Canary Row

Oh-Oh! - It looks like that bad, ol' putty-tat is up to no good once again.

Surveying the downtown area from his lookout point inside the office of the "Bird Watchers' Society", Sylvester spies (with his big, bloodshot eyes) a very tasty morsel (across the street) sitting on a windowsill of the Broken Arms Apartments.

And, with that scenario setting the tone of 1950's "Canary Row" - We find Sylvester (that conniving feline), once again, stooping to just about anything in order to capture and consume cute, little Tweety.

But, have no fear! 'Cause Granny is near. And, she will see to it that absolutely no harm comes to her darling, little Tweety... (Yep. You can count on Granny for that)

Sylvester cat spies Tweety bird in a hotel room across the street, but no dog or cats are allowed in there, as per the rules of the management. So he must improvise, but gets more than he has bargained for with Tweety's owner, Granny in a pretty standard Sylvester and Tweety cartoon. It's known high and wide that I dislike Tweety and Granny with a searing intense passion. Fortunately Sylvester's antics are what makes this one watchable and even humorous in a few instances. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1.

My Grade: C+

Canary Row (1950)

*** (out of 4)

Tweety Bird is safely in his cage when Sylvester decides to try and kidnap him for dinner. Sylvester seems to have the upper hand until Granny comes to the rescue. This here isn't the best Tweety/Sylvester short out there but the real star is Granny who clearly steals the film. The feisty old lady still knows how to throw a few punches and her protection of Tweety is the main reason to see this film. Believe it or not this series was never one of my favorites but this one here is an enjoyable seven-minutes with some nice laughs and good action.

With this cartoon, Sylvester the Cat has a new obstacle in trying to catch the Tweety Bird: His owner, Granny, as originally voiced by Bea Benaderet (June Foray would later take over). She may be elderly but she can still belt the cat with the best of them! Other obstacles include an 800 pound weight and Sylvester's miscalculation in the distance from his building to Tweety's in using a rope to swing from one place to another. The cat also disguises himself as a monkey at one point. Since Friz Freling is the director, look for his name on one of the buildings as a drink with "Six Delicious Flavors". This was on disc 4 of The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1. Very funny and highly recommended.

Friz Freleng's 'Canary Row' is a pretty standard Sylvester and Tweety cartoon that somehow got itself nominated for an Oscar. Even more bizarrely, its producer withdrew the nomination for some unknown reason. The main reason for 'Canary Row' gaining heightened attention is probably the first appearance of Granny. To people like me who have grown up watching these cartoons for years, Granny is a well established character and her appearance here is just standard antics. To an audience who had never seen her before, however, Granny added a certain something new to the old cat and bird formula. Granny undoubtedly steals the cartoon, featuring prominently in the few jokes that work. When she's not on screen, the cartoon sags and reverts to predictable, overused gags. Which is not to say that Granny's presence makes every scene great. She plays a significant role in the extended and thoroughly pointless monkey sequence, the most half-hearted joke of the cartoon after the tired ropeswing-into-the-side-of-the-building time filler. I'm not a huge fan of Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester series (I greatly prefer the characters when they appear without each other) but there are certain episodes that stand out as being vastly superior. 'Canary Row' is certainly not one of them, falling firmly into the run-of-the-mill chase category. Oscar material it ain't!