Release Date:

November 21, 1942

Main Character(s):

Tweety, Babbit and Catstello

Summary:

Babbit and Catstello, two cats who are caricatures of Abbott and Costello, attempt to catch Tweety, who proves to be more than capable of defending himself.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Three Little Kittens” played under the opening credits:

Supervision: Robert Clampett

Story: Warren Foster

Animation: Rod Scribner

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

A sketch of the original title card was also found sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.

This is the first appearance of Tweety, although in his first three appearances (all of which were directed by Clampett), he was featherless and a lot more violent than the later version of him. When Clampett left the studio in 1946, Freleng decided to pair Tweety up with another emerging star, Sylvester (and since the Hays Office thought that Tweety looked naked without feathers, Freleng gave Tweety a coat of yellow feathers). The decision to pair these two characters up would result in the studio winning their very first Oscar.

The cartoon was originally titled simply “Babbit and Catstello”.

Babbit and Catstello would later reappear as mice in Frank Tashlin’s “Tale of Two Mice” (1945) and Robert McKimson’s “The Mouse-Merized Cat” (1946).

The cartoon is in the public domain.

According to a model sheet, Tweety was originally named Orson.

You can find out who animated what scene here.

The cartoon is in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

At one point, Catstello makes a jab at the Hays Office. Unlike “Farm Frolics”, however, the scene was (thankfully) not removed when the cartoon was reissued.

What I Like About This One:

Catstello initially being reluctant to catch a bird, claiming he likes birds. But when Babbit tells him that their target is what Catstello describes as a “poor little teensy-weensy itsy bitsy defenseless bird”, Catstello is suddenly raring to go get him (animated by Robert McKimson).

Catstello now won’t go up the ladder to the nest due to having “heightrophobia” so Babbit complies by poking Catstello in the behind with a needle (animated by Sid Sutherland). With Catstello now on top of the ladder (animated by Rev Chaney), he is urged by Babbit to get the bird (animated by Virgil Ross). Catstello asides, “If the Hays Office would only let me, I’d give him the bird all right!” (animated by Rod Scribner)

Catstello losing his balance (animated by McKimson), causing the ladder to fall apart and form stilts (animated by Chaney). One of the “stilts” falls (animated by McKimson) so Catstello ends up sliding off the only one he’s standing on- into Babbit’s arms (animated by Chaney). When Catstello opens his eyes, he thinks Babbit somehow defied gravity and asks, “Hey! How’d you get way up here?” which earns him a slap (animated by McKimson).

Babbit then has Catstello pushed down into a box and upon letting him out (animated by Ross), Catstello repeatedly bounces up to the nest where Tweety utters for the very first time, “I tawt I taw a putty tat”. Realizing he did “taw” a putty tat, Tweety suddenly starts abusing Catstello every time he bounces up by clubbing him, slapping him after Catstello puts a birdcage on his head, clubbing him again when Catstello covers his eyes and still has the birdcage on his head, holding Catstello’s metal helmet so that he smacks into it and then putting a cigar in his mouth, stealing Catstello’s water pistol and squirting him with it, and finally sticking a dynamite stick in his diving helmet (animated by McKimson up to here), resulting in an offscreen explosion. Tweety says, “Oh, the poor putty tat. He cwushed his wittle head” and then gives a big smile (animated by Scribner).

At dusk, a discouraged Catstello is seen eating an apple while sitting on an explosive that Babbit sets off after he reassures Catstello that he’ll get a literal “big bang” out of getting the bird. Unaware that he’s been blasted into the air, Catstello says, “Well, that sure takes a load off my mind” (animated by McKimson). It’s not until Tweety steals his apple to pull out a worm and eat it (animated by Ross) that Catstello realizes where he is (animated by Sutherland).

Falling onto a barn roof and sliding off, Catstello ends up hanging by his toes on a wire (animated by Sutherland). Tweety jumps on the wire a few times to which Catstello yells “Hey! Cut it out, pigeon! Don’t do that!”. Tweety then plays “This Little Piggy” with Catstello’s toes by means of removing them one by one (where Catstello screams “BABBIT!” after each one is removed). Since Catstello only had three toes hanging, Tweety realizes, “Well, do you know? I wan out of piggies!” (animated by Ross).

Tweety handing Catstello a rope (animated by McKimson) to seemingly prevent him from crashing to the ground (animated by Sutherland) but said rope is actually attached to an anvil (animated by Chaney) that Catstello tries to outrun (animated by Sutherland) but the impact causes the anvil to pull most of the ground under as well as Babbit watering his victory garden and whistling a few bars of “We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again”. Horrified at what he sees, Babbit pulls the anvil out of the ground and begs Catstello to “speak to me!” Seeing Catstello flattened against the anvil, he asks him why he screws up all the time. Catstello replies, “I’m a bad pussycat!” which gets him another slap (animated by Scribner).

That night, Catstello is affixed with makeshift wings (animated by McKimson) and propelled from a slingshot by Babbit after they repeat “Contact” to each other a few times. Overjoyed at being able to fly, Catstello happily comments that he’s a “spitfire” to which he spits a few times (animated by Ross).

Unfortunately for him, Tweety puts on an air raid warden helmet and phones for the “Fort Interceptor Command” to shoot down the “unidentified object fwing awound my wittle head” (animated by Ross). Catstello tries to frantically dodge the bullets after several spotlights shine on him with the action stopping at one point so Catstello can ask, “Is there an insurance salesman in the house?” (animated by Scribner)

When it looks like Catstello is about to land on a pitchfork (animated by Sutherland), he simply sidesteps out of the way and lands on top of Babbit (animated by Ross).

Making one final attempt, Babbit and Catstello attempt to sneak up on Tweety, who yells at them to “TURN OUT THOSE LIGHTS!” to which everything including their eyes shut off (animated by Scribner).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕