The Pawed Piper

"What are you going to do, Mister Piper?"
"Don't worry. Sooner or later, everyone must pay the piper."
"And sooner or later, everyone always pays the tax cat. That's me."

—My Melody, The Pawed Piper, and Mayor Catnip

The Pawed Piper is an episode of Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater season 1 and is based on the story of The Pied Piper. Instead of rats, like in the original story, fleas are being used in the story. It was originally released January 8, 1987.

Story[]

Can anything make Catnip grumpier than sharing the spotlight with her pals? Yes… fleas! But even this fussy feline knows when to step aside – and let Hello Kitty come in to save the day!

Plot[]

Before the play, Grinder begins to train his troops as their commander such as saluting and marching, in the most clumsiest way possible. Hello Kitty observes at the last second, calling out for curtain time.

Once upon a meow, there was a sleepy little town in Germany named Hamhocks, where nothing really interesting happens there. But today, this will all change.

At the fountain, Hello Kitty asks her friends, My Melody and Chip, if they want to play roll-the-hoop around the fountain. Chip declines, saying that they already did that yesterday, and to do it down the road today. As the three roll their hoops out the gate and down the road, a swarm of fleas approach in the other direction. They hear a noise, and see the fleas give chase in the form of a motorcycle rider and run back to the village. At the gate, Commander Grinder arrives and enters the village with three of his troops, just as the three bump into the fourth trooper and onto the lever to close the gate. The fleas take advantage of this and ramp over the wall. The commander tries to question the three of what was going on, until they all see the fleas and run away. The fleas chase after the commander and his troops, making them all itch and scream as they try to evade them.

Meanwhile, Mayor Catnip was getting her massage from Grandma Kitty. The mayor hears the noise outside, wondering if it was the commander; it was, hopefully doing his job. The fleas appear at the window, and Grandma Kitty runs away, leaving the mayor with the fleas, until she noticed, itching and screaming in horror. Kitty, Melody and Chip were hiding out in the bell tower, trying to figure out how to deal with this than just stand in one place. Kitty notices a van driving toward the village; it's the Pawed Piper, perhaps he can help get rid of this ongoing flea problem. The fleas open the gate and before they could infest him, the piper uses his kazoo to control the fleas. He turns the van around and the back transforms into a stage. He asks them of who to speak to; Mayor Catnip of course. The mayor runs outside from an army of fleas in the form of a large rat, saying that he can have anything if he can just get rid of these fleas as she climbs a tree to hide from them. He asks her if she's sure she meant it, and she responds back with a yes as the fleas compromise her hiding spot as a large vulture. He then tells her to remember that "she must always pay the piper," as he gets the stage ready to deal with the problem. Before the fleas could devour the mayor like a hot dog, the piper and his band begin playing, and all the fleas fall to their music, as the commander attempts to catch the mayor from the air and into the pond. Kitty is amazed that he could do it, Melody thanks him, and they and Chip give him a thumbs up as the band leads the fleas out of the village. The mayor is pleased, telling the troops to shut the gate so they can never see them again. Kitty tells her that she needs to pay the piper, but the mayor doesn't care as a trooper closes the gate, directly on the mayor's tail and runs away. Chip says that he saved them, so she has to pay, but the mayor doesn't want another word about it. The three are rather worried.

Later, the piper comes back knocking on the gate. The troops see him and go to alert the sleeping commander. He and a trooper splash water onto the piper, saying that the mayor said to go away, but she hasn't paid him. The gate opens, and the two are shocked to see that Kitty, Melody and Chip were the ones who opened it, as the commander tells his trooper to close it back down now. Kitty said how they're glad to see him, with him saying that at least somebody is. The mayor runs out wanting to know who let him in, it was Hello Kitty, My Melody and Chip who did. She has to pay the piper like she promised. He did at least get rid of those fleas, so she decides to actually do so. Before the piper and his band could leave with the chest of marks, they are stopped by the mayor, because they haven't paid for the city fees yet. In total, the piper owes the mayor 385 mk. As unfair as this sounds, the piper makes a plan.

The piper and his band gather all of the children of Hamhocks and form a march. The mayor sees this and she and the commander try to stop him, but the piper tells her not to worry for he will bring them back with those taxes he owes her. Everyone in the village erupts in anger as the march continues down the road.

By the time they all return, the mayor is pleased that he's decided to pay the "tax cat" and return the children, about to charge him for catnapping. The piper would never do such thing as that; he likes children, they know how to play fair. Mayor Catnip and Commander Grinder are horrified to see what's in the bag, fleas! This is why the piper gave them all flea collars. The fleas come out of the bag and chase and itch the two all over again. Chip says that next time they'll know to keep their promise, as he, Hello Kitty, My Melody and the Pawed Piper watch the two get chased by the fleas, again.

The story ends and the actors bow, as Catnip and Grinder still get chased by fleas as they watch, giggling.