''A Tale of Two Kitties'' is a 1942

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

directed by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, film director, director, film producer, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the te ...

, and was released on November 21, 1942. The short features the debut of

Tweety Tweety is an animated character, a yellow canary bird in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid". He appeared in ...

, originally named Orson until his second cartoon, who delivers the line that would become his catchphrase: "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!"

Plot

Two cats, Babbit and Catstello, are looking for food to alleviate their hunger. Babbit gets a ladder when they see a bird (Tweety) on top of a frail tree. Catstello is at first reluctant, but manages to go up the ladder. As Babbit demands his partner to "give me the bird," followed by Catstello breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

and telling the audience, "If the

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

would only let me, I'd give him the 'boid,' all right!" (a reference to giving the

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, typically located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is al ...

), Catstello experiences " heightrophobia" and falls down the ladder after failing to catch Tweety from his nest. Babbit then puts Catstello in the following attempts to catch the bird to only end in vain: # First he tries to launch Babbit in the air with the use of jack-in-the-box springs. When Tweety first encounters Castello, he speaks to the audience in surprise ("I tawt I taw a putty tat!") before violently attacking him, culminating in him blowing the cat up with a stick of dynamite. # Babbit's next plan is to send the demotivated Catstello up the tree with the use of a TNT barrel. However, Catstello careens off course and crashes onto the roof of a farmhouse before hanging upside down on a wire. Tweety then plays " This Little Pitty" with his foot, causing him to fall. He attempts "save" the cat by giving him a rope tied to an anvil, which falls off the roof and crash lands onto Catsello deep into the ground. # Finally, Babbit constructs a makeshift glider for Castello that he can use to swoop down and catch the bird, but Tweety reports this as an air raid, and Catstello is shot down. Catsello's descent jump cuts between him and the view of a pitchfork, alluding to his potential fate. But Catstello halts himself midair in the nick of time and safely lands on Babbit. Tweety walks by acting as an air raid warden and demanding a "total bwackout", and just as Babbit and Catstello are about to catch him, the bird screams at the cats to turn out the lights.

Voice cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

as Catstello and Tweety * Tedd Pierce as Babbit

Notes

* The short is notably the first cartoon to feature the character

, who would later appear in a series of shorts paired with

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

Sylvester the Cat Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic Bicolor cat, cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hop ...

. ** Tweety was originally referred to as "Orson" during the production of this cartoon, and was depicted as an aggressive baby bird in his first three appearances rather than the timid yellow canary he's better known as. According to Bob Clampett, Tweety's initial design was based on the director's baby pictures, and that his characterization was based on

Red Skelton Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelto ...

's character "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid." *** Tweety's design was previously used for different baby bird in one of Clampett's previous shorts, Wacky Blackout (1942). * The short is also the first to feature the characters Babbit and Catstello, based on the real-life comedic duo Abbott and Costello. Babbit and Catstello would later reappear in three more cartoons without Tweety, those being Tale of Two Mice (1945), Hollywood Canine Canteen (1946) and The Mouse-Merized Cat (1946). These subsequent appearances have the characters portrayed as mice instead, and in one occasion as dogs. *The cartoon contains a notable jab at the movie industry's self-censorship bureau. When Babbit demands Catstello to bring him the bird, Catstello breaks the fourth wall by telling the audience "If the

would only let me, I'd give him the 'boid,' all right!", which is a not so subtle reference to the

. * The short was reissued as a

Blue Ribbon Blue ribbons are typically a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Order of the Holy Spirit#Cordon Bleu, Cord ...

cartoon on July 31, 1948. This cartoon is also currently in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

did not renew its copyright in 1970.

References

External links

* *
A Tale of Two Kitties
at Cinemaniacal {{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of Two Kitties, A 1940s English-language films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films American animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Articles containing video clips Tweety films Films based on real people Animation based on real people Cultural depictions of Abbott and Costello Animated films about cats Films directed by Bob Clampett Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Films scored by Carl Stalling Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films with screenplays by Warren Foster Babbit and Catstello English-language short films 1942 animated short films

Plot

Voice cast

See also

Notes

References

External links