Canary Row

Oh-Oh! - It looks like that bad, ol' putty-tat is up to no good once again.

Surveying the downtown area from his lookout point inside the office of the "Bird Watchers' Society", Sylvester spies (with his big, bloodshot eyes) a very tasty morsel (across the street) sitting on a windowsill of the Broken Arms Apartments.

And, with that scenario setting the tone of 1950's "Canary Row" - We find Sylvester (that conniving feline), once again, stooping to just about anything in order to capture and consume cute, little Tweety.

But, have no fear! 'Cause Granny is near. And, she will see to it that absolutely no harm comes to her darling, little Tweety... (Yep. You can count on Granny for that)

Tweety is perched in his cage on the ledge and Sylvester is across the street at the "Bird Watching Society" Building on about the same level. Both are looking through binoculars, and they spot each other. Tweety then utters his famous phrase, "I taught I taw a puddy cat." (thought I saw a pussy cat.) Sylvester scampers over to grab the bird. Tweety flies out of his cage and Granny comes to the rescue, bashing the cat and driving it away.

The rest of the animated short shows a series of attempts by Sylvester to grab Tweetie - a familiar theme - and how either bad luck or Granny thwarts him every time. The cat dons disguises and tries a number of clever schemes...all of which are funny and very entertaining.

In all, a good cartoon and fun to watch.

Friz Freleng's 'Canary Row' is a pretty standard Sylvester and Tweety cartoon that somehow got itself nominated for an Oscar. Even more bizarrely, its producer withdrew the nomination for some unknown reason. The main reason for 'Canary Row' gaining heightened attention is probably the first appearance of Granny. To people like me who have grown up watching these cartoons for years, Granny is a well established character and her appearance here is just standard antics. To an audience who had never seen her before, however, Granny added a certain something new to the old cat and bird formula. Granny undoubtedly steals the cartoon, featuring prominently in the few jokes that work. When she's not on screen, the cartoon sags and reverts to predictable, overused gags. Which is not to say that Granny's presence makes every scene great. She plays a significant role in the extended and thoroughly pointless monkey sequence, the most half-hearted joke of the cartoon after the tired ropeswing-into-the-side-of-the-building time filler. I'm not a huge fan of Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester series (I greatly prefer the characters when they appear without each other) but there are certain episodes that stand out as being vastly superior. 'Canary Row' is certainly not one of them, falling firmly into the run-of-the-mill chase category. Oscar material it ain't!

It's Granny's first appearance in a Sylvester & Tweety short, which pretty much makes it a classic for that reason alone. This is a very funny cartoon with a plot that's as simple as they come. Tweety is singing in his cage near an open apartment building window. Sylvester spies him and determines to get the bird. But he wasn't prepared for Tweety's owner, Granny, and her umbrella of pain. Lots of great physical gags in this one with poor old Sylvester the brunt of all of them. Tweety and Granny have many funny lines. The animation is bright and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is lively and fun. I always love hearing Tweety sing. Wonderful voice work from the great Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet. If you're a fan of Sylvester & Tweety shorts, this is one you won't want to miss.

Canary Row (1950)

*** (out of 4)

Tweety Bird is safely in his cage when Sylvester decides to try and kidnap him for dinner. Sylvester seems to have the upper hand until Granny comes to the rescue. This here isn't the best Tweety/Sylvester short out there but the real star is Granny who clearly steals the film. The feisty old lady still knows how to throw a few punches and her protection of Tweety is the main reason to see this film. Believe it or not this series was never one of my favorites but this one here is an enjoyable seven-minutes with some nice laughs and good action.