Gift Wrapped (film)
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| Gift Wrapped | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Friz Freleng (as I. Freleng) |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer (uncredited) |
| Written by | Warren Foster |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling (uncredited) |
| Release date(s) | 16 February 1952 |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Gift Wrapped is a Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng (credited as I. Freleng). It was originally released on 16 February 1952, and was re-released on 2 November 2004 as a part of Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2.
[edit] Synopsis
Sylvester the cat awakes on Christmas morning to find a present for him. To his disappointment, it is merely a rubber mouse. He hears his hated rival Tweety Bird singing in his cage, which has been gift wrapped and addressed to Granny. Just before she enters the room, he switches the cage's tag so that it's addressed "To Sylvester" instead. Granny innocently gives the cage to Sylvester and opens the box with the rubber mouse.
Believing there has been an innocent mix-up, she goes to give Sylvester the mouse and correct the mistake. Upon seeing a satisfied Sylvester spitting up Tweetys's feathers, Granny realizes what has occurred and angrily forces Sylvester to regurgitate Tweety. After giving the wayward cat a scolding, Granny insists that Sylvester kiss Tweety under a sprig of mistletoe. Sylvester eats Tweety Bird again instead, and is once again scolded and forced to spit him out.
Granny places Tweety's cage up high where Sylvester shouldn't be able to reach him. Undaunted, the ever-resourceful feline retrieves a ladder, climbs up to Tweety's cage, and opens it with the intent to eat him. Tweety Bird manages to convince Sylvester that a huge present waiting under the Christmas tree is for Sylvester. Sylvester abandons Tweety in his greed, and opens the present with relish. It turns out to be Hector the Bulldog, who promptly eats Sylvester. Granny arrives and forces the dog to spit out Sylvester, and then throws the dog out of her house.
Sylvester attempts to get to Tweety by using a toy steam crane. Instead, he catches an angry Granny, who chases Sylvester with a broom. The feline retreats to the second floor of the house and attempts to saw a hole in the floor so as to be able to descend upon Tweety from above. Tweety replaces himself in the cage with a stick of lit dynamite, which goes off just as Sylvester pulls the cage up to his level. Sylvester then puts the wrecked cage back and stumbles down the stairs, blackened and torn up from the explosion.
He next attempts a Western-style showdown with Tweety; himself playing the part of Geronimo, with Tweety playing Hopalong Cassidy. Sylvester wins, but before he can consume his prize, Granny shoots a plunger over his mouth, and declares, "You didn't count on Pocahantas, did you Geronimo?"
While Tweety plays on his new train set, Sylvester tries one last time to catch him. He takes some spare train tracks, sets them up to point towards his open mouth, and the puts the train in reverse. The train goes over the new tracks, and towards Sylvester who then devours Tweety, only to be devoured himself by Hector the Bulldog who has somehow gotten back in the house. Granny whacks the dog until he coughs up Sylvester, and then does the same to Sylvester until he coughs up Tweety. Granny announces she's had enough, and that she'll show Sylvester and the dog there will be peace in the house once and for all.
The cartoon ends with Granny and Tweety singing a variation of the Christmas carol, Hark The Herald Angels Sing. On Tweety's right and left are Sylvester and the dog with stamps over their mouths.
[edit] Censorship
- The ABC airing of this cartoon edited out the shot of Sylvester staggering down the stairs after getting blown up by the dynamite stick that Tweety substituted for himself in the cage. Also cut was the part during the "Hopalong Cassidy" sequence where Sylvester gets shot by Tweety's toy gun and falls down the Christmas tree.
- The versions shown on Cartoon Network and the WB left in the "dynamite in the cage" sequence, but edited out the entire Hopalong Cassidy sequence (because of the American Indian stereotyping).
