Tarte aux tweets

The first short to pair Sylvester & Tweety was also the first short to win an Oscar for Warner Bros, breaking the streak MGM had going thanks to Tom & Jerry. Which is interesting because, in some ways, the Sylvester & Tweety series was very similar to Tom & Jerry. At least in terms of the basic structure of a cat chasing after a cute little critter. Also, the cat being named Thomas and the human woman who scolds the cat and hits him with a broom are other similarities in this first entry. Obviously there's much more to both series that separates them but there seemed to be something about this premise they both had in common that pleased Oscar voters back then as Tom & Jerry won a bunch of them and Sylvester & Tweety won a couple.

The story here is pretty basic. Sylvester (called Thomas here) catches Tweety outside in the snow. But before he can eat the bird, his owner catches him and brings adorable little Tweety inside. This doesn't stop the cat, who tries repeatedly to get at the bird with comical results. Tweety is much more aggressive (and Jerry-like) in defending himself against Sylvester in this first short. This is a good start to a series that would get much better once Sylvester developed his own personality and Tweety's was fleshed out some more. As it is, it's a funny short with nice animation, music, and voicework. I'm not sure it deserved the Oscar win but the Academy probably wanted to give a win to someone besides MGM or Disney that year and WB's Looney Tunes were screwed out of wins many other times.

. . . have long credited TWEETIE PIE and its sequels for inspiring the U. S. craving for McNuggets. Each time Sylvester the cat ingests yet another bite-sized yellow bird, viewers--especially children--sense their mouths watering for their own taste of low-maintenance avian protein. Furthermore, every time the weakest link in the food chain is reincarnated to emerge from the tasteful feline's innards, consumers are reminded of America's nearly inexhaustible supply of yellow chicks awaiting consumption, virtually pleading to be spared future confinement in an egg farm cage by way of being deep-fried as newly hatched critters. The only drawback to this brief animation is its lack of the pie recipe its title seemingly promises.

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.

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!

If you watch a number of these Tweety and Sylvester cartoons you'll notice the two stars with different owners. "Granny" is the usual owner of Tweetie, but not always. Here, in this cartoon we see a woman who already owns Sylvester, taking in Tweetie whom she thinks is an abandoned bird. She calls our cat here "Thomas," too, and she's a nasty woman. She would be reported for animal abuse, in this day and age, as she constantly beats Sylvester with a broom.

This gets off to a good start as Tweetie is outside freezing in the show. Sylvester is hidden inside a snow man waiting for the right time. That comes along quickly and Sylvester jumps out, puts on his snow shoes and starts stalking the little bird. When he pounces, he grabs the little heater that Tweety was using to get warm, instead of the bird. A second try succeeds, but the cat's owner comes out and demands to know what he's hiding inside his paws. She winds up taking in the bird.

The rest of the cartoon is the standard material of the cat trying to catch the bird who is in his cage way up in the ceiling.

This was passable but I didn't care for the beatings "Thomas" took from the owner. I understand this was the first pairing of the two main characters, so it explains why we see different names and different owners. I'm glad "Granny" took over from this woman and Sylvester didn't have to hang around this house for too long.