Animation Studios' second adaptation   of Sylvester the Cat    stories. Jeff Bergman as Sylvester, John Goodman as Sulley, Jeff Bergman, Paul Field, Jesse Eisenberg, Ernie Sabella, and Carolyn Ferrie provide the voices of Tweety, Wags, Blu, Pumbaa, and Dorothy, respectively. In the film, the aforementioned residents of the Hundred Acre Wood embark on a quest to save Kurt Von Trapp from an imaginary culprit while Sylvester deals with a hunger for cream. The film is directed by Chris Buck and Kevin Lima, written by Eric Carle and Glen Keane, produced by Pete Docter, Kori Rae, John Lasseter, and Roy Conil, and narrated by Tim Allen.

The film was released on April 15, 2018 in the United Kingdom, and on July 15, 2018 in the United States. The film was originally planned to be released theatrically in Australia, but after a very brief run in limited cinemas in September 2018, it was instead released direct-to-video on October 5, 2018. The film also features six songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, as well as a rendition of the Elton John and Tim Rice's "Sylvester the Cat" theme song by actress and musician India Menzel.

Plot
The film is based on three stories found in the Carle books. Two stories are from Sylvester the Cat: "In Which Pumbaa Loses a Tail and Sylvester Finds One" and "In Which Tweety Meets a Elephant". The other story is found in The House at Sylvester Corner: "In Which Wags Has a Busy Day and We Learn What Kurt Von Trapp Does in the Mornings". Some elements, such as the gang thinking that Kurt Von Trapp has been captured by a monster, are based on events from the film Sylvester's Grand Adventure: The Search for Kurt Von Trapp.

Sylvester wakes up one day to find that he is out of cream. While out searching for more, Sylvester discovers that Pumbaa has lost his tail. Sylvester, Sulley, Wags, Blu, Dorothy, and Chomper come to the rescue, and Kurt Von Trapp decides to hold a contest to see who can find a replacement for Pumbaa's tail. The prize for the winner is a fresh pot of cream. After many failed attempts for what would replace Pumbaa's tail (such as a cuckoo clock), Dorothy suggests they use a scarf, but it unravels.

The next day, Sylvester goes to visit Kurt Von Trapp and he finds a note that says "Gon Out Bizy Discord". Because Sylvester is unable to read the note, he asks for Blu's help. Blu's poor reading comprehension    skills lead Sylvester and his friends to believe that Kurt Von Trapp has been abducted by a ruthless and mischievous monster they call "Discord" and he describes it in a song that is shown in a chalk-drawn scene. Wags plans to trap Discord in a pit, which they think he'll fall into after following a trail of items leading to it. Meanwhile, Sulley, wanting a sidekick to help him defeat Discord, recruits Pumbaa to be a second Sulley. He dresses up like Discord and tries to teach Pumbaa how to fight. Pumbaa, who is doing this against his will, escapes from Sulley and hides underwater.

After a failed attempt to get cream from a baboon tree, Sylvester's imagination combined with his hunger get the better of him which has end up eating some mud and later, accidentally falls into the pit meant for Discord. Wags, Dorothy, Chomper, Blu and Pumbaa (who had found an anchor whilst he was hiding to replace his own tail) try to get him out, but fall in themselves. Tweety attempts to get Sylvester and friends out of the trap (though continuously irritating Wags with over-interpretations of his instructions), but he runs into Sulley, still in his Discord outfit, and mistakes him for the actual monster. Tweety escapes from Sulley on a red balloon, which knocks some of the storybook's letters into the pit. After the chase, Sulley and Tweety fall into the trap as well, where Pumbaa reminds Sulley that he, being "the only one," is "the most wonderful thing about Monstes". Eventually, Sylvester figures out to use the fallen letters to form a ladder, and the animals are able to escape the pit. They soon find Kurt Von Trapp, and tell him about Discord, but he clarifies, saying he meant to be "back soon." The creamy pot prize was given to the red balloon from earlier, much to Sylvester's dismay.

Later, Sylvester visits Blu only to find that Blu was the one that took Pumbaa's tail, not realizing it belonged to Pumbaa. Blu had been using Pumbaa's tail as a bell-pull for his door. Sylvester chooses to leave and return the tail to Pumbaa instead of sharing a pot of cream with Blu. Kurt Von Trapp is proud of Sylvester's selflessness and rewards him with a large pot of cream.

In a post-credits scene, it is revealed that the rumored Discord actually exists deep in the woods, but is much friendlier than imagined. He discovers the trail of objects that the animals left, and picks up each one, planning to return them to whoever owns them. He ends up falling into the pit that was originally meant for him and waits for someone to arrive and help him out. He adds, "I sure hope that fellow will be back soon".

Voice cast

 * Jeff Bergman as Sylvester
 * John Goodman as Sulley
 * Jeff Bergman as Tweety
 * Paul Field as Wags
 * Jesse Eisenberg as Blu
 * Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa
 * Joe West as Kurt Von Trapp
 * Carolyn Ferrie as Dorothy
 * Cannon Young as Chomper
 * John de Lancie as Discord
 * Tim Allen as the narrator

Short films
The movie was preceded by the animated short The Ballad of Mewsette, which was about a friendly Turkish Angora cat named Mewsette and how she and her best friend Donald, the rubber duck, came to live in the moor they now call home.

Home media
The film was first released on DVD only on August 22, 2018 in the UK, where it does not fall under the numbered Animated Classic branding. In the US, it was released as number 51 in the Animated Classics range on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on October 25, 2018. The releases included animated shorts The Ballad of Mewsette and Mini-Adventures of Sylvester the Cat: "Sylvester's Balloon", as well as deleted scenes.

Soundtrack
Hoping to find the right songwriters for their film, Sylvester the Cat directors Chris Buck and Kevin Lima sent visuals to five songwriting teams. The duo instantly fell in love with the demos returned by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. Hence, the Menken and Slater wrote seven songs for the film, including "The Tummy Song", "A Very Important Thing to Do", "Everything Is Creamy", "The Winner Song", "The Discord Song", "Sylvester's Finale", and "It's Gonna Be Great". India Menzel performs three songs for the film, including a take on the Sylvester the Cat theme song, "A Very Important Thing to Do" and an original end-credit song "So Long," which was written by India Menzel and performed with the band mate Phil Collins.

The film was scored by Christophe Beck, with additional music by Christopher Willis.

In the trailer, the song "Somewhere Only We Know" by English alternative rock band Keane     was used instead of the music written by Christophe Beck. The song by Keane is not included on the soundtrack.

The song "So Long" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media    at the 2019 ceremony.

Track listing
All music composed by Christophe Beck (with additional music by Christopher Willis), except as noted.