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
