Vöglein, Vöglein auf dem Baum

Here is another funny Looney Tunes effort but I really appreciated was the beautiful artwork. The browns, golds and blues in here of the national forest are spectacular. The restoration process on these Golden Collection DVDs really are apparent on cartoons like this one. This episode is on Vol. 2 of the set.

As for the story, we are in a beautiful national forest with huge redwood-type trees and Sylvester's family has the camper in the trailer park. Sylvester has his own compartment door which he swings open at the first sound of a bird. He rushes out, but a park ranger is there to quickly remind, "Don't get any ideas in that head of yours. Now, get going, cat!" Sylvester slinks away.

The cat spots a nest high up in a tree, investigates, finds an egg, decides to sit on it and hatch it....and out comes Tweety. From that point, it's a chase a la Tom and Jerry and some clever sight gags. One strange sight: Sylvester with all the fur blown off his face. An orange, stubble-faced cat was really a weird thing to see!

Sylvester the Cat escapes from the family RV in a national park. He sets off to hunt for some birds, but it is a Bird and Game Refuge and the Park Ranger is watching him. He climbs up a tree to find an egg in a nest. He sets about to hatch the egg. Tweety is born and becomes a pain in Sylvester.

I don't like Tweety born from Sylvester. It is not only weird. It also ignores imprinting and Tweety is no newborn. It is a weird way to introduce him. There is a lot of the Tweety Sylvester interactions, but none of them are all that memorable. All in all, this is pretty good, but not the best Tweety.

Can you believe it!? In 1951's "Tweet Tweet Tweety" - Sylvester (that sly, old putty-tat) actually goes to the bother of hatching Tweety out of his egg.

And, what does this conniving feline get for his "motherly" duty? Well - It sure isn't a "Thank you" from the quick-thinking little Tweety (who has no intentions of becoming Sylvester's next tasty tidbit).

With this "Looney Tune's" story being set in the National Park Camping Ground - It certainly doesn't take long for Sylvester and Tweety to take on their typical "signature" roles of chaser and the chased (which, once again, results in some very wild and wacky cartoon-ish situations).

Friz Freleng's 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' is one of the dullest cartoons in a series I don't particularly like, the Sylvester and Tweety shorts. Set in a national forest, 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' proceeds to run through a series of tired gags with only the setting to distinguish them from past usage. There are a few inventive moments here and there, including a highly unusual beginning where Sylvester actually has to hatch Tweety out to get at him. However, once Tweety arrives on the scene the cartoon takes a nosedive. As a big fan of the original Bob Clampett take on Tweety, Freleng's cutesy pie version has always grated on me and in 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' (a title which betrays the dearth of ideas surrounding this project) the little yellow bird is especially obnoxious and irritating. He even manages to spoil an otherwise fine climax in which Sylvester rows up a waterfall with a quip that doesn't even try to be funny. With Freleng's Tweety, the writers obviously wanted to emphasise the cuteness in favour of gags but a big pair of blue eyes is no substitute for a decent wisecrack. The only other noteworthy feature of 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' is a nifty little gag in which Sylvester and Tweety actually turn time backwards and forwards in order to effect what time a geyser will erupt. Unfortunately, the inevitable payoff of the gag is badly directed and utterly anticlimactic. All in all, 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' recalls the levels of tedium reached in the similarly dull 'Bad Ol' Putty Tat', a cartoon which 'Tweet Tweet Tweety' actually reuses footage from.

I personally like the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons, and while not their best Tweet Tweet Tweety is no exception to that. The pacing is a tad uneven though, starting off a little slower than I thought it would. However, the animation particularly of the forest itself is handsomely done, and the music especially Tweety's song and the glissando in the scoring is wonderful. The dialogue is good enough, but the sight gags are even better. While the story is admittedly slight it rarely ceases to be entertaining, and the ending works very well. Sylvester is suitably crafty, and I personally didn't mind Tweety that much though he is more active in other cartoons of his. Mel Blanc is superb again. Overall, this is a fun cartoon without being outstanding. 8/10 Bethany Cox