For this particular animated feature, Gus intended to subvert the whole cat vs. dog paradigm. Not a cat which outsmarted a dog - that had happened thousands of times - but a cat ]who was simply physically stronger than a dog. & not a giant cat versus a tiny dog, no; a normal sized tomcat versus your average cartoon bulldog. It would be unexpected & hilarious.
Gus' son, also named Gus, who often lent his voice to his father's cartoons, disagreed. "I don't understand, papa," he said, "why is the cat strong?"
"He's just strong," said the father.
"Does he eat spinach like Popeye?" asked little Gus.
"No, he's just strong."
The youngster couldn't wrap his brain around it. "Does he exercise? Does he take a pill? Did he find a genie? Is he magic? Is he a cat from another planet? Is he a cat from the future?"
"No, no, no," the older Gus tried to explain. "He just happens to be stronger than the dog. It's just how he's built. Have you ever known someone who, even if he is small, he's still stronger than a bigger guy?"
Young Gus thought about & said, "I guess so."
"This cat is like that! He just happens to be stronger than most other cats!"
"But even stronger than a dog?"
Gus nodded happily. "Yes!" he said. "That's what makes it funny!"
"But," said his son, "it doesn't make any sense!"
Gus thought about that sentence for a long time, & wondered at what age - if it happened at all - children understood absurdity. & then he rewrote the cat versus dog cartoon so the weaker cat outsmarted the beastly dog.
& his son Gus laughed & laughed.
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