The Rebel Without Claws is quite good for a later Sylvester and Tweety cartoons, but it also could have been better and there's far better in the series(for me the last great Sylvester and Tweety cartoon is Hyde and Go Tweet).
Where The Rebel Without Claws falls down is mainly in the pacing, though the animation has been better before in previous Sylvester and Tweety cartoons and there are funnier ones too. The Rebel Without Claws from personal view lacks energy, it isn't dull by all means but previous Sylvester and Tweety cartoons show more pizazz and momentum. A notable part is in the gag with the canon, which does go on for too long and is very repetitive and tired. The Rebel Without Claws was also made at a point where the budgets were getting smaller and hurried, and unfortunately it does show in the animation here. The colours are a little overly-vibrant but are easy on the eyes but the cartoon is drawn with a rather scrappy and too simple look, lacking fluidity and imagination. The final gag is also a little drawn out and one that can be smelt a mile away.
Milt Franklyn's music is very characterful and lively with lush scoring, though not one of his better scores. There is some amusing dialogue too, it's not everyday where you hear Tweety utter the word damn and Sylvester's final line is priceless(the only thing that really stands out in that particular gag, while the gags do raise a few chuckles, the story while nothing special is hardly dull either and the civil war setting is enjoyable. But again, there have been far funnier and more inspired Sylvester and Tweety cartoons before. The human characters agreed are caricatures and not particularly memorable ones, but Tweety who has more to do than most of his previous cartoons is cute and not annoying and Sylvester never fails to be funny or one to feel sympathy for. Mel Blanc as ever gives stellar voice work.
Overall, nothing brilliant but quite good. 7/10 Bethany Cox
