Muzzle Tough

I saw "Muzzle Tough" on Cartoon Network's Boomerang channel last night (10/26/04) and when I was at work today I couldn't stop chuckling to myself, thinking about the outrageous finale. Sure, it was funny when Sylvester put on the yellow female dog costume to try and get past the bulldog (strutting by to the strains of "It Had To Be You"), and when the bulldog began doing the "apache dance" once he saw "her." But what had me in stitches the most was the mandate Sylvester screamed to the driver of the dog pound truck after he was caught: "Sufferin' succotash! Let me out of here! I'm not a dog! I'm a cat! K-A-T!!!!" (Maybe Sylvester and Krazy Kat are related? Heh, heh!) But then, little did Tweety know that two more cats (also disguised as lamps) were watching him.... Back to Square One!

Granny and Tweety are moving into a new apartment building. Sylvester spots the bird and makes his move but he isn't prepared for Granny's other pet -- bulldog Spike. Throughout the cartoon, Sylvester tries one thing after another to get past the guard dog and reach Tweety. Tweety is adorable and fun. Poor Sylvester's attempts to get past Spike are so funny to watch. The highlights include Sylvester masquerading as a piano mover and a female dog, as well as a hilarious bit with a bearskin rug. Granny's also a hoot in this one. It's a funny cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, with some really great animation. The colors are beautiful and the characters, backgrounds, and action are all nicely drawn. Lively music from Carl Stalling. Great voice work from Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet. It's a good short that should please any fan of the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons.

When Granny and Tweety move into a new house no one is more pleased than the cat Sylvester who spies the chance to get a bird for lunch. However the front door is blocked by a massive dog that Sylvester must get past to get a shot at grabbing Tweety.

With it's fall back on the catchphrases and good routines, this is a superior Tweety Pie cartoon that shows imagination in it's delivery of good solid gags, the likes of which you will have seen elsewhere. Some of the stuff is old but it is still funny.

The characters are the classic bird/cat/dog and they all work well. Tweety isn't annoying, the dog is simply butch and Sylvester is funny with his antics. Overall this all works pretty well and has funny jokes as part of the usual formula that make it feel funny and has a strong punch line at the end.

Not among the very best of the Sylvester/Tweety cartoons(which I generally enjoy more than most do) but towards the top end. The outcome of the gags and the end of the cartoon are not all that surprising at all(but to be honest you come to expect that from Sylvester and Tweety) and a couple of the gags do have a strong hint of deja vu(like the one with the piano). But even with the formulaic nature Muzzle Tough has it still manages to be a lot of fun. It is beautifully animated with the backgrounds looking smooth and not choppy, the characters well-drawn with Sylvester's facial expressions particularly delightful and the vibrant colours. It isn't a Looney Tunes cartoon without a music score from Carl Stalling and the music really makes Muzzle Tough and its action come alive, the energetic rhythms synchronising brilliantly with every movement and gag and the orchestration is lush without being syrupy, rich in colour and surprisingly nuanced too. The dialogue is not as endlessly quotable as most Looney Tunes cartoons but it is still witty and gives you plenty of chuckles, Sylvester of course bags the best lines though Tweety's final line is also one of his better ones(a lot of the time they are lame, especially the one for Tom Tom Tomcat). The gags are unsurprising but very funny and crisply paced, the ending with Sylvester disguising himself as a female dog being especially hilarious, the one with the bearskin also stands out and actually gives Granny something of note instead of completely sidelining her as she doesn't have a huge amount to do here. It is the chemistry between Tweety, Hector and Sylvester that drives the cartoon and also makes it, Sylvester comes off as the most interesting and has the funniest moments. Hector the bulldog is a good menacing adversary and Muzzle Tough does succeed in not making Tweety too cutesy, while he does have the least funny material he is hardly annoying here. Mel Blanc doesn't disappoint in any way here either. Overall, don't expect anything new but there is a lot to enjoy here. 8/10 Bethany Cox