Tarte aux tweets

In the first pairing of Sylvester and Tweety, the former comes up with another series of schemes to catch the latter, always failing miserably. One thing that raises my eyebrows in "Tweetie Pie" is that Sylvester is for some reason called Thomas (as identified by his stricter-than-strict mistress). What gives? Oh well, it's still a great cartoon. I can see why it won an Academy Award. The winter setting also gives it an interesting spin. But even if it didn't have that, it would still really be something; how could it not be, with Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet doing the voices? A formidable cartoon classic in every way, shape and form.

I didn't like "Tweety Pie". He was a nasty and manipulative little critter who used all his butter-wouldn't-melt tactics to thwart the perfectly reasonable efforts of "Thomas" to do what cats do. Eat him! This time, it's a very snowy garden that finds these two "playing", but as ever it's their owner who saves the feathers! She's determined that her two favourite pets are going to learn to play nice - but what chance, eh? Tom constructs ever elaborate plans to get the bird from it's cage but is consistently outwitted, usually quite painfully, but his scrawny nemesis. Why did he bother though? There's no meat on the thing, anyway! This is good fun with loads of action, a few quite fun contraptions used and by the end of this, I hated that bird even more!

Before I review TWEETIE PIE, I am going to rant a bit. So, hold on tight and I'll get this over with as quickly as I can. In the history of animated shorts, few would argue that there were any better than those of Warner Brothers in the 1940s and 50s. While some of the MGM and Disney cartoons may have looked better (though all three had wonderful animation), none were as consistently funny and entertaining as the Looney Tunes shorts from Warner. However, oddly, this group of amazing artists won very few Oscars. Tom and Jerry (which I love), although highly repetitive, did great at the Oscars. And, amazingly, crap like the UPA shorts (with characters like Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo) cleaned up at the Oscars in the 1950s even though the animation quality was light-years behind Warners. Somehow, the Oscar folks did Looney Tunes dirty again and again...and I have no idea why. Perhaps they just thought that their cartoons weren't artsy enough or hated that they were intended for the common person out there.

Now, despite my rant, on occasion the Academy got it right--such as in the case of TWEETIE PIE. This is exactly the type of short that usually didn't win, as it was funny and extremely sadistic--two things necessary for a great short!! While some even better shorts by Looney Tunes have been ignored (such as the amazing FEED THE KITTY and CANNED FEUD), at least here they got it right.

This is the first pairing of Sylvester and Tweetie, though the cat is called 'Thomas' in this short. Still, it worked well and the combination seemed like a natural--with this first pairing actually being one of their best, if not the best. Great animation, great humor and a generous sprinkling of violence--this is one wonderful Oscar-winning cartoon.

There are better Looney Tunes cartoons than the Sylvester and Tweety series but the series is still entertaining and nice to watch. Sylvester and Tweety are not among Looney Tunes' greatest duos, but at least their duo makes sense and doesn't feel odd(unlike Daffy and Speedy). Tweetie Pie signals their debut together- having been seen before solo- and it is a great one and one of their better cartoons. The cruelty of Sylvester/Thomas' owner is a turn-off point, the one character here who you dislike from the get go, but that's a personal nit-pick above all else. The animation is vibrant and detailed and with plenty of bounce, both Tweety and Thomas/Sylvester well and recognisably drawn and Thomas/Sylvester's facial expressions are expressively done. Carl Stalling's music not only is orchestrated beautifully but rhythmically it bursts with character and it gives great energy to the action. It's not just it sounding nice and that it's action-enhancing but also how well it accompanies the gestures and expressions of the characters and even the sound effects too. The dialogue is sharp and the gags while not surprising are made funny, in some instances hilarious(especially the one with Thomas/Sylvester trying to fly up to the cage via an electric fan), by the interactions between the duo and Thomas/Sylvester's facial expressions. Which like with Wile E. Coyote induces some of the laughs on their own, I don't think the fireplace gag would have worked quite so well without his reaction to that he was burning. Tweetie Pie is violent but actually not in a sadistic or bizarre way that it churns the stomach like the Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry cartoons did. Tweety has the cute- but not too sickly sweet- persona that he is now famous for but he also has shades of the anarchic personality that was given to him in the Bob Clampett outings. But Thomas/Sylvester makes the biggest impression, not just because he has the funniest moments but you also root for him, and this is in general not just here. He may have a different name and be fatter but the voice and the catchphrase are unmistakable. The two work great together and as aforementioned at the beginning of the review their chemistry makes sense, plus as usual Mel Blanc voices superbly. All in all, a great debut for this bird and mouse duo, one of their best if not their very best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The first pairing of Tweety Bird and Sylvester was also an Oscar winner. Quick, violent and absolutely hilarious. And every time I hear Tweety say "I tawt I taw a puddy tat" I break up. Well worth catching. Also the print I saw had bright, vivid color. TCM usually shows this around Oscar time--look for it!