Analysis of The Cat Came Back (as presented by the Muppets) by JaMy and KDHD

KDHD-(singing)Benny had a cat
That they wouldn't let him keep.
So he put her up for sale,
At a price he thought was cheap.

JaMy-Why did Benny's parents even let him get a cat if they weren't going to let him keep it?

KDHD-I don't know.

JaMy-That just seems cruel, parenting-wise.

KDHD-He found it, I guess.

JaMy-Then why doesn't the song say that he found it? 'Cause if he found it, why didn't he just give it away? To a good home?

KDHD-Well, maybe that was the price he thought was cheap. Free.

JaMy-You know, if he took money for the cat, it would kind of seem dishonest, what with the cat coming back and all...

KDHD-Yeah, but he didn't KNOW the cat would come back. I mean, it was just sitting on the porch the very next day.

JaMy-You'd think the new owners would have done something special to keep the cat at their house. Extra cream or some catnip or something.

KDHD-Maybe they did. The song doesn't specify what transpired at the new owners' house, except they wanted the cat to help with the mice. So maybe the cat didn't appreciate being sold into servitude. To a dog, no less.

JaMy-...and what's the deal with the fiddle-playing critter in the attic?

KDHD-I think it's a coyote. or a wolf. Regardless, they have a fiddle-playing....thing in the attic and that's just weird.

JaMy-Plus, I can't help but wonder why the cat insists on returning to a home with a banjo-playing dog out front.

KDHD-Considering that all the neighbors appear to be dogs, I think he just feels safer with Benny. In spite of the aforementioned fiddle-playing thing in the attic. Even though Benny will stop at nothing to rid himself of this cat. I think the problem lies in continually giving the cat to a dog. You can't give a cat to a dog. It won't take.

Also...what's the deal with the cat's eye patch?

JaMy-Yeah, none of the other mishaps leave a mark on this cat. Not the cannon. Not the car crash. Not the bomb.


KDHD-That cat is a survivor. She's hard-core. I wonder if the cat already had the eye patch when Benny got her. Maybe the cat is some kind of evil mastermind and that's why Benny's parents wouldn't let him keep her.


JaMy-We never see Benny's parents. I think they, like the rest of the neighborhood, are dogs. I think Benny was adopted and was a horrible, horrible disappointment to his parents when he got older and started cavorting with cats. Especially evil mastermind spy cats who wear creepy eye patches and are determined to undermine the entire dog community with their espionage.

Come to think of it...the song never actually says who "they" are. Benny might not even have parents at all. Maybe he lives with evil relatives, like Harry Potter!

KDHD-Dear Lord, woman.