Tweety Bird in his moment of debut with Catstello
A Tale of Two Kitties is an American cartoon, released in 1942, notable for introducing the character Tweety Bird. It was directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, and features music by Carl W. Stalling. It was also the first appearance of the duo of Babbit and Catstello (based on Abbott and Costello). The title is an obvious pun on the Charles Dickens classic, A Tale of Two Cities, but there is no other connection between the two "Tales".

Plot overview
The cartoon is replete with topical references, many having to do with World War II.

One gag has the "Babbit" cat hoeing his "Victory garden". Another has the "Catstello" cat gliding through the air on artificial wings like a warplane ("Hey, Babbitt! I'm a Spitfire!" followed by a few juicy expectorations). The climax has Tweety admonishing the cats, in a very loud and un-Tweety-like voice, to "TURN OUT THOSE LIGHTS!" during an air raid drill. (Babbit and Catstello see Tweety on the ground ["Now's our chance!"] and creep up on him. They approach him, eyes bulging, claws drawn, big teeth exposed. He turns and yells; the cats' eyes--the street light--and the moon--all blink out!)

Tweety reveals early on that his cute appearance masks a willingness to be merciless, even sadistic, towards anyone who threatens him. After slipping one of the cats a bomb which explodes (offscreen), the bird remarks, "Aw, da poor putty tat - he cwushed his widdow head!" Followed by a big grin. (This line was patterned after a catchphrase from a Red Skelton character, and would be used in other Warner cartoons, such as Easter Yeggs.)

Censorship
* The cartoon takes a direct shot at the censorship bureau known as the Hays Office. Catstello is atop a ladder trying to reach Tweety. Babbit is at the bottom of the ladder, yelling to his corpulent pal, "Give me the bird! Give me the bird!" Catstello turns to the audience and says in his Brooklynese way, "If da Hays Office would only let me... I'd give him 'da boid' all right!" It should be noted that the word "Boid" in this context is a Brooklynese corruption of the phrase "the bird", which is a euphemism for "the finger". The former WB! channel edited this scene when it aired on "The Bugs N' Daffy Show".

Notes
* The bird has no name in the cartoon, but was referred to by its developers as "Orson", possibly because its jowly appearance reminded them of Orson Welles.
* The bird's initial appearance is small and pink (like a baby bird), but its voice and behavior are already fully developed as the familiar "Tweety" chararacter.
* In the film Bugs Bunny: Superstar, Clampett said that the bird's look was based to some extent on his own naked baby picture. He said the censors objected to the bird looking naked, so "we painted yellow feathers on him" in later cartoons, and he became the familiar canary.

References in other media
This short is referenced in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where Eddie Valiant finds Tweety when he hangs from the pole of a building. Tweety drops Eddie by playing "This Little Piggy" in the exact manner as he does in this short.

The article "A Tale of Two Kitties" is part of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU FDL.

modified: 2007-11-27 15:10:11