Release Date:

March 24, 1956

Main Character(s):

Tweety and Sylvester, Granny

Summary:

Fed up with Sylvester’s never-ending attempts to catch and eat Tweety, Granny threatens to sell Sylvester to the violin string factory if he attempts to do so again. After Granny leaves, an orange alley cat wearing an eye patch steals Tweety, forcing Sylvester to have to save him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1380 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is the first cartoon to use Granny’s late 1950’s-1960’s design.

While Granny had previously shown a cruel side in “Fowl Weather” where she outright threatened to gun down her bulldog, Hector, if he failed to protect Tweety, here she is unquestionably far more harsh.

The title is a pun for “sweet and sour”.

Sylvester had also previously “saved” Tweety in “Catty Cornered” even though his true intentions in that one were clearly for a meal. This time, however, he has to legitimately save Tweety in order to save his own skin.

The orange cat resembles the one from “Putty Tat Trouble”.

This cartoon was coincidentally released exactly eleven years after Sylvester’s debut in “Life with Feathers”.

Violin strings were made from “catgut”, not the intestines of a cat but rather those of sheep or goats. The term was originally “cattle gut”.

There seems to be this incredibly weird mindset from other fans that Granny generally shouldn’t be able to understand Tweety (even though she has in numerous other cartoons), as evidenced by my comment in Anthony’s Animation Talk’s video about this cartoon where I said that if I were Tweety, I would’ve backed Sylvester up and told Granny what really happened (as in the end, she returns home and assumes Sylvester has attempted to get at Tweety again “even after all that warning!”, even though he was putting Tweety back IN his cage).

The 1954-1955 red-purple rings with the blue background are used in the “That’s all, Folks!” end card.

Favorite Scene:

Sylvester attempts to grope for Tweety through a small opening in the henhouse as he has hidden under a hen residing in there. This hen informs a tough rooster about this, so the latter goes over to Sylvester’s hand with a wooden bat. While feeling the rooster’s feet and the bat in confusion, Sylvester gets a brick dropped on him by the orange cat, who puts his own hand in, only for him to be the one getting his hand walloped.

Tweety’s imitating of Chopin’s “Funeral March” on the violin via angry humming is also hilarious both verbally and visually.

What Happens in This One:

Before she leaves, Granny assures Tweety, “Don’t worry, Tweety. Granny will lock the door so that bad old pussycat can’t get you while I’m gone”. She does so, and puts the key under the Welcome mat (animated by Gerry Chiniquy). It turns out Sylvester was actually hiding under there as he looks up with an evil smile while holding the key. Sylvester uses the key to enter the house while Granny walks to the garage where her old-fashioned car is (animated by Virgil Ross).

Sylvester places a chair next to Tweety’s cage to reach him, causing Tweety to realize, “I tawt I taw a putty tat!” He is then grabbed by Sylvester who answers while grabbing him, “You’re darn tootin’, buster! Ya DID see a pussycat!” Tweety starts calling for help, “Help! Gwanny! Help!” (animated by Ross) Granny passes the window and absentmindedly sees Tweety in Sylvester’s clutches as he yells, “The putty tat’s got me! Help! Gwanny!” Sylvester waves meekly while Granny waves, “Bye, bye, Tweety”, before realizing what she just saw and applying the brakes hard to come to a stop, causing them to screech (animated by Arthur Davis).

Sylvester puts Tweety in his mouth only for Granny to grab him by the throat, ejecting Tweety out on his tongue like a cash register. Livid, Granny scolds, “So! Caught you, you scoundrel! You sneak! You rascal! You hoodlum! You-you scamp! You-you-you-!” (animated by Davis) Tweety finishes for her, “Yeah! You bad ol’ putty tat!” Granny puts Tweety back and makes a threat to scare Sylvester into leaving Tweety alone, “Can’t take my eyes off you for a second! Let me warn you, Sylvester! For absolutely the last time! If there’s one little feather, just one little feather harmed of this bird, I’m going to sell you to the violin string factory!” She departs and warns, “Remember-”, before imitating playing Chopin’s “Funeral March” on the violin (animated by Ross). Sylvester backs into the corner scared (animated by Davis).

Once Granny leaves, Sylvester initially ignores the threat and tries to sneak up on Tweety again. Tweety reminds him by doing his own imitation of Chopin’s “Funeral March” on the violin but hums it in an angry manner. This causes Sylvester to go back to the corner in fear (animated by Davis).

Granny departs for real this time and waves, “Bye bye, little birdy!” Upon hearing this, the orange cat- with a fish skeleton in his mouth- suddenly pops out of a trash can in the yard next door where he was digging for leftovers. Spotting Tweety in the window, he goes onto Granny’s property and opens the window with a long piece of wood to get in. Oblivious of the orange cat about to grab him, Tweety is in the middle of scolding, “If anything happens to ME, Tylvester, it’ll be too bad for you! You’ll be made into viowin stwings!” Sylvester’s sulking expression soon turns to surprise when he hears a swiping noise and looks up to find Tweety gone. Realizing what he’ll be in for, Sylvester begins biting his nails in complete terror (animated by Davis).

Sylvester runs to the window to find the orange cat leaving Granny’s yard with Tweety. He goes after him by pushing down the wooden slat in the fence, causing the orange cat to land front-first on the ground. Sylvester grabs Tweety and runs back to the house with the orange cat following. The orange cat grabs Sylvester by the tail, causing him to trip and Tweety to fly out of his clutches. The orange cat runs back into his own yard and puts Tweety in his mouth, only for Sylvester to take him out of his mouth from atop the fence and scold, “Listen, cat! Hands off of this bird! You want me to be made into violin strings!?” Presumably finding this a nonsensical excuse for Sylvester to have Tweety, the orange cat throws an iron at Sylvester, directly hitting him in the face and causing him to fall backward (animated by Davis).

The orange cat goes through an opening in the fence and is surprised to find no one in the yard. He looks up to find Sylvester standing atop the opening and dropping an anvil on him. The impact has caused the orange cat’s legs to sink into the ground and the anvil dropped on him to split in two and fall off on each respective side. Tweety runs off, before Sylvester grabs him. Once he reaches the gate to his yard, Sylvester is knocked out by the orange cat with a mallet. The orange cat runs to the opposite gate with Tweety and is knocked by Sylvester doing the same thing to him. Sylvester gets the same thing happening to him a second time but the orange cat comes to a stop before Sylvester can bring the mallet down onto him, causing the mallet to hit the ground. When nothing happens after that, the orange cat peeks around the fence in confusion and is hit in the chin by Sylvester lifting the mallet up (animated by Davis).

Sylvester goes after Tweety who runs into the henhouse. Seeing Sylvester looking at him from the outside and believing Sylvester is also after him, Tweety hides under a nearby hen. Sylvester reaches his hand in through a small opening and gropes around for Tweety. He begins groping under the hen, who believes he touched her inappropriately. She goes to complain about this to the tough rooster in the henhouse, who goes over to where Sylvester’s hand is with a wooden bat. Sylvester feels the rooster’s feet and then his bat, rendering him confused. His confusion is cut short by the orange cat tapping him on the head and then dropping a brick on him. The orange cat sends Sylvester away and then gropes for Tweety himself, only to get his hand whacked by the rooster, flattening it (animated by Chiniquy).

The orange cat runs after Sylvester in anger and then picks him up by the tail, repeatedly slamming him on the ground behind-first. Tweety then exits the henhouse, which the orange cat notices so he puts Sylvester down. While the orange cat is chasing Tweety, Sylvester goes to the back door of Granny’s house and moves his hand with a “Get in! Quick!” gesture. Once Tweety enters the house, Sylvester follows him in and shuts the door on the orange cat, who vibrates from the impact (animated by Chiniquy).

Sylvester locks the door as Tweety believes he’s changed his ways, “Say! You’re weawwy a NICE putty tat!” Sylvester tells him off while explaining the truth, “Listen, buster! I’m NOT a nice pussycat! I just don’t relish the idea of having p-p-pizzicatos played on me in some string section!” He then hears noises coming from the fireplace and realizes that the orange cat is attempting to enter the house through the chimney. Sylvester sends up a balloon with a dynamite stick attached. The orange cat quickly runs out and watches the balloon with the dynamite continue floating up into the air, so he re-enters the chimney. The balloon then floats back down with the dynamite blowing up on the orange cat while he’s in the chimney. He staggers out charred and mostly fur-less (animated by Chiniquy).

A car parking noise is then heard from outside as Sylvester looks out the window and realizes, “Sufferin’ succotash! It’s Granny! Quick! Quick! Back in your cage, bird!” He puts Tweety back IN the cage, just as Granny re-enters and jumps to the conclusion that Sylvester was after Tweety again, “SO! Even after all that warning!” Sylvester attempts to explain to no avail, before crying, “Ah, what’s the use!? She’d never believe me!” He sadly stands atop a stool and plays Chopin’s “Funeral March” on the violin, before he falls backwards into a violin case on the ground, which promptly shuts on him (animated by Chiniquy).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½