Release Date:

August 10, 1957

Main Character(s):

Tweety and Sylvester

Summary:

Sylvester is warned about the dangers of bird addiction by Clarence, a red cat who leads the titular support group for cats to give up birds. After joining the group, Sylvester decides to no longer chase Tweety, but has a difficult time not giving into the temptation.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1450 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

The cartoon won the Oscar for 1957, and is the only time where a Warner cartoon that is generally regarded as a masterpiece got that honor (of course, why the Academy shunned other undisputed masterpieces like “Duck Amuck”, “One Froggy Evening”, “What’s Opera Doc”, and several others remains one of the biggest mysteries). It is the only one of the five Oscar winners to be in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

This is Mel Blanc’s absolute favorite cartoon. In fact, before Eddie Selzer died, he willed the Oscar statue for this cartoon to Blanc, and ever since Selzer’s death in 1970, said statue has been in the possession of Blanc’s family.

The cartoon is a parody of “Alcoholics Anonymous”.

The cartoon was originally titled “Twee Teetotaler”.

Despite Sylvester having been able to suck Tweety into his mouth when he mistakenly ate alum in “I Taw a Putty Tat”, here he has a difficult time getting Tweety into his mouth after Clarence pours a box of alum in there.

This is the first Freleng cartoon to feature backgrounds by Boris Gorelick.

The cartoon was used in the 1981 compilation movie, “The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie”. While Clarence goes unnamed in the actual cartoon, that movie would actually give him this name.

When the cartoon was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 DVD set in 2005, a Behind the Tunes featurette devoted to this cartoon was also made as a bonus feature for that set, “Strictly for the Birds: Sylvester and Tweety’s Award-Winning Team-up”.

The cartoon’s premise and Sylvester’s situation can be seen as somewhat of a foreshadowing to Bruce from “Finding Nemo” (2003), who has his own organization of sharks wanting to give up fish (“Fish are friends, not food”), but he too has a difficult time fighting his natural instincts.

Favorite Scene:

After an attempt to get his mind off of birds with music due to the radio having finished “Bye Bye Blackbird” and about to play “When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbing Along”, Sylvester desperately handcuffs himself to the radiator so he can’t get to Tweety. Tweety’s question, “Oh, Mr. Putty Tat? Don’t you wike me anymore?", ends up driving him wild enough to run towards him and uproot the entire radiator out of the wall.

What Happens in This One:

In silhouette, Tweety is shown swinging in his cage. Also shown in silhouette is Sylvester walking into the house and shutting every blind and curtain so he can grab Tweety in the dark without any witnesses (animated by Gerry Chiniquy). With only their eyes shown, Tweety sees Sylvester behind him and realizes, “I tawt I taw a putty tat!” Sylvester opens the cage and begins chasing him around before grabbing him. Just before he can eat him, the curtain shade opens. It’s revealed that Clarence did this as he informs Sylvester, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”. As he comes into the house, he continues, “If I were you, I’d put him, uh, back. It can (animated by Virgil Ross) only lead to self-destruction”. Sylvester puts Tweety back (animated by Arthur Davis) as Clarence helps him down from his stack of furniture he used to reach Tweety as he continues his warning, “It only takes one bird to start you, and before you know it, it’s two birds, then three. Suddenly, without realizing it, you’re a victim. Then one day…. the end of the road”. Slightly scared, Sylvester gulps about this before Clarence hands him a card and leaves, “If you really want to beat this, look us up. We can help you”. The card reads “Birds Anonymous. Headquarters: 901 Halligan’s Alley” (animated by Ross).

Having decided to join Birds Anonymous, which has hundreds of cats as members of this group to give up birds, Clarence stands on a makeshift podium with Sylvester, “Our new member has come to us for help. Would someone volunteer to tell what BA has done for him?” One cat answers, “I was a three-bird-a-day pussycat until BA helped me” while another gives his answer, “Being on a bird kick cost me five homes. BA helped me solve my problem”, with the latter giving a bird that flies onto his shoulder a friendly pat. Both answers are given a round of applause. Inspired, Sylvester proudly announces, “Fellow members, from now on, my motto is ‘Birds is strictly for the birds!’” and beams when this too is met with thunderous applause (animated by Chiniquy).

Sylvester returns home scatting happily to “Tip Toe Through the Tulips”. He pats Tweety on the head, “Good morning, my little feathered friend!”, before walking off, pleased with himself. “I got it beat. My willpower is indomita-ba-ble!” Utterly confused by this, Tweety pulls out his diary and writes in it aloud, “Dear Diawy, I know you won’t bewieve this, but today-” (animated by Ross).

Sylvester decides, “Let’s see what’s cooking on TV” as he turns on the set. What comes on is a picture of a roast bird as an offscreen Italian chef is heard telling people watching how to cook it, “After a-basting, you’ll find your bird will come out a golden brown! Every succulent-a morsel will-a simply melt-a in your mouth!” Sylvester’s mouth waters and he starts panting over this before catching himself, looking away, and shutting his mouth tight as the chef continues, “Wee, how easy the white meat-a slices, eh?” Sylvester’s stomach then growls with the chef still talking, “Yum, yum! Doesn’t that-a look-” Sylvester jumps off the armchair he was sitting on and quickly shuts the set off (animated by Chiniquy).

He then looks over at (animated by Chiniquy) Tweety swinging in his cage and imagines him as a roast chicken. Sylvester stares at him hungrily with an evil expression and his tongue sticking out before snapping out of it and slapping his face around. Panting, he realizes, “What’s the matter with me? I-I gotta get birds off of my mind! I know! I’ll play the radio!” He goes into the living room to turn said radio on, “Music will get my mind off of it”. When he turns it on, however, it turns out they are broadcasting bird-related songs, “That was ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’. And now we’ll play ‘When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbing Along’”. Horrified, Sylvester turns off the radio (animated by Ross) and desperately runs into the kitchen to get some handcuffs, “I gotta stop myself!” He runs over to the radiator and handcuffs himself to it, “There! Now I won’t be able to get the bird!” (animated by Davis)

Tweety, however, is confused by Sylvester’s sudden change in behavior, “Oh, Mr. Putty Tat. Don’t you wike me anymore?” This causes Sylvester to uncontrollably pant and lick his lips in hunger, “I think- I think- I-I- think you’re- I think you’re- DELICIOUS!” He is driven wild enough to run off and uproot the entire radiator out of the wall! With Tweety in his grasp, Sylvester licks his lips silently and is about to put him in his mouth before a plunger is suddenly shot into his face, allowing Tweety to get away. Clarence walks in with a bow, having used that to shoot the plunger, “I’m sorry I had to do that. I was afraid you might be weakening”. With his voice muffled by the plunger, Sylvester gratefully thanks Clarence, “Yes. I did weaken. Thanks a lot” (animated by Davis).

That night, Sylvester is unable to sleep and after lying in numerous positions, finally loses it, letting out a scream and running (animated by Chiniquy) to grab Tweety again. Tweety realizes, “Uh oh. Here we go again!” (animated by Davis) Sylvester goes into the corner in front of the window panting crazily, “One little bird! Just one! Just one! Yeah! No one will know the difference! No one! No one! Just one! Then I’ll quit! I’ll quit after one! Just one! (laughs madly) Yeah! Just one! Give me one little bird! (animated by Chiniquy) Just one! One! One!” (animated by Davis) In the middle of this, he shuts the curtain, only for Clarence to open it and see everything (animated by Chiniquy). Before Sylvester can put Tweety into his mouth, Clarence pours alum from a box into Sylvester’s mouth, shrinking his lips. After failing to shove Tweety into his now-tiny mouth, Sylvester runs out of the room with him (animated by Davis).

Going into the kitchen, Sylvester puts Tweety on a counter and attempts to suck him up with a straw, to no avail as he has to pause for breath due to breathing into it very hard. His second attempt ends with the straw ending up in ruins (animated by Davis). With his mouth returning to normal size, Sylvester breaks down crying hysterically and pounding on the ground, “I-I-I-I-I can’t stand it! I-I gotta have a bird! I-I’m weak! I-I-I’m weak! But I don’t care! I can’t help that! After all, I am a pussycat!” Clarence comes in and comments, “Oh, come now. There’s no need for this demonstration. Birds and (animated by Chiniquy) cats can live together with brotherly love, watch”. He walks over to Tweety to prove it and holds out his hand, “Come here, little bird”. After Tweety flies into his hand, Clarence says, “Here, see. I really love birds” and makes a huge mistake of kissing Tweety. Getting a taste of bird, Clarence completely changes his demeanor and attempts to take a bite out of Tweety chasing him around while laughing evilly in insanity (animated by Davis). Having calmed down, Sylvester is shocked at witnessing Clarence give in to his feline instincts and now holds HIM down to restrain him, “Stop it!” As Clarence is heard exclaiming, “Let me go! Let me go! I-I gotta have it! One little bird! Just one! It’s been so long! Oh, let me go! Let me go!”, Sylvester tells him, “Just control yourself!” On one of the shutters watching Sylvester hold Clarence down, Tweety ends the cartoon with, “Wike I said before, once a bad ol’ putty tat, ALWAYS a bad ol’ putty tat!” (animated by Ross)

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

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