Release Date:

January 14, 1950

Main Character(s):

Tweety and Sylvester

Summary:

Sylvester chases Tweety in the city park.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1103 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. When it was restored for the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 Blu-ray set in 2012, the original opening rings were put back in.

This is the first of several Tweety and Sylvester cartoons where the chase occurs in a different location outside of the house or suburbs. Later examples include a train in “All A Bir-r-r-rd” (released five months later), a hotel in “Canary Row” (released nine months later) and “Room and Bird” (1951), an ocean liner in “Tweety’s SOS” (1951), a national forest in “Tweet Tweet Tweety” (1951), a department store in “A Bird in a Guilty Cage” (1952), the beach in “Sandy Claws” (1955), the circus in “Tweety’s Circus” (1955), respective fairy tale parodies in “Red Riding Hoodwinked” (1955) and “Tweety and the Beanstalk” (1957), a harbor in “Tugboat Granny” (1956), the zoo in “Tweet Zoo” (1957), an animal hospital in “Greedy for Tweety” (1957), Venice, Italy in “A Pizza Tweety Pie” (1958), around the world in “Trip for Tat” (1960), a Civil War setting in “The Rebel Without Claws” (1961), and Hawaii in “Hawaiian Aye Aye” (1964).

The title is a pun for “home sweet home”.

This is the first Warner cartoon to be released in the 1950’s (tied with the 1940’s as the best decade for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The 1960’s is VERY overhated as it still had TONS of immensely enjoyable cartoons despite being a decade of lasts, and while the 1930’s is still good, they didn’t become the best cartoon studio ever until 1936).

This is also the first Warner cartoon to use the 1950 all-green rings with the green background.

This is one of two Freleng cartoons released in 1950 to have backgrounds by Philip DeGuard (who had been Arthur Davis’ background artist and was rotating between units after the closing of Davis’ unit before he eventually settled into Jones’ unit). The other is “Big House Bunny” (released three months later).

Just before Tweety flies to the hotel ledge, Paul Julian’s “Meep!” sound effect for the Roadrunner is used as a singular “Meep!” when Sylvester falls from trying to get Tweety.

What I Like About This One:

While Tweety is taking a bath in the bird bath while singing “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leafed Clover”, Sylvester is shown to be pretending to read the newspaper on the park bench as he gets closer and closer. Sylvester eventually gets so close that Tweety unknowingly uses his tongue as a towel. He pulls it back into Sylvester’s mouth like a curtain shade upon realizing he taw a putty tat (animated by Gerry Chiniquy).

After getting chased around the fountain a few times and eventually in the opposite direction, Tweety eventually runs off in the direction heading away from the fountain as Sylvester keeps running around it before realizing he’s no longer chasing anything (animated by Arthur Davis). Tweety goes up to a nanny sitting on another bench and pantomimes that he is being chased by Sylvester, complete with imitating a cat. Just as Sylvester is about to pounce, the nanny clouts him with her umbrella and scolds, “Oh, no you don’t! Shame on you, you beast. Picking on a poor, helpless, little feathered creature. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You coward, you bully, you schmo”. Tweety adds, “Yeah, shame on you, picking on poor helpwess wittle cweatures wike me! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, bad ol’ putty tat!” (animated by Chiniquy)

With the nanny reading “Amber” and being shocked and tsking in shame upon reading it, Sylvester takes away the baby she’s looking after and takes said baby’s place dressed up as one. Sylvester then starts wailing like a baby repeatedly tantruming, “Baby want a pretty birdie!” Annoyed, the nanny gives him Tweety: “Oh, all right. Here”. Sylvester continues in his baby talk, “Oh, the pretty, pretty birdie!” before doing an evil laugh in his normal voice and putting Tweety in his mouth. The nanny grabs him and spanks him to get Tweety out of his mouth while she scolds, “How many times do I have to tell you not to put things in your mouth?” Tweety continues the spanking with a plank, “Yes. How many times do we have to tell you not to put things in your mouth? Especiawwy me!” (animated by Chiniquy)

Later, Tweety flies down to Sylvester’s head, standing atop it and confiding, “That putty tat NEVER gonna find me here!” Sylvester plans the old box trap routine, complete with corn as bait. Tweety acts as Sylvester’s conscience, “Hey, that wittle birdie never gonna get away fwom you this time, huh, putty tat?”; “Oh, you much too smart for him, huh, putty tat?” Sylvester gleefully nods his head both times before getting wise and looking up to see Tweety asking him, “Hewwo, Mr. Putty Tat. Whatcha doin' down there?” Sylvester attempts to club him but ends up clubbing himself and getting a large lump on his head. Tweety remarks, “You so cwever, you weally should’ve been a fox, Mr. Putty Tat” (animated by Virgil Ross).

Sylvester gives chase again, but skids to a stop behind a mailbox upon seeing a man walking past while walking his bulldog on a leash. Tweety walks next to the bulldog in a bold manner and sticks his tongue out at Sylvester. When they pass a hedge that sends them going down separate paths, Sylvester goes after him again, but the two paths meet up again as Sylvester ends up skidding into the bulldog so hard that he pushes him out of his collar. Sylvester briefly imitates the bulldog with a smirking expression, before Tweety realizes who is now next to him (animated by Davis).

Tweety flies to a high ledge on a nearby hotel so Sylvester chews a piece of bubble gum to float upward towards him. Tweety pops Sylvester’s bubble with a pin, so Sylvester chews another piece while in mid-air and is able to blow another bubble. This time, Tweety hands him an anvil so that when Sylvester tosses it aside, he is sent flying high into the air. Tweety gets him down by shooting a pebble at him, popping his bubble. He then offers to save Sylvester by having him land on a pillow- which has the anvil hidden inside. After Sylvester lands on it with a clang, Tweety asks, “Now who you suppose put THAT in that piwwow?” while walking off (animated by Davis).

Sylvester hides behind the corner of the hotel and hits what he thinks is Tweety with a shovel. He sees this is not the case upon seeing the bulldog-shaped imprint on the shovel as the bulldog chases him in anger (animated by Ross).

Finally, Sylvester disguises as a tree and blows a whistle with a bird on it that makes the appropriate chirps to get Tweety to fly into the nest he is holding like a branch. Just before he can grab Tweety, the bulldog takes an interest in him as if he’s a real tree, so Sylvester squirts him with a water gun, using his foot to pull the trigger. Realizing this isn’t a tree, the bulldog chases Sylvester down the street as Tweety makes a phone call: “Hewwo, Pet Shop? Have you got any more putty tats? I’m all fwesh out!” (animated by Ken Champin)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕