Background
Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons.
The name Tweety is a play on “sweetie” and “tweet”
His characteristics are based on Red Skelton’s famous Mean Widdle Kid
Directors: Bob Clampett, Fritz Freleng (vast majority), Chuck Jones, Gerry Chiniquy
Voices: Mel Blanc (42-89), Jeff Bergman, Bob Bergen, Joe Alaskey, Eric Goldberg, Billy West, Samuel Vincent, Greg Burson
Many of Mel Blanc’s characters are known for speech impediments. One of Tweety’s most noticeable is that /s/, /k/, and /g/ are changed to /t/, /d/, or (final s) /θ/ (so is he actually named Sweetie?
In Canary Row and Putty Tat Trouble, Tweety sings, “I’m a tweet wittow biwd in a gilded cage; Tweety’th my name but I don’t know my age. I don’t have to wuwy and dat is dat; I’m tafe in hewe fwom dat ol’ putty tat.” (Translation: “I’m a sweet little bird in a gilded cage, Sweety is my name but I don’t know my age. I don’t have to worry and that is that. I’m safe in here from that old pussycat”)
Personal
A male yellow canary
Originally not canary, but simply a generic (and wild) baby bird in an outdoors nest – naked (pink)
In his early appearances cartoons, Bob Clampett made Tweety aggressive
Friz Freleng made Tweety more cutesy … and even more so when Granny was introduced
On the original model sheet, Tweety was named Orson
Tweety’s voice and some of this attitude resembles Bugs Bunny as a child
Learn how to draw Tweety
Filmography
49 episodes in the Golden Age
First: Tale of Two Kitties (November 21, 1942)
Last Golden Age: Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964)
In his debut, a not-yet-named Tweety is against two hungry cats (Babbit and Catstello)
The second Tweety short, Birdy and the Beast, finally bestowed the baby bird with his new name (here’s a clip)
Honors
#33 (with Sylvester) in TV Guide’s 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters
Academy Award Winner (Best Short Subject, 1947, Tweety Pie) – teamed with cat (later to be named Sylvester) for the first time
Time proves Sylvester and Tweety are a successful pair (I honored Sylvester in this June 2012 post)
Most of their cartoons followed a standard formula: A hungry Sylvester wanting to eat the bird, but some major obstacle stands in his way (Granny, her bulldog Hector, other dogs, or other cats)
Sylvester’s schemes resemble those of Wile E. Coyote’s efforts with Roadrunner
Famous Quotes
“Awww, the poor kitty cat! He faw down and go (in a loud, tough, masculine voice) BOOM!!” and then grins mischievously.
“I tawt I taw a puddy tat!”
“I did! I did taw a puddy tat!”
“Oh, hello, Puddy Tat. What you doin’ up there?”
“Bad ol’ puddy tat!”
“Uh oh, wecked the puddy tat. You know, I lose more puddy tats that way.” ~Bad Ol’ Putty Tat
“Well, whaddya know? I got an admirer!”
“You cwushed my wittle head!”
“My poor, wittle cranium.”
“I wonder what that puddy tat up to now?”
“Now, how do you suppose I got my wittle self in such a pwedicament?” ~Bad Ol’ Putty Tat
“Uh-oh, that Puddy Tat after me again.” ~Bad Ol’ Putty Tat
“That old puddy tat is never gonna find me in here.” ~Bad Ol’ Putty Tat
“You bad ol’ puddy tat!”
“You can’t catch me!”
“Take that! Bad ol’ puddy tat!”
Originally Tweety said, “I did! I taw a puddy tat!”n… but somehow, overtime, an extra ‘did’ appears …”I did! I did taw a puddy tat!”
Other Appearances
A small part in Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Tweety appears as part of the TuneSquad team in Space Jam
A 1995 Frosted Cheerios commercial with Sylvester
A 1996 Christmas commercial for Target with LeAnn Rimes had Tweety giving her a kiss on the cheek as the other Looney Tunes characters line-danced to Rimes’ song Put a Little Holiday In Your Heart
The following video games: The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters, Looney Tunes: Space Race, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
British artist Banksy’s 2008 The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill – Click here to see a video of the work
Comics: Dell Comics Four Color series #406, 489, and 524, Dell Comics (#4-37, 1954–62), and Gold Key Comics (#1-102, 1963–72).
Enjoy this tribute to Tweety Bird and Sylvester
A Frank Angle 