Greedy for Tweety

This is one of those shorts where Sylvester chases Tweety and Hector the bulldog chases Sylvester. Unlike most of those films, where Sylvester gets beaten up by Hector in the end, this time their chase leads them into traffic, and from there to a recuperative stay in the animal hospital. But even in heavy casts, cat and dog are determined to whack the crap out of each other and cause incredible amounts of pain. Rarely in a WB cartoon has so much pain not been glossed over; there are no fade-outs here, and the pain accumulates for the character rather than just fading away. Because of this, an unusually hilarious and terrific short.

Tweety is chased by Sylvester and Sylvester is chased by Hector the bulldog. Instead of catching each other they are all hit by traffic and they end up in an animal hospital. The lady that takes care of them is not very fond of Sylvester and Hector and very fond of Tweety.

This short has its moments and especially the ending is good, although it also is a little predictable. The Looney Tunes are almost never boring and this one will not disappoint you.

While most of the Tweety-Sylvester cartoons have Tweety brutally inflict pain on Sylvester or see the putty tat attacked by Hector the bulldog, "Greedy for Tweety" throws a wrench in the works by having all three get injured at once. When the trio runs into a busy street and each member ends up with a broken leg - does minuscule little Tweety have enough of a leg to actually get broken? - they get taken to the hospital with Granny as the nurse. Sure enough, Sylvester is still fixated on devouring Tweety (even if it means abusing Hector), while Hector is intent on protecting the little guy (even if it means abusing Sylvester).

Many years ago, I saw this cartoon as part of the compilation film "Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island". But I'd forgotten some of the coolest scenes (namely the X-ray and the hammer-wielding mouse). As for the idea of Sylvester and Hector fanatically continuing their battle while Tweety sensibly tries to get some rest, maybe that's an allusion to the Cold War: the two superpowers sought to destroy each other while smaller, humbler countries tried to settle down. You know what they say: when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

OK, so I probably went a little far in trying to analyze this cartoon. The overall point is that "Greedy for Tweety" is truly a fine one. Friz Freleng always had some great ideas.

Fun Sylvester & Tweety short from director Friz Freleng. Sylvester's chasing Tweety while Hector the bulldog chases Sylvester and all three wind up running into traffic. They're sent to the hospital where Granny is their nurse. Being injured doesn't stop Sylvester and Hector from trying to inflict pain upon one another, though. My favorite scene is when a doped-up Sylvester is losing consciousness but keeps trying to force his eyes to stay open. Every time he opens them Hector is getting one step closer until the inevitable 'pow.' Great animation in this one with lovely colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Lively music and wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc and June Foray. Not one of the best Sylvester & Tweety shorts but a very enjoyable one with lots of laughs.

This is one of those cartoons that, if seen for the first time in one's childhood, remains grafted onto the surface of one's mind forever.... Particularly if, like me, you were raised with a lifelong fear of hospitals. I had two hospital stays in my grade-school years, and then made a very conscientious effort to stay out of them. At least I managed until my late 40s.

CBS and ABC ran this cartoon throughout the 60s, then banned it in the 70s and 80s. It was, however, included on at least three home-video compilations throughout the 80s. It was finally brought back to broadcast TV in the late 80s, by Nickelodeon., so we audiences could again enjoy some good, violent fun.