The Cat Came Back 

This was my grandma's favourite cartoon. She passed away a few days ago and I'm watching it to remember her.

I remember when Cartoon Network has this segment called "O Canada" and it played a variety of Canadian Cartoons. This was one of them

I get the song stuck in my head randomly from time to time

This just popped in my head after 30+ years for no reason, I’m so glad to find this!!! And I’m impressed at the quality of the video! Thanks for sharing this! 🥰

I have the most joyfully buoyant memories of laughing until our bellies hurt after watching this with my mama in the early 90s. Good times!

I'd watch this with my daughter and she would laugh and laugh. Just showed it to my granddaughter and she made me replay it over and over until I said enough!! Great, timeless masterpiece.

Nothing short of an animated masterpiece...I've seen it 1000 times and it only gets better every time I see it

This used to be on to fill space when there was a hockey game on TV in Canada. This, Blackfly. The Big Snit, and the Log Drivers Waltz were routine for many years. Thanks for the memories! : )

This song/video has been haunting my mind since the late 90s when it was aired on Cartoon Network on O Canada.

I love the cat’s casual attitude about destroying Mr Johnson’s house.

I'm here for the nostalgia. I remember when my teachers used to put this on in class all the time. It used to be one of my favorite things.

Had this song playing in my head decades after seeing it. That's an impressive ear worm, and still holds up

CBC in the late 80s and the early 90s ... this alone with "little black fly" was my childhood. Lol

I never realized how like 80% of Nickelodeon’s content came from Canada back in its early days.

I woke up humming this song for like 10 minutes and then I started singing the lyrics....I'm amazed by how my brain remembers so much from my childhood. Thank you RU-vid for helping me😍

I see all these “Good ol Canada” comments, I grew up in Iowa USA and adored this song as well growing up. We sang it in school, at home, out having fun. Def a 90s classic.

The 'what the ffff' part while he's flying down the tracks always made my dad laugh.

I remember Nickelodeon would air this cartoon from time to time, and I was always delighted to watch it. Pretty sure this is what spawned my love for cats 😹

Here’s a story for everyone, so sit tight. When I was 6 years old, I had many breathing problems. Therefore eventually my family came to the conclusion that I needed my tonsils removed. I went to the doctor, got them removed, and went home with no complications. The doctors said I would be able to eat like normal after two weeks. Fast forward a month, I ate no more than 5 lays potato chips. Throughout the night, I was bleeding in my throat as the stitches weren’t put in correctly and hadn’t finished healing. That night I woke up and passed out next to my mother. I went brain dead for approx 8 minutes before the ambulance got to our house and resuscitated me. I arrived at the hospital in critical condition and got 4 bags worth of blood transfusion. In my hospital room, there was a TV. When I finally was conscious again and woke up, my parents got a series of DVD’s to put on the TV. This video was on one of them, and it’s my most prominent memory from then. Thanks for reading :)

As someone with numerous cat family members over the years, I can easily suggest; all Old Mr. Johnson had to do was try to call the cat to him & get its attention, it woulda turned its back to him & walked right out. Of course, once it was on the other side of the door, it'd want right back in... ; ) This was a fun video, I've never seen it or heard the song before!

Right in the childhood.

I remember watching this as a kid, it brings back so many good memories

My mom was a folksinger. I was raised on this song. As a kid, I always wished old Mr Johnson would just die instead, so the cat could go live with someone nice.

When I was a kid my mother showed me this animation. It is now a classic in my family!

My teacher would always play this on his guitar. It drove the class nuts, but I always loved it. Reminds me of him.

When I was an Ontario College of Art student in the 70's, we would borrow 16 mm films (and a projector) from the Toronto Library and hold NFB movie parties at the house I shared with three other guys. This film has always been one of my absolute favorites!!

Yellow cats, bro.

This is even funnier to me now as a grown-ass man than it was when I watched it as a kid.

I love the drawing style... something a 10 year old could draw, but the animating it takes a genius.

Growing up in Canada I loved this song and adored Fred Penner. Years later at an open mic, Fred Penner told me he liked my song. That's all I've ever needed in life. Hang in there buds!

This is one of the funniest animations I’ve ever seen

They used to play this on Nickelodeon back in the late 80s in between shows

The artistry and quality of this cartoon is 100%. Quite incredible. Has to be perhaps the best cartoon I have ever watched, and I worked as a cartoonist myself once.

I seem to recall this played several Christmases when I was small, and it has become something of an alternative classic.

I haven't heard that song in 35 years.

I remember watching this as a kid and for some reason getting totally freaked out by the bug on the railroad tracks that broke in half.

An old friend once sent me this video as a birthday gift, probably 15 years ago, and even to this day I still remember the entirety of the song, and video! I'll never get enough of it!

This is brilliant. I hope to find more of these gems.

The bug on the track gets me every time !!!

I have watched this cartoon time and again since the 90s. It is so incredibly funny. And gotta love that hand-drawn animation.

We had to watch this for a lecture in my film and animation history class lol

This is by far the best version of this... sorry Muppets.

LOVE IT LOVE IT! The music is a ear worm! Stuck in my head for days!

Will always adore you Richard Condie ! " I certainly do!" you always said. Wonderful memory lane experience. I am now almost 73 and you are probably still creating, I am loving paintng and writing as retired teacher. Always treasured a sense of humour, yours, mine everybody's ! Laugh 'till we croak, eh? My latest painting is on plywood with a real sign in the middle that says HURRICANES PARKING ONLY ( from Costa Rica, cool place) Another painting is a wooden door with grafitti on it " NO ESTACIONAR SALE CARRO which apparently means " Don't even imagine parking your horse-drawn cart in front of my gate!" God bless the quirky !!

This was my absolute favourite thing when I was a kid. It's still as amazing as I remember it, even more so now that I'm old enough to understand the dark humour.

fun fact: this short film was released in theaters alongside Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Huh why are there no comments on this masterpiece

The nostalgia is hitting rn

I love this tune. 40+ years later I still love singing it. And it came from Canada! The NFB was stationed here in Winnipeg, where I’m from. Boy, we need to create tunes again that people love to sing for no reason but fun! ❤❤🎉

Look at the shitload of similar bags at the bottom of the ocean at 3:09

Still funny after all these years.

Now it's in your head...Foreverr!!

This was my favourite thing to watch on repeat as a kid, just remembered the name and I’m happy it’s here on yt for me to re-experience

Still cracks me up after all these years

Love it. Please share for all Canadians to see

I don't know why my 4th grade teacher showed me this (circa 1990), but I'm glad she did. This film has endeared me to Canadian animation ever since. Thank you for this HD upload, NFB, and thank you for continuing to support wonderful artists and their works.

4:53 WHAT THE F--? This is still a brilliant little animation. Surprisingly dark and nihilistic, to a nearly over the top extent. For me, this is second only to 'The Big Snit' as the NFB's masterpiece.

This is a national treasure ...

Pretty cool. Poor kitty.

I enjoy that NFB put these in the high res they deserve! Kudos to classics!

I start humming this tune every time I open the door and one of the cats comes in.

Still a classic. Damn! I'm getting old..

Just one of the best cartoons ever made. So many wonderful little touches like: • What’s left of the carpet coming up with his chin as he gets up • The camera’s ??? ’expression’ when the truck disappears out of shot • The timing of the final chord and the balloon disappearing behind the hill Fantastic.

Haven't seen this in years! My family and I loved this in the 80's (thanks, Nickelodeon!) and we joked about for ages. Thank you for putting this online.

I taught art for 43 years - this is one I showed when it became available during my animation unit!

I had this song on an album of children's songs by Rolf Harris back in the early 70s.

I have watched almost every video of this channel a long time ago but now I started to watch them again. Really very good with some meaning ful lesson

Some clichés at their best! Still laught at the railway joke with the girls, the cow and the bug!

Am I the only one who thinks the ending is a bit morbid. It creeped me out when I watched it back then. I love it anyway. Thank You

I watched this everyday as a kid, and now, i havent thought about this for years and it just popped up on my for you page and i forgot about it, i watched it, and even now, this is good

I love this old folk song...I had no idea it was made into a short animation film.

Watched this as a kid and just shared it with my 3 and 7 year olds. Thank you for posting it!

"How hard could it be?" He said. XD

I watched the first time when I was a kid. I watched it for fun and it's still funny after all these years!!🐈😺🌈🦄⭐👑🦊⚡

I never remembered where this came from, but the distinctive music has managed to stick in my head for decades. I don't think I was even 10 the first time I saw it.

i remember this from O Canada in CN!

I love how there are _many_ damsels tied to the tracks, to which Mr. Johnson has no reaction; it's just mundane. But the COW! OMG! Who the hell would tie a cow to the tracks!?

I've been showing all these short animated films to my daughter and she LOVES them. I love them, too...they bring me back to my childhood. Thanks for posting them!

One of my favorite NFB films of all time. This is very old but very good.

I was looking for another film board short, and came across this. It actually brought back memories.

A classic among classics :)

i remember in like first grade they showed us this video and when i found it again i cried!! it was my favorite thing and this video led me to “the big snit” which also made me cry. i love these animations and thank you for the nostalgia.

Thanks for uploading

This is when the NFB really shined. Such good stuff. I love the Big Snit too, so awesome.

waaaaaaay back when I was in daycare, one of the adults working there would be begged to put this video on for me and the other kids, we used to effin’ love it.

Absolutely brilliant!! Haven't seen this in years. Thanks for the upload of this classic.

Me: comes to watch this because I remember the music teacher making us watch it 4 years ago*

I grew up watching this cartoon REPEATEDLY as a kid, all the way down south in Texas. 😁 Still a favorite of mine, and the song is still stuck in my head almost 30 years later!

So, I have been singing this song (with not so correct words) since around 1991 or 92. I was at the University of Vermont and I volunteered at a film festival. I saw this film. Some crazy song! “If I was God” by Cordell Barker (this film’s creator) popped up right now on my RU-vid front page. So I started watching, got curious and Googled Barker. OH MY GOD!! I was blown away when I saw his list of other films! I thought this film/song was gone for good. I should have known: with the internet, nothing is truly gone forever. I am soooo happy... but sadly reflective as I always am of my college days. Thank you Film Board of Canada. You made this American’s day/life feel complete. Honestly. I have honestly felt a hole. Amazing.

Excellent! So pleased to have found it again! Thank you xx

Possibly the best cartoon ever made.

This is easily one of my favorite NFB cartoons. Brilliantly animated and loaded with comedic energy that makes it a blast to watch again and again.

I watched this as a kid in the early 90s, thought I'd look it up some 30 years later, and it's just as funny as I remember - a classic!! They don't make 'em like this anymore

I remember watching this all the time at school when I was 7 or 8, we loved it 😭😭 never caught the "WHAT THE FF" bit until now

Just noticed all of the other bags in ocean… that’s depressing.

Came here because someone mentioned this film on Twitter. Haven't seen this in 30+ years!

I've loved this cartoon for decades. I'm so glad I came across this 1988 classic; I remember learning the song as a small kid in the early '70s from my older siblings.

the cat is like a regret. Always comes back.

Loved this when I was a kid 😁

I come back to this after years and HOLY SHIT THIS IS ACTUALLY REALLY DARK WTF