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Tweetie Pie
''Tweetie Pie'' is a 1947 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 3, 1947, and stars Tweety with Sylvester the Cat, who is called "Thomas" in this cartoon. ''Tweetie Pie'' marks the first pairing of the characters Sylvester and Tweety, and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 20th Academy Awards, 1947, breaking ''Tom and Jerry''s streak of four consecutive wins in the category and winning Warner Bros. their first Academy Award. Plot Thomas the Cat (later renamed Sylvester) captures Tweety, whom he finds outside in the snow, getting warm by a cigar. Thomas' unseen owner, Emma, sees him and saves Tweety from being eaten by Thomas, whom she promptly reprimands when he tries to eat him again. Tweety is brought inside, and Emma warns Thomas not to bother Tweety. Ignoring this command, Thomas initiates a series of failed attempts to get Tweety from his cage, many of which end in a noisy crash that brings Emma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. In total he created more than 300 cartoons. He introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest stars, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam (to whom he was said to bear more than a passing resemblance), and Speedy Gonzales. The senior director at Warners' Termite Terrace studio, Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio (a total of 266), and is also the most honored of the Warner directors, having won five Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards. After Warner closed down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie founded DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, which produced cartoons (including '' The Pink ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rube Goldberg Machine
A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction-type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal. In the United Kingdom, a similar contrivance is referred to as a "Heath Robinson contraption" after cartoons by the illustrator W. Heath Robinson. The design of such a "machine" is often presented on paper and would be impossible to implement in actuality. More recently, such machines are being fully constructed for entertainment (for example, a breakfast scene in '' Peewee's Big Adventure'') and in Rube Goldberg competitions. Over the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or overly complicated system. News headlines include, but are not limited to, "Is Rep. Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast, being quick-witted and heroic while speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent. He usually wears a yellow ''sombrero'', white shirt and trousers (which was a common traditional outfit worn by men and boys of rural Mexican villages), and a red kerchief, similar to that of some traditional Mexican attires. To date, there have been 46 theatrical shorts made either starring or featuring the character. History Speedy's first appearance was in 1953's ''Cat-Tails for Two'' though he appeared largely in name (and super speed) only. It would be two years before Friz Freleng and layout artist Hawley Pratt redesigned the character into his modern incarnation for the 1955 Freleng short of the same name. The cartoon features Sylvester the Cat g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert McKimson
Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. He wrote and directed many animated cartoon shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Hippety Hopper, and The Tasmanian Devil, among other characters. He was also well known for defining Bugs Bunny's look in the 1943 short ''Tortoise Wins by a Hare''. Career Born in Denver, Colorado, McKimson spent ten years gaining an art education at the Lukits School of Art. The McKimson family moved to California in 1926 and he then worked for Walt Disney as an assistant animator to Dick Lundy, stayed with Disney's studio for a year and then joined the Romer Grey Studio located in Altadena, California, in 1930, a would-be animation shop started by the son of Western author Zane Grey, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvester Jr
Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a separate sound distinct from ''i'', not a native Latin sound but one used in transcriptions of foreign words. After the Classical period ''y'' was pronounced as ''i''. Spellings with ''Sylv-'' in place of ''Silv-'' date from after the Classical period. Given name * Sylvester of Marsico (c. 1100–1162), Count of Marsico in the Kingdom of Sicily * Silvester Ashioya (born 1948), Kenyan hockey player * Silvester Bolam (1905–1953), British newspaper editor * Silvester Brito (1937–2018), American poet and academic *Sylvester Croom (born 1954), American football coach and former player *Silvester Diggles (1817–1880), Australian musician and ornithologist * Silvester Fernandes (born 1936), Kenyan hockey player * Silvester Gardiner (1708 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippety Hopper
Hippety Hopper is a young kangaroo character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. Robert McKimson introduced Hippety Hopper in '' Hop, Look and Listen'' (1948), which established the pattern for future Hippety Hopper cartoons. The character appeared in 14 theatrical cartoons between 1948 and 1964. History Hippety Hopper cartoons have a typical formula: Hopper escapes from a zoo, circus, etc., and is mistaken for a giant mouse by Sylvester the Cat. Frequently, Hopper changes places with an actual mouse, generally when it is most embarrassing for Sylvester. Sylvester tries to capture and eat his "prey", but the innocent and infantile Hippety mistakes Sylvester's predations for a game of rough-housing. Sylvester is repeatedly kicked, punched and spun around, but each failure only strengthens his desire to have the "giant mouse" for lunch. Hippety Hopper returns in McKimson's '' Pop 'Im Pop!'' (1950), in which proud father Sylvester boasts of his mousing skills ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Selzer
Edward Selzer (January 12, 1893 – February 22, 1970) was an American film producer and publicist who served as head of Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1944 to 1958. He served in the US Navy and fought as a Golden Gloves boxer. He won a boxing exhibition for the Navy and was awarded with a weekend pass. While out on leave he met a New York chorus girl named Laura Cohn; he later married Laura in 1927 and relocated to Los Angeles where they had two children; Phyllis and Robert. Career at Warner Bros. In 1930, Lewis Warner persuaded Selzer to join Warner Bros. to work on Robert Ripley's " Believe it or Not" series and to start an animation unit. Due to The Great Depression, he had no other choice but to take the job. He was also on an around-the-world tour with Ripley on ''Believe it or Not''. In late 1933 he was named Director of Publicity at Warners and from 1937 to 1944, he served as the head of the trailer and title departments. After the studio was purchased from Leon Schlesinge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peck Up Your Troubles
''Peck Up Your Troubles'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on October 20, 1945, and stars Sylvester the Cat. The cartoon marked the first appearance of Sylvester's long-time foe Hector the Bulldog, who would later become a recurring character in Tweety and Sylvester cartoons. The woodpecker would later reappear in '' A Peck o' Trouble'', a Dodsworth Cat cartoon directed by Robert McKimson in 1953. Plot Sylvester is determined to get a male woodpecker that just moved in, high in a tree. He climbs, but the bird greases the tree, causing him to fall down; he starts to axe it down, but a mean dog (Hector, in his first appearance) stops him from cutting it (this becomes a running gag). Several other attempts follow; at one point, he puts his paw into the bird's home, and the bird puts a tomato there. Sylvester squishes it, thinking he killed him and the bird dresses as an angel to torment him, but Sylveste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Davis (animator)
Arthur Davis ( Davidavitch) (June 14, 1905 – May 9, 2000) was an American animator and director known for his time at Warner Brothers' Termite Terrace cartoon studio. Early life Davis was born on June 14, 1905, in Yonkers, New York to Hungarian parents. He is the younger brother of animator Mannie Davis. Career Davis got his start as a teenager at Raoul Barre's Studio in 1918 and later moved to Jefferson Film Corporation when the Mutt and Jeff cartoons began being made there in January 1921 it was claimed that he won a cartoon competition. In 1923 he joined Out Of The Inkwell Films in New York, working as an assistant in 1922 since Dick Huemer proposed him to be an assistant. He is reputed to have been the first in-betweener in the animation industry. Another of his distinctions was that he tapped out the famous "bouncing ball" of the "Follow the Bouncing Ball" cartoons of the 1920s. While one of the Fleischer brothers played the ukulele, Davis would keep time with a woo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Gruesome Twosome
''A Gruesome Twosome'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on June 9, 1945, and stars Tweety. This is the last Tweety film directed by Clampett, following 1942's ''A Tale of Two Kitties'' and 1944's '' Birdy and the Beast'', and the last one before he is permanently paired with Sylvester. One of the cats in this cartoon is a caricature of the comedian Jimmy Durante. Plot The cartoon opens up with two cats (a couple) talking/singing in meows (set to the tune of the 1909 pop tune ''Me-ow''). Then we see a red cat (a caricature of Jimmy Durante) who hits a yellow cat with a frying pan while the yellow cat is talking to the female cat. Then the red cat tries to get the girl to kiss him. As he tries to kiss her, out of nowhere an insane dog (who admits that he "doesn't actually belong in this picture") pops up and kisses the female cat, prompting the Durante cat to exclaim that "Everybody wants to get into the act. U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kitty Kornered
''Kitty Kornered'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Robert Clampett. The short was released on June 8, 1946, and stars Porky Pig and Sylvester. Porky and Sylvester would later be paired in a trio of shorts directed by Chuck Jones: '' Scaredy Cat'', '' Claws for Alarm'', and '' Jumpin' Jupiter''. Both also appeared (with Daffy Duck) in ''The Scarlet Pumpernickel'' as a villain (the only time Sylvester spoke in a Chuck Jones-directed cartoon). Plot The neighborhood's cat owners all (literally) throw their cats out for the night. Porky Pig attempts to do the same, but his four cats (a tall black and white lisping cat ( Sylvester), a medium-sized tabby, a diminutive kitten, and a dumb drunkard cat) attempt to turn the tables and throw ''him'' out into the snow. Porky states that he is starting to hate pussycats. Porky bangs on the door, demanding to be let in, but the cats pop out of the door and proclaim in unison, "Milkman, keep those bottles qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows ''Time for Beany'' and ''Beany and Cecil''. He was born and raised not far from Hollywood and, early in life, showed an interest in animation and puppetry. After leaving high school a few months shy of graduating in 1931, he joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies''. Clampett was promoted to a directorial position in 1937. During his 15 years at the studio, he directed 84 cartoons later deemed classic, and designed some of the studio's most famous characters, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Tweety. Among his most acclaimed films are ''Porky in Wackyland'' (1938) and ''The Great Piggy Bank Robbery'' (1946). He left Warner Bros. Cartoons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
