Tweety is the little yellow canary bird that is the eternal target of Sylvester the Cat. Tweety usually benefits from either the intercession of outsiders, cush as Granny or one of the generic bulldogs that infest WB Cartoons, or just plain cartoon laws of gravity and luck. On occasion, and this was particularly true in his first few cartoons, Tweety would take the offensive in protecting himself.
Tweety was the creation of Bob Clampett, who had a fascination with baby birds he fondly remembered from nature films, as well as a baby picture of himself he remembered rather less fondly. While WB had had similar birds before, Clampett gave the bird a lisping baby voice, a head proportioned like a baby, and a temperamemnt borrowed perhaps from the Red Skelton character of Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid. In his debut in "A Tale of Two Kitties" and in the follow-ups "Birdy and the Beast" and "A Gruesome Twosome", Tweety shows that he is no helpless little orphan, as he uses gasoline, hand grenades, dynamite, and clubs to protect himself.
Originally pink, Tweety was change to yellow, after censors complained. Clampett did some of the early preliminary work on "Tweetie Pie" before turning the project over to Friz Freleng, who steered it to an Oscar-winning cartoon. The cartoon has caused some confusion in the name of the character. Sometimes the character is referred to as Tweety, bu tother times the character is referred as Tweetie Pie, muddying the situation. In "Tree Cornered Tweety", Tweety appears in an Automat window labeled Tweety Pie, right next to the Lemon Pie. Tweety makes a cameo in "No Barking", saying his catch-phrase "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat". Putty Tat has also been spelled Puddy Tat, which is now the officially endorsed spelling. Mel Blanc recorded a hit "I Taut I Taw a Puddy-Tat" (words and music by Alan Livingston, Billy May, and Warren Foster) in 1950. Joe Alaskey noew does the voice of Tweety. |
