Tweetie Pie | |
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Directed by | I. Freleng |
Story by | Tedd Pierce Michael Maltese [ citation needed ] [1] |
Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet [2] |
Music by | Carl Stalling |
Animation by | Gerry Chiniquy Manuel Perez Ken Champin Virgil Ross |
Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
Backgrounds by | Terry Lind |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 7:02 |
Language | English |
Tweetie Pie is a 1947 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. [3] The short was released on May 3, 1947, and stars Tweety with Sylvester, who is called "Thomas" in this cartoon. [4]
Tweetie Pie marks the first pairing of the characters Sylvester and Tweety, and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1947, [5] breaking Tom and Jerry 's streak of four consecutive wins in the category and winning Warner Bros. their first Academy Award. [6]
Thomas the Cat persistently endeavors to capture Tweety, a canary he discovers outside seeking warmth from a smoldering cigar stub amidst wintry conditions. Thomas's unseen owner intervenes just in time to prevent Tweety from becoming his prey, reprimanding Thomas for his predatory instinct. Despite explicit instructions to leave Tweety undisturbed, Thomas repeatedly attempts to seize him from his cage, each endeavor culminating in calamitous failures that attract his owner's admonishment and physical chastisement.
Employing cunning stratagems, Tweety manipulates Thomas, feigning distress to provoke a response and later resorting to self-defense by pricking Thomas's palm with a pin, inducing him to relinquish his hold. Subsequent efforts by Thomas to reenter the domicile through the chimney and a basement window are thwarted by Tweety's resourcefulness, resulting in comedic misadventures and Thomas's successive humiliations.
Undeterred by setbacks, Thomas devises an elaborate contraption to ensnare Tweety, yet his scheme precipitates his own injury instead. In a final, ill-fated endeavor to capture Tweety, Thomas inadvertently triggers a catastrophic collapse of the attic ceiling, prompting a frenzied response in which he destroys his owner's broom in a futile attempt to evade retribution. Ultimately, Thomas finds himself on the receiving end of punishment, administered not by his owner, but by the diminutive Tweety, who disparagingly dubs him a "bad ol' putty tat."
In 1946, Bob Clampett, the original creator of Tweety, conceived the idea for a fourth cartoon featuring the bird, intending to pair Tweety with Friz Freleng's Sylvester the Cat. This proposed cartoon, tentatively titled Fat Rat and the Stupid Cat, aimed to mark the first collaboration between Sylvester and Tweety, transitioning Tweety from a wild baby bird to a domestic canary. [7] However, Clampett's departure from Warner Bros. in May led to the cancellation of the project during pre-production. His final Tweety cartoon, A Gruesome Twosome , was released.
Meanwhile, Freleng was developing a sequel to his earlier Sylvester cartoon, Peck Up Your Troubles , featuring Sylvester in pursuit of a clever woodpecker, [8] [9] with production of that short started in June 1945. Freleng, however, took a liking to Clampett's character and eventually decided to replace the woodpecker with Tweety, despite initial objections from producer Edward Selzer, who deemed the pairing impractical. [10] Freleng's insistence on using Tweety led to a confrontation, in which he threatened to quit his job. Selzer eventually relented, allowing the collaboration. [11] The resulting film, which starred Sylvester and Tweety, earned Warner Bros. its first Oscar, an accolade initially accepted by Selzer and later inherited by Freleng after Selzer's passing in 1970. [12]
This successful pairing cemented Tweety and Sylvester as a popular duo, ensuring their continued partnership in subsequent appearances due to their substantial star power. However, Sylvester also featured in numerous shorts without Tweety, notably in the Hippety Hopper series alongside Sylvester Jr., directed by Robert McKimson. Additionally, Sylvester appeared alongside Speedy Gonzales in cartoons supervised by both Freleng and McKimson, earning another Oscar in 1955 for their collaboration.
Although the cartoon was re-released into the Blue Ribbon program in 1955, the cartoon's original titles are known to exist. [13] When re-released, like most Merrie Melodies at the time, the original ending bullet titles were kept. On the following sets, the Blue Ribbon re-release print is available. The original titles were found in 2011 and it is unknown if Warner Bros. is aware of their existence, since the Platinum Collection set released in 2012 still had the Blue Ribbon titles.
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.
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.
Tweety and the Beanstalk is a 1957 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc and June Foray (uncredited). The short was released on July 1, 1957, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
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.
I Taw a Putty Tat is a 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on April 1, 1948, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
A Gruesome Twosome is a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on June 9, 1945, and stars Tweety.
Bad Ol' Putty Tat is a 1949 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on July 23, 1949, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Tweety's Circus is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 4, 1955, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Tugboat Granny is a 1956 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 23, 1956, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Tweet Zoo is a 1957 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. Originally released on May 29, 1957, this short stars Tweety and Sylvester.
The Rebel Without Claws is a 1961 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on July 15, 1961, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Chili Weather is a 1963 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on August 17, 1963, and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester.
All a Bir-r-r-d is a 1950 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. It was written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng. The short was released on June 24, 1950, and stars Tweety, Sylvester and an unnamed bulldog, who would later become known as Hector.
Heir-Conditioned is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The short was released on November 26, 1955, and features Elmer Fudd and Sylvester.
Greedy for Tweety is a 1957 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 28, 1957, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Peck Up Your Troubles is a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on October 20, 1945, and stars Sylvester the Cat.
Tom Tom Tomcat is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 27, 1953, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
A Street Cat Named Sylvester is a 1953 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 5, 1953, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.
Nuts and Volts is a 1964 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on July 20, 1964, and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester.
Mouse and Garden is a 1960 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The Academy Award-nominated cartoon was released on July 16, 1960, and stars Sylvester.