Birdy and the Beast

Birdy and the Beast
Merrie Melodies / Tweety series

Directed by	Robert Clampett
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Story by	Warren Foster
Voices by	Mel Blanc
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation by	Tom McKimson
Studio	Leon Schlesinger Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date(s)	August 19, 1944
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7:33
Country	USA
Language	English
Preceded by	A Tale of Two Kitties
Followed by	A Gruesome Twosome

Birdy and the Beast is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies and Tweety series. It was directed by Bob Clampett, animated by Thomas McKimson, and musical direction by Carl Stalling. This is the second Tweety cartoon directed by Clampett, as Tweety is set upon a fat cat. The title is a play on the traditional fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, although the plot has absolutely nothing to do with the fairy tale.

Plot synopsis

Tweety is sitting in his nest, when a cat watches him. Tweety flies off and the cat chases after him. The cat doesn't have the ability to fly, so instead he falls to the ground, by chance he falls on a bulldog, who decides to help Tweety.

The cat attempts to chase Tweety, but Tweety scares him off. Tweety decides to fool the cat by hiding in the bulldog's dish-bowl. The cat comes in and starts looking the bulldog's dish. The bulldog comes in and pounds the cat to the ground (as would be expected.)

Tweety decides to wander into the cat's mouth, while he is looking for Tweety. Tweety decides to set the cat's tongue on fire by putting a match on it. As the cat runs around on fire, Tweety decides to help the cat by using a hose and putting the fire. However, when he fires the hose (by now wearing a firefighter's hat) it turns out that it happens to be connected to a gas (petrol) can, and gasoline goes into the cat's mouth, causing him to explode.

The cat manages to survive, but he's still out to get Tweety. When he arrives at the top of the tree, he becomes a nest. Tweety attempts to get into it, but a hen, laying her eggs, causes him to get off. When she's finished, she flies off. The cat also arrives and his mouth is full of nothing but eggs. He attempts to catch Tweety once again but fails, then a grenade lands next to him, and thinking it is an egg, accidentally stuffs it in his mouth. He blows up and Tweety says, "You know, I lose more putty tats that way!", then drew a line on the tree of how many cats he got rid of.

Trivia

This is the final appearance of the Sylvester prototype.
This is the first cartoon where Tweety was given the name.
This is the final appearance of Tweety in a Leon Schlesinger cartoon. The next WB cartoon, Buckaroo Bugs, would be the final cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger.
This is the second appearance of Tweety without feathers.
This cartoon features a prototype of Hector the Bulldog.

Goofs

At the beginning scene of the cartoon when the cat sneaks upon the tree where Tweety lives his eyes are yellow. For the rest of the cartoon however his eyes became white.
On the original print of the cartoon, on the "STARRING TWEETY" title card Tweety is colored pink. However, on the Turner "dubbed version" of this cartoon which aired on the Turner-owned channels (Cartoon Network, Boomerang, etc.), Tweety was miscolored yellow.

Availability

Birdy and the Beast is available uncut and digitally remastered on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 DVD and Blu-Ray set. This version is the uncut non dubbed version with original ending rings restored to DVD.

Crew

Director: Bob Clampett
Producer: Leon Schlesinger
Writer: Warren Foster
Musical Direction: Carl Stalling
Orchestrator: Milt Franklyn (uncredited)
Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited)
Sound Effects: Treg Brown (uncredited)
Animation: Thomas McKimson (credited), Robert McKimson, Virgil Ross, Manny Gould, Rod Scribner (all uncredited)

External links

Birdy and the Beast at the Internet Movie Database