Produced by Van Beuren Studios circa 1933, the animated short film Rough on Rats drops us into a playful yet eerie adventure.
The cartoon features three kittens who explore a deserted department store and eventually encounter a large rat.
One scene shows the kittens dancing on a barrel—likely during their mischievous exploration—before the story takes a darker turn.
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Van Beuren Studios was a New York–based animation house active in the 1920s–30s, known for shorts like Aesop’s Sound Fables and early color experiments. Rough on Rats fits right into their quirky, slightly surreal catalog.
INYIM Did You Know? Van Beuren Studios
- Founded in 1920 as Fables Pictures, Inc. by Paul Terry and the Keith-Albee organization. It later became Van Beuren Studios when Amedee J. Van Beuren bought in.
- The studio produced the long-running Aesop’s Film Fables series (1921–1936), one of the earliest sound-integrated cartoon lines.
- Van Beuren released Dinner Time in 1928—a month before Disney’s Steamboat Willie—making it one of the first sound cartoons.
- Notable animation talents passed through its doors, including Joseph Barbera (later co-creator of Hanna-Barbera), Shamus Culhane, and Burt Gillett.
- Distribution shifted from Pathé Exchange to RKO Radio Pictures, until Disney supplanted Van Beuren as RKO’s primary cartoon supplier in 1936.
That’s our Saturday Caturday spotlight on Toonces, the feline driver who turned sketch comedy into cult legend. Comment below with your favorite Toonces crash—we’re ready to laugh along with you.
