''Tweet and Sour'' is a 1956
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 ...
''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
'' cartoon short directed by
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 ...
.
The short was released on March 24, 1956, and stars
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 ...
,
Sylvester
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 ...
,
Granny, and
Sam Cat.
The voices are performed by
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 ...
and
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...
.
The cartoon's title is a play on the phrase "
sweet and sour
Sweet and sour is a generic term that encompasses many styles of sauce, cuisine, and cooking methods. It is commonly used in East Asia and Southeast Asia and has been used in English cuisine, England since the Middle Ages.Clarissa Dickson WDickson ...
".
Plot
Granny leaves the house for an afternoon outing, but as she drives by the house and waves goodbye to Tweety, she sees Sylvester has gotten into the house and is about to have Tweety for his supper. Granny furiously stops Sylvester in time and, fed up with his constant chasing after Tweety, gives him a harsh warning: "If there's so much as one little feather harmed on Tweety, it's off to the
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
string
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
factory!" (punctuating the warning by mimicking
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
's "
The Funeral March").
As Sylvester cowers in fear and sulks in the corner after Granny leaves, he tries to eat Tweety again, until he reminds him of Granny's threat (also imitating The Funeral March). Sylvester wisely decides to stop and goes back to sulking in the corner of the room. However, both Tweety and Sylvester are about to face a new threat — Sam Cat (first seen in ''
Putty Tat Trouble'', but here seen wearing an eyepatch). Sam is after a meal of his own and is uncaring that Sylvester will be deemed responsible if Tweety is noticed missing. As such, the chase now casts Sylvester not as the predator but as the (not-so-altruistic) protagonist who plans to save Tweety from the predatory Sam before Granny returns — more so to save his own skin. After several exchanges across the yard, with both Sylvester and Sam clobbering each other, Sylvester and Tweety make it back home and lock Sam out of the house, but the feline is still determined to get Tweety. Sylvester finally gets rid of his rival by blowing him up in Granny's chimney (by way of a lighted TNT candle tied to a balloon).
However, when Granny returns, Sylvester's efforts are in vain. As he is putting Tweety ''back'' in the cage, Granny enters and, assuming he was after Tweety, promises to make good on her earlier threat. Sylvester tries to explain what really happened before giving up and declaring: "Aw, what's the use! She'll never believe me!", then he plays Chopin on his violin and falls into the violin case as a coffin to his demise.
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 Sylvester, Tweety
*
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...
as Granny (uncredited)
See also
*
List of American films of 1956
References
External links
*
Looney Tunes shorts
Short films directed by Friz Freleng
1950s Warner Bros. animated short films
1956 films
Animated films about cats
Films scored by Milt Franklyn
Tweety films
Sylvester the Cat films
Films produced by Edward Selzer
1950s English-language films
Films with screenplays by Warren Foster
Granny (Looney Tunes) films
English-language short films
1956 animated short films
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