Release Date:

August 19, 1944

Main Character(s):

Tweety

Summary:

A dumb cat makes the mistake of going after Tweety.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 5-13, the 5th Merrie Melodie in the 13th release season.

This is the first cartoon where Tweety is named as he gets his own card after the title card and before the credits: “Starring Tweety”.

This is the penultimate cartoon to be produced by Leon Schlesinger (wow, I really can’t believe we’ve gotten this far already!).

This is the last cartoon to have Thomas McKimson as an animator. He would be Clampett’s layout artist until Clampett left in 1946, and for Arthur Davis on his first few cartoons before Thomas would leave Warner Bros. in 1947.

This is also the last Warner cartoon to have animation by Gil Turner, who would eventually become a director at UPA directing some of the last Mr. Magoo cartoons of the late 1950’s.

“Powerhouse” plays during the scene where the cat digs through a bulldog’s food dish trying to look for Tweety.

The title is a pun for “Beauty and the Beast”.

What I Like About This One:

The cartoon starting off with the cat sneaking like a vicious predator before he briefly tiptoes with a dopey expression on his face (animated by Thomas McKimson).

The cat wolf whistling at a sleeping Tweety (where wolf-whistles usually mean whistling at an attractive woman, this one means the cat thinks Tweety is delicious), which causes Tweety to shiver and unknowingly pull the cat’s tongue over him like a blanket. The cat pulling his tongue away causes Tweety to realize he tawt he taw a putty tat (animated by Manny Gould).

Tweety then dives off his branch like a diving board (animated by Thomas) before flying into the air (animated by Gould) with the cat going after him (animated by Thomas), not realizing his species isn’t meant to fly. Tweety points this out, “Gee whiz, putty tat! I didn’t know YOU could fwy!” The cat absentmindedly chuckles, “Didn’t know I could fly”, before realizing to his horror that he’s in mid-air: “FLY!?” (animated by Gould) After the cat falls, Tweety jumps off a cloud (animated by Rod Scribner) and lands on the cat’s stomach, bouncing like a beach ball (animated by Robert McKimson).

When Tweety hides in a bulldog’s food dish (animated by Gil Turner), the cat digs through it trying to find him. This of course angers the bulldog who chases him (animated by Scribner). Fortunately, for the cat however, the bulldog’s leash is chained to his doghouse so when it reaches its limit, the bulldog’s head is compressed very far into his collar (animated by Gould). The bulldog grumbles, “This shouldn’t even happen to a dog!” (animated by Robert)

Searching for the “putty tat”, Tweety walks into the cat’s mouth, walking on the tongue like a red carpet. Since the way down the cat’s throat is too dark, Tweety lights a match to get a better look. When smoke emerges from the cat’s mouth (animated by Gould up to here), Tweety announces the “putty tat is on fire!”, coming back seconds later with a fireman’s helmet (animated by Robert) before pumping gasoline into him! (animated by Thomas) When the explosion happens, Tweety says, “Ooh, the poor putty tat got hot as a firecwacker! He bwow up and go boom!” (animated by Scribner)

The cat then disguises his mouth as a nest (animated by Turner), but this backfires when a hen shoos Tweety away from the nest and lays several eggs in it, excitedly clucking, “Look what I did!” over and over again (animated by Robert). The cat gives a big grin with eggs in his mouth to which Tweety comments, “I like him! He’s silly!” before smashing the eggs (animated by Scribner). Tweety and the cat then zoom past the hen so fast, that it blows her feathers off, revealing her bra and underwater, which leaves her giggling in embarrassment (animated by Thomas).

As Tweety goes back to his actual nest, the cat reaches for him (animated by Thomas) so Tweety acts like he’s being molested (“You cwushed my wittle head!”;) and gives the cat a grenade (animated by Gould). The cat goes back down happily bragging, “I got it!” (animated by Thomas) Tweety decides, “He got it and he can have it!” After the inevitable explosion, Tweety declares, “You know, I get wid of more putty tats that way!” (animated by Scribner) and marks off his tree how many putty tats he’s gotten rid of: where hundreds of tally marks are seen (animated by Thomas).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕