A Tale of Two Kitties

Tweety, the yellow pet canary in Warner Brothers Looney Tunes, wasn't always the caged bird battling his feline adversary, Sylvester. In his first cartoon appearance, November 1942's "A Tale of Two Kitties," Tweety was a wild baby bird nesting high in an outdoor tree. Two hungry cats in the shape of Abbott and Costello are hungry for the little bird. Once aroused, Tweety becomes a powerhouse dynamo, frustrating several attempts by the two cats, Babbit and Catstello, to catch and eat him.

Designed by Warner Brothers' animated director Bob Clampett, Tweety joined the artist's innovative characters Porky Pig and Daffy Duck into the studio's fold. Clampett was inspired by Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali, shaping his objects into abstract forms, as evident when Catstello, on the receiving end of a falling anvil, is mushed into a pancake. In "A Tale of Two Kitties," Tweety says his signature line, 'I taut I taw a puddy tat,' voiced by Mel Blanc for the first time as the canary breaks the 'fourth wall' and talks into the camera. Like the later 'Roadrunner' episodes, Tweety's adversaries ramp up ingenious methods in the cats' attempts to capture the bird, only to be frustrated, mostly with Catstello bearing the brunt.

Tweety was first known as Orson on the drawing boards. By combining the words 'sweetie,' which was the bird's initial disposition while snoozing in his nest, with 'tweet,' the sounds birds make, Tweety's baptism name came about. During the course of the Golden Age of Cartoons lasting until 1964, the bird was drawn in 46 different forms. At first, Tweety was pink. The censors, viewing the original sketches, told the studio the pink bird, looking sunburned, appeared naked. So the artists shaded the bird yellow, similar to a canary, the color he's kept throughout his life.

"A Tale of Two Kitties" contains several references to World War Two. Catstello is inside a 'victory garden' when an anvil falls on his head. These gardens were situated both on private and public lands to increase food supplies and to alleviate vegetable shortages, much of it shipped overseas. When Babbitt launches Catstello tied to a board serving as airplane wings, the the cat spits high into the air claiming he's a Spitfire, the British fighter plane which played such a crucial role during the Battle of Britain. And Tweety dons a helmet reading air raid warden, where volunteers in this position were tasked with enforcing area blackouts as well as sounding the air raid alarm.

Clampett left Warner Brothers after the war. Artist Friz Freleng shortly came up with Sylvester the cat, and gave Tweety a more adorable look. The pair emerged as one of the most popular rivalries created in cartoons.

The cats included instead are Babbit and Castello, spoofs on people called Bud Abbot and Lou Castello. Tweetie Pie is a lot different from the Tweetie Pie we know today, in this episode the bird has more of a mean streak and is not yellow. The two cats are very entertaining, Castello being a plump, cowardly cat who receives most of the action and Babbit is a braver, more grown-up cat.

I quite like this Looney Tunes episode because it is funny and Tweetie Pie does a good job in his first appearance. The only things here that bothered me were the references to WWII at the time, Castello pretends to be a Spitfire (he has a large wooden plank around him that resemble wings) and he is shot at. The way he falls to the ground is surprisingly disturbing.

The plot is similar to Tweetie Pie and Sylvester plots, Tweetie Pie sees a putty tat trying to eat him and he makes sure that he does not become breakfast, lunch or dinner. In this episode, Tweetie Pie is trying to make sure he is not eaten by Castello, who is hungry. Unfortunately, Castello is not finding his job easy at all...

I recommend this is anyone who likes Tweetie Pie and to anyone who does not mind references to WWII in a cartoon. Enjoy "A Tale of Two Kitties"! :-)

A takeoff on Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, famous comedians of the classic era, we have two cats: "Babbit" and "Catstello" just trying to survive and find food, like climbing a very tall tree for a bird snack, if they can get it. That little bird turns out to be "Tweety," the little yellow (later on) canary making his Looney Tunes debut.

Actually, more than half of this cartoon features Tedd Pierce and Mel Blanc imitating the two comedians. They are far more scenes than the little bird but the best scenes are the ones with the little bird high up in his nest. Tweety is naked - no feathers. It's kind of weird, being skin color all over. It's like he's just a tiny baby that has been recently hatched. Anyway, he won't put up with a cat trying to get him - this is one strong little "boid."

"Catstello" can get a little too loud and abrasive (Blan was never subtle with his voices!) but otherwise this was a fun cartoon and interesting Tweety's start in animated films.

I thought the best thing about the cartoon was the direction by Bob Clampett. There are some great "camera" angles in here and it's drawn cleverly in many spots.

As the two cats struggle to retrieve Tweety from the nest high in a tree, each ploy is designed by Babbit and carried out by his dupe, Catstello. At one point Tweety says his characteristic "I tawt I taw a puddie tat!" This is possibly the first time he used the legendary line. But in this episode it is not joined by the response, "I did! I taw a puddie tat!"

In this day and age, we have seemingly come to interpret Tweety Bird as "cute". In his first appearance, he was nothing like that; quite the opposite, he was a bad-ass. In "A Tale of Two Kitties", wandering felines Babbit and Catstello (spoofing Abbott and Costello) find a bird's nest. Grouchy, straight-talking Babbit sends the nervous Catstello up to get the bird, only the tiny avian - whose name isn't actually identified - proves to be the nastiest mother ever. There's naturally an anvil gag.

It's just great to see how the guys behind the Looney Tunes weren't afraid to show anything that they wanted. Definitely one to see.