Granted, the old one was a bit too intricate to serve as a logo, & its humanized mouth casts a rather rebellious, sinister mood.
That said, the mouth was the only strongly human part to the cartoon, so turning it cat-like did more than simply change the cartoon's mood.
While I like the old cartoon, I think it's unfinished, unfeline eyes kept it from being more appealing. On the one hand they kept it from looking essentially cat-like (& more like a gremlin of sorts). But those eyes also made it rather soulless. And that was purposeful. If the artist had given it stronger eyes of the same style, the mood cast largely by the mouth would've gone from sinister to something along the lines of evil.
As for the new icon, it's neither strong nor distinctive. It lives entirely off the memory of the clearly superior original, I think. Soulless eyes & all.
mutu.