Release Date:

January 17, 1953

Main Character(s):

Tweety and Sylvester, Granny

Summary:

A huge snowstorm leaves Tweety and Sylvester stuck in Granny’s mountain cabin with nothing to eat except for a longtime-supply of birdseed. Since Sylvester needs something cats like to eat, he decides to cook Tweety, who never figures out he’s intended for a meal. Sylvester also has to deal with a delirious mouse who is so hungry, he tries to cook and eat Sylvester.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1223 and was released as a Looney Tune.

Notably, Tweety and Sylvester are shown to be friends in this one, before Sylvester decides to cook him after finding out about the blizzard and the food situation. This is the only time where they are seen as friends.

Granny only appears in the opening and ending scenes.

The title is a pun for “show business”.

The cartoon’s plot would be reused for the Pink Panther cartoon, “Pinknic” (1967).

Not counting “Rabbit Seasoning”, “Rabbit’s Kin”, and “Hare Lift”, this is the first cartoon to use the 1953 green rings with the red background.

Carlos Manriquez does the backgrounds for this one instead of Irv Wyner.

This is the only cartoon where Tweety never catches on to Sylvester’s true intentions.

This is the first cartoon where Tweety doesn’t say “I tawt I taw a putty tat”.

This is the first time where both Tweety and Sylvester’s names are above the title.

Favorite Scene:

The ending where after it’s revealed Granny has accidentally brought more birdseed, Sylvester also has to eat it, much to his disgust. At the same time, Tweety asks him if he likes it, Sylvester screams in pain due to the mouse biting his tail after having made one final attempt to eat him.

What Happens in This One:

In the midst of the snowstorm, a security guard tells Granny in her old-fashioned car that she’s unable to get up the mountain, “Sorry, ma’am, but all the roads are blocked”. Granny informs him, “But young man, you don’t understand. My bird and cat are up there in my cabin. They’ll starve!” The guard reiterates, “Well, I’m sorry, ma’am”. Refusing to give up, Granny folds her arms and sulks, “Oh, flibberty-jibbit. I’ve just GOTTA get up there” (animated by Manuel Perez).

Meanwhile, in the cabin, Sylvester and Tweety are seen sleeping together by the fire with Tweety using Sylvester’s body as a pillow. Sylvester pats him on the head and then kisses him on the head. Getting a taste of bird, Sylvester licks his lips and gives an evil smile towards Tweety only to catch himself and then slap himself. After a few beads of sweat form on his face, Sylvester smiles at Tweety and pats him on the head again before going back to sleep (animated by Virgil Ross).

Both are soon woken up by a radio announcement, “The recent blizzard has snowbound the mountain areas (animated by Ross)”. Tweety and Sylvester go to the window and see all the heavy snow outside. The announcement continues, “The State Highway Patrol reports that all roads to the mountains may be closed for six weeks”. Sylvester is not pleased to hear this news, “Six weeks!? I’ll STARVE!” He frantically runs into the kitchen and trips over a stool in the midst of running. He opens a white cabinet and only finds several boxes of “Bird Seed!?” He finds the same thing in another cabinet, “Seed!?” Tweety calls to him near the pantry, “Hey, putty tat! (animated by Perez) I found WOTS of food!” Sylvester runs to the pantry to find yet more countless boxes of birdseed in there. Tweety assures him, “We don’t have to wowwy, putty. There’s enough food for a wong time!” Sylvester cries, “I’m a cat! I’ve gotta have CAT food!” Tweety laments, “Aw, poor putty tat. We gotta find tomething for you to eat!”, before he thinks to himself, “Wet’s see. What do putty tats wike to eat?” Sylvester lists some ideas, “Well, uh, let’s see, uh, there’s liver and there’s fish and there’s uh… there’s uh… Hmm” before he evil smiles at Tweety. Tweety asks, “And then there’s what, putty? What else is there?” Sylvester responds, “Never mind. Never mind. I got it solved” (animated by Ross).

Sylvester sneaks back and forth to the kitchen stove with a cooking pot, logs, and a lit match (animated by Ken Champin). He then runs up to Tweety with a miniature sailboat made out of paper. “A tailboat?”, Tweety asks. Sylvester confirms, “Yeah. How’d you like to go sailing, kiddo?” Tweety is excited about the idea, “Ooh, goody, goody! I wove taiwing!” After jumping in, Tweety sings “Song of the Marines” as Sylvester takes him and the boat to the pot. Tweety stops singing upon realizing the heat, “Gee, it’s awfuwwy hot in here, putty”. Sylvester tells him, “But of course. You’re sailing the South Seas!”, before stirring the boiling water in the pot as Tweety comments, “Ooh, what a tewwible twopical ‘torm!” Sylvester then pours some salt in the water before tasting it (animated by Ross).

Meanwhile, the mouse deliriously stumbles out of his hole, “I’m starving. I’ve gotta have food. I-I forgot what food looks like!” Upon seeing Sylvester’s tail, he shouts happily, “Food!” and runs over to Sylvester’s tail to gnaw on it. Sylvester feels this and attempts to swat the mouse away with his wooden spoon before chasing him with it and attempting to swat him. Sylvester becomes unable to find the mouse, who jumps off a shelf, swinging Tarzan-style towards him and even doing Tarzan’s trademark yell before he lands on Sylvester’s ear and begins gnawing on it. Sylvester attempts to hit him with the spoon only for the mouse to dodge each hit, causing Sylvester to hit himself on the head with it each time (animated by Ken Champin).

Sylvester chases the mouse (animated by Champin) back to his hole where the mouse sticks a rifle out and attempts to shoot at Sylvester. In order for the mouse to not bother him anymore, Sylvester nails a board over the hole. He then goes back to the pot and silently reacts in shock at Tweety’s absence. Tweety is actually on a windowsill as he says, “Aw, the poor putty is wowwied about me. He think I went down with the ship” (animated by Perez). Sylvester continues attempting to look for Tweety with the wooden spoon, only for the mouse to shove him into the pot and put the lid atop him, causing him to scream in immense pain. Sylvester chases the mouse back to his hole, where it’s revealed the mouse chewed a hole out of the board to exit. Sylvester then plugs up the hole in the board with a mallet (animated by Arthur Davis).

Sylvester pours some cooking oil onto a frying pan and hiding it behind his back, asks Tweety, “And how would like to go skating?” Tweety is excited about this idea too, “Kating? Ooh, goody, goody! I wove kating!” Sylvester picks him up and puts him on the pan, “Here ya are, my little feathered friend. Start skating”. Tweety is seen slipping around on the cooking oil as Sylvester evilly chuckles while walking back to the stove (animated by Perez). After flipping Tweety in the pan a few times, he finds Tweety high up on the top of the stove. Tweety laughs, “You missed!” Sylvester attempts to reach up for him, but due to the stove being on, ends up burning his right hand due to pressing down on top of the stove. Sylvester uses a spatula to remove it and then opens the window to cool it down in the snow, with the burn being so hot, it melts all the snow outside of the window (animated by Davis).

Sylvester then smells something burning and turns around to see that the mouse has stuffed his tail into a toaster. After putting it out in an ashtray, he pursues the mouse with said ashtray and chases him back to the hole he made in the mallet to get out. While he’s looking into the hole, he doesn’t realize until looking up at the last minute that the mouse has dropped a bowling ball on him from the shelf. Getting knocked out by it, Sylvester then has his leg pulled in by the mouse to his hole as the mouse begins to spin him around on a makeshift rotisserie, and basting his leg above “Canned Heat”! Sylvester comes to and realizes what the mouse is doing and after putting his flaming leg out, runs off, and returns with an ax, chopping up the mallet and board to pieces in frustration (animated by Davis).

Granny has now returned home with a large sack on her back, and wearing tennis racquets for snowshoes. “Well, here I am, boys! I made it! I’ve brought food!” As she’s unwrapping it, she takes notice of Sylvester jumping up and down excitedly, “Oh, my, kitty. You must be starved!” But they’re all shocked at the reveal of the contents- it’s more boxes of birdseed! Granny is perplexed, “Bird Seed?”, before chuckling, “Oh, my. I must’ve picked up the wrong package. Oh, well. We’ll just have to make the best of it!” (animated by Champin)

In the last scene, Tweety is shown happily eating some of the birdseed with Sylvester sitting down next to him, eating it in disgust. Granny tells them, “That’s right. Now eat it all”. From his hole, the mouse makes one final attempt to eat Sylvester by putting his tail in a bowl, pouring milk and then salt over it. Tweety asks, “Do you wike it, putty?” at the exact moment the mouse chomps on Sylvester’s tail to which he screams in pain and jumps up into the air before landing chin-first on the table. Tweety tells him, “Oh, come now. It can’t be THAT bad!” (animated by Champin)

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕