Three Orphan Kittens 1935

Three playful kittens — Cats (the black one), the orange kitten, and the grey kitten — find shelter inside a house after being left out in the snow. They soon discover warmth and curiosity in the kitchen as the housekeeper, Mammy Two-Shoes, tends to a meal and glances their way with a mix of caution and amusement. The trio roams through different corners of the home, from sunlit parlor to cozy nooks, letting their innocent mischief set the tone for what promises to be a gentle, lighthearted day.

At a certain moment, the story zeroes in on the black kitten as it pursues a fluttering feather and climbs onto a pianola keyboard. The kitten’s playful pawing scampers along the keys, and the feather nudges the on-switch, waking the instrument with a cheerful chime. The pianola then bursts into a lively rendition of Kitten on the Keys, a tune composed by Zez Confrey in 1921. The music invites the other two kittens to join in, and they pounce and paw at the keyboard, circling the instrument in a shared symphony of kittenish curiosity.

When the song winds down, the three kittens are gently shepherded away from the pianola by the housekeeper, who is ready to usher them outside. But a little girl, Girl, intervenes, offering a tender alternative—she decides to adopt the kittens and open a new chapter for them, giving these tiny explorers a hopeful home.