Release Date:

June 26, 1954

Main Character(s):

Tweety and Sylvester, Granny

Summary:

Granny moves into a new house with Tweety. Sylvester lives at the house next door and attempts numerous schemes to catch Tweety, only for them to go wrong because of either Tweety himself or Granny’s other pet, a bulldog.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1290 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon wasn’t restored for HBO Max, but Warner Archive did restore it for the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 4 Blu-ray set in 2024.

The title is a pun for the Yiddish phrase, “mazel tov”, which means “good luck”.

The scene of Sylvester disguised as a lamp and getting plugged in by Tweety is one of the scenes shown in “Space Jam” (1996) after Swackhammer (Danny DeVito) accidentally turns on his TV screen which shows numerous scenes from classic Warner cartoons.

The bear rug gag is reused from “The Fair Haired Hare”, along with the line “Playin’ possum for 20 years!”

When the bulldog first sees Sylvester, he uses Tweety’s catchphrase. This marks the second time a bulldog does this with the first being in “It’s Hummer Time”.

The ending gag with Sylvester disguising as a female dog would be reworked in the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries episode, “Yelp”.

This is the only cartoon where Tweety and Sylvester both lose as well as the only cartoon where Tweety loses.

“The Happy Farmer” plays during the opening and ending scenes as well as the scene where Sylvester disguises as a lamp. This would also be the last Raymond Scott tune to be introduced in a Warner cartoon.

Favorite Scene:

Sylvester attempts to sneak up on Tweety by wearing the bearskin rug only for Granny to assume this is an actual bear and repeatedly shoot at him.

What Happens in This One:

A moving truck from “Checker Movers” and subtitled “It’s Your Move” is seen driving along the road, with Granny in the front seat with two of the moving men. She is disgusted at not being able to locate the house she was looking for, “Oh! The-the house has got to be around here someplace, it’s the only street left!” She then requests, “Try this street, son”. The driver makes a hard left and soon the truck parks in front of a nice-looking four story house. Granny tells the moving men, “Just a minute, boys. I’ll check”. Sylvester, who’s sleeping on the brick fence separating the house he lives in and this house, briefly awakes when Granny walks up the driveway. Granny finds that this is indeed what she’s looking for, “Yes, oh, this is it alright! Uh, you can bring the things in, boys!” (animated by Virgil Ross)

Sylvester goes back to sleep as the men start bringing Granny’s belongings into the house but once Tweety and his cage are carried past, he becomes fully awake. Tweety realizes, “I tawt I taw a putty tat!”, and after a point of view shot of Sylvester watching him, with the camera repeatedly bouncing, he says, “I did! I did taw a putty tat!” Sylvester runs after him from atop the fence, but doesn’t pay attention to where he’s going and falls off back into his yard after running right into a lamp post. He gets back up and watches Tweety and his cage being brought in (animated by Ross).

Sylvester climbs over the fence and back in front of the house, oblivious to the bulldog’s doghouse being placed on the ground below. He unknowingly steps atop it, as the bulldog wakes upon seeing Sylvester coming down into view. Borrowing Tweety’s catchphrase, he says, “I tawt I taw a putty tat!” before chomping at Sylvester’s tail, causing Sylvester to jump in the air while yowling in pain. Upon seeing the bulldog having some of his fur in his mouth, Sylvester begins to run off with the bulldog chasing him. The bulldog lets out a small snarl before walking back to the house. Sylvester peeks out from behind the front of the truck, and finds the bulldog staring at him before the latter gives a snort, presumably as a warning to keep away (animated by Arthur Davis).

Spotting a lamp that has yet to be brought in, Sylvester takes the lampshade off and puts it over his head to resemble a lamp. As Sylvester is brought in, the bulldog looks up at the moving man taking him in in confusion, before Granny instructs this mover, “Place it over there on the table, son”. Once Sylvester is placed down (animated by Davis), Tweety is intrigued, “Goodness gwacious! (laughs) What a cwazy-wooking wamp!”, before flying down to it, “I never did see that wamp before! I better pwug it in and tee what it wooks wike wit up!” He grabs Sylvester’s tail and places it in the electric socket, which gives Sylvester a tremendous shock, causing him to run out. He stops in front of the bulldog, who attempts to bite Sylvester’s tail, only for the bulldog to get a tremendous shock himself. Angered, the bulldog chases (animated by Manuel Perez) Sylvester out of the yard again (animated by Davis). Tweety figures, “I guess that doggy doesn’t wike that wamp either!” (animated by Perez)

Next, Sylvester disguises as one of the moving men, whose clothes are too big for him. He goes to the back of the truck, but is given the piano to carry (animated by Perez). Tweety sees what is being brought in next, “Ooh, here’s our piano. Here. I’ll show you where to put it”. Sylvester follows Tweety up every staircase leading up to the top story, carrying the piano all the way. “My, but you’re stwong!”, Tweety comments when they reach the top floor. Tweety guides him near the open window on said top floor and warns, “Be careful! Watch that wast step!” Sylvester ends up falling with the piano out the window and all the way to the ground, emerging from the wreckage with a few of the keys as teeth (animated by Davis). Tweety comments, “Ooh! That wast step was a wu-wu!” (animated by Perez)

As Tweety is swinging in his cage (animated by Ross via reused animation of his old “Gilded Cage” song without singing it), Sylvester sneaks up on him hidden under a bearskin rug (animated by Ross). Tweety sees the disguised Sylvester climbing up the cage’s pole to him and believes, “Oh, wook! A cute wittle teddy bear coming to pway with me!” (animated by Perez) Initially oblivious, Granny walks in agreeing, “Yes, I-”, but upon seeing the “bear” attempt to grab Tweety, she reacts in shocked horror and comes back with a gun pointing at Sylvester. Still under the bearskin rug, Sylvester gets repeatedly shot in the rear by Granny, before he eventually jumps out and leaves. Granny continues shooting the bear rug and scolds, “Darn old bear! Playing possum for 20 years!” (animated by Davis)

Getting chased out by the bulldog once more (animated by Davis), Sylvester peeks out from a nearby brick wall and is startled by the bulldog giving him a single angry bark (animated by Ken Champin). After pacing back and forth for a bit, Sylvester spots a nearby costume shop, “Costumes For All Occasions” and gets an idea (animated by Perez). He disguises as a female dog, who the bulldog is immediately smitten with, as he does a hilariously love-struck masculine walk- walking on all fours before standing on his back legs and marching in a buff manner several times- oblivious to the disguised Sylvester waiting to clobber him with a mallet. The bulldog peeks around the corner panting happily, only for Sylvester to get caught by the dogcatcher before he can do anything and taken to said dogcatcher’s truck. As the dogcatcher drives off to the pound, Sylvester angrily yells at him from the back, “Sufferin’ succotash! Let me out! Let me out of here! I said let me out of here! I’m not a dog! I’m a cat!”, as he makes the mistake of removing his costume head, “K-A-T-ca-ca-”. He turns around to see several actual dogs in the back of the truck on their way to the pound angrily snarling at him, causing him to turn white in fear and slump down in a melting manner. The dogs are heard attacking Sylvester from the interior of the truck as it continues down the road (animated by Champin). With Sylvester now gone, Tweety thinks, “There won’t be no more putty tats awound to chase me now!” He speaks too soon, however, and sees that two other cats have gotten in, disguised as lamps, this time successfully, causing him to realize, “Of course, I could be wong!” (animated by Ross)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½