Como Pegar Um Passarinho

As the two cats struggle to retrieve Tweety from the nest high in a tree, each ploy is designed by Babbit and carried out by his dupe, Catstello. At one point Tweety says his characteristic "I tawt I taw a puddie tat!" This is possibly the first time he used the legendary line. But in this episode it is not joined by the response, "I did! I taw a puddie tat!"

This is the cartoon where Clampett first introduced Tweety. He is a funnier and much more aggressive character here. His design is slightly different from the later Tweety everyone remembers. He looks more like a bird that has just been hatched; tiny, featherless and colored a pinkish hue. The actually stars of the cartoon, though, are a couple of cat caricatures of Abbot and Costello. "Babbit" tries to use "Catstello" to catch Tweety for himself. The cats are very appealing as characters, the timing of the gags is crisp and the dialogue is very clever. This cartoon also marks the beginning of Clampett's breaking away from a more literal style of animation to a more expressive, cartoonier one.

A Tale of Two Kitties (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Babbit and Catstello are two cats who are hungry and find their chance at food in the small bird Tweety. What they don't know is that Tweety is a rather smart fellow who has enough fight in him to defend himself.

I must admit that I was a little shocked to see how much of a wink to Abbott and Costello this Warner short was. The fact that it was a homage wasn't too uncommon but it's rather strange that Warner would pay so much respect to a comedy group that wasn't with them. With that said, the introduction to Tweety was certainly a winner and it's easy to see why he'd eventually have his own series. The Catstello cat was actually a great copy of Costello and I especially loved that child-like nature that they gave him. I thought the studio did a terrific job at making this cat just like the real Lou Costello and it certainly added a lot of fun. There's even a very fun joke aimed at the Hayes Office.

This is one of the better Warner Bros. cartoons of the era ('42), with two cats patterned after Abbott and Costello (Babbitt and Catstello), with Abbott trying to get Costello to pry a teeny bird (who turns out to be Tweety Bird), out of his nest.

The gimmicks Abbott uses to get Costello launched into space are hilarious, each one more clever than the one before. This leaves little time to devote to Tweety Bird, but this is Tweety's first film and he doesn't look quite like the finished product that he became several cartoons later.

The usual high standard of animation is present, along with the character voices supplied by Mel Blanc (Catstello and Tweety) and Tedd Pierce (Babbit).

Soon after Tweety is hatched he is attacked by two dumb but HILARIOUS cats that are made to resemble Abbot and Costallo.

This short directed by Bob Clampett is an HILARIOUS short packed with the debut of Tweety! The short is filled with great gimmicks and outstanding voice work by Mel Blanc.

4(****)out of 4(****)stars

TURN OFF THOSE LIGHTS!!!!