Father of the Bird | |
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Directed by | Stephen A. Fossati |
Story by | Stephen A. Fossati |
Produced by | Chuck Jones Linda Jones Clough |
Starring | Joe Alaskey June Foray |
Music by | George Daugherty Cameron Patrick |
Animation by | Tom Decker Patrick Gleeson Roberto Casale |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 minutes |
Language | English |
Father of the Bird is a 1997 traditionally animated Looney Tunes short film directed and co-produced by Stephen A. Fossati and produced by Chuck Jones and Linda Jones Clough starring Sylvester. This short only had a limited theatrical release and was the only other Sylvester short Jones' team worked on in which the character speaks (the other being The Scarlet Pumpernickel (the only one of the two directed by Jones himself)). This was also the final Sylvester cartoon Chuck Jones was involved with. It was also the final Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies short to have Jones involved in and to use traditional cel animation.
Sylvester finds a sparrow egg in a nest. Before he can eat it for breakfast however, a little bird hatches out and calls him "Mama." He warms to the idea of being a father and instead of eating it, he protects the bird throughout a series of near-disasters.
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid." He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age, made between 1942 and 1964.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, but is always humorously unsuccessful in doing so. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey. They comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation.
Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appeared in 103 cartoons in the golden age of American animation, lagging only behind superstars Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck. Three of his cartoons won Academy Awards, the most for any starring a Looney Tunes character: they are Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales, and Birds Anonymous.
Isadore "Friz" Freleng, credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In total he created more than 300 cartoons.
Charlie Dog is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character was featured in nine cartoons between 1941 and 1958. He is generally characterized as a friendly wise guy.
Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon rodent characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones' earliest work that was intended to be funny rather than cute. Seven Hubie and Bertie cartoons were produced between 1943 and 1952.
Catty Cornered is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on October 31, 1953, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. It features a forerunner of the Rocky and Mugsy duo.
Scaredy Cat is a 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 18, 1948, and stars Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat. The cartoon is notable in that it marks the first time the name "Sylvester" is used for the popular feline character. In previous shorts, the cat is unnamed, except for in the 1947 cartoon Tweetie Pie in which he is referred to as "Thomas".
Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release The Squawkin' Hawk, which was directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Henery's second screen appearance, one directed by Robert McKimson, is in Walky Talky Hawky (1946), which also features the characters Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg in their first cartoon roles. The last Warner Brothers theatrical short to showcase the little chickenhawk is the 1961 release Strangled Eggs in which he co-stars again with Foghorn Leghorn as well as with another popular character of that period, Miss Prissy. Following that production, Henery continued to be seen periodically in other animated presentations such as The Looney Tunes Show and Looney Tunes Cartoons.
Life with Feathers is a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short film directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on March 24, 1945, and is the first cartoon to feature Sylvester the Cat.
Pepé Le Pew is an animated character from the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, introduced in 1945. Depicted as a French striped skunk, Pepé is constantly on the quest for love. However, his offensive skunk odor and aggressive pursuit of romance typically cause other characters to run away from him, only to be relentless pursued by Pepé, convinced they are only teasing him.
Birds Anonymous is a 1957 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The short was released on August 10, 1957, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Dog Pounded is a 1954 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 2, 1954, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc. The title is a play on the phrase dog pound.
Snow Business is a 1953 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 17, 1953, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. The title is a pun on "Show Business".
Cheese Chasers is a 1951 Warner Bros. Cartoons Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on August 25, 1951 and stars Hubie and Bertie, with Claude Cat.
A Bird in a Guilty Cage is a 1952 Looney Tunes animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on August 30, 1952, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. The title is a pun on the song "A Bird in a Gilded Cage".
The Looney Tunes Show is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and aired on Cartoon Network for two seasons from May 3, 2011, to November 2, 2013. The series differed from others featuring characters from the Looney Tunes, by focusing on stories conformed around a sitcom format involving the characters of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who live a surburban life together within a neighborhood of fellow cartoon neighbors, dealing with various issues in their own way. Both the characters from the Looney Tunes, as well as the Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon shorts, were given a 21st century update, with episodes also including a musical short; the first series also included computer-animated shorts involving new antics between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Puss n' Booty is a 1943 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on December 11, 1943 in the United States.