Cartoon a Day: All A Bir-r-r-rd

All A Bir-r-r-rd
1950
Directed by Friz Freleng (as I. Freleng)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol 2

In this Tweety and Sylvester cartoon the duo are aboard a train. Both are riding in a luggage compartment and, as usual, Sylvester is trying to make a snack of Tweety.

There are some great gags in this cartoon, more of Freleng's great sense of timing at work. Freleng makes great use of two sets of running gags in this short. The first involves Tweety pulling an emergency brake cord to stop Sylvester's attacks.

The second is a hilarious use of a bulldog who also happens to be on the train. He and Tweety manage to switch places with each other several times, so much so that you can predict that last gag, but the gag fits so well you would'nt have it any other way.

Cartoon a Day: Satan's Waitin'

Satan's Waitin'
1954
Directed by Friz Freleng (as I. Freleng)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

As you might imagine from it's title, "Satan's Waitn' " features one of the darkest story concepts you're ever going to find in a cartoon. This is a Tweety and Sylvester short which reveals a deep dark secret about cartoon characters...they can die.

That's right, and not only does Sylvester die just a few minutes into this short but he goes to hell! Lucky for him it's only his first of nine lives. So Sylvester #1 will have to wait until the others show up. The devil, a bulldog, is anxious to speed things up, so he heads up to encourage Sylvester on with his dangerous Tweety chasing ways.

There are some great moments in this short and some wonderful stylistic designs. The roller coaster sequence features some amazing visuals and the opening shots that feature Sylvester and Tweety running across a sea of wires and TV antennas (a bit of a jab at the new medium of the time) are great from a design standpoint. Even the shots of the "putty tat" riding a conveyor belt down to hell are fun from a design standpoint. But despite the laughs and the great art, it's hard to get into a short that is so...well...morbid. It's no fun seeing cartoon characters H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.

Cartoon a Day: Puss N' Booty

Puss N' Booty
1943
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 4

"Puss N' Booty" is a cartoon of unique historical significance. First of all, it is the final black and white Looney Tunes cartoon produced. In some ways you do feel like you're watching one of the color cartoons on a black and white TV. The film is also significant since this is pretty much a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon before those two characters existed.

In this cartoon, Rudolph the cat has his owner believing that her last several canaries have been escape artists. Rudolph's feather filled hiccup tells those of us in the audience different. There are some great poses during this sequence when the cat tries to gather up the feathers.

A new canary is ordered and Rudolph wait anxiously for the delivery truck. This is another great sequence which features some great poses for the cat. Especially funny is the moment where he tears a chunk of a brick wall out in order to make sure the approaching delivery truck sees the address sign.

Director Frank Tashlin eventually moved on to a career directing live action films. His great sense of comic timing is certainly on display in this short. It's kind of surprising that it took a little while for this cat vs. bird premise to catch on. Sylvester and Tweety would turn it into a classic premise a little while later.