Birdy and the Beast (1944)

ridiculous rating

Nice effects though.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Tweety's second cartoon (and the first to actually name him) is a funny effort from Bob Clampett. In this one an unnamed black cat tries repeatedly to catch Tweety so he can eat him, but the little wisecracking canary manages to outsmart him. It's basically setting the template for what would come with the Sylvester & Tweety series. It's not quite on the level of those shorts, though, since the cat here doesn't bring as much to the table as Sylvester and they were still figuring out Tweety's persona. He is really cute here ("Yoooo hoooo! Did you wose somethin' puddy tat?") and has a bit of a mean streak often missing in later shorts. But he's just not quite "there" yet, ya know? I gotta say, though, there is something especially nice about Mel Blanc's Tweety voice here. It's a got a slight crack to it that gives Tweety's dialogue an undertone of feigned innocence. The animation is excellent with lush colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Carl Stalling's music is exceptional as always. It's a funny cartoon that played to many of Clampett's strengths.

"Birdy and the Beast" is obviously a play on words on "Beauty and the Beast" and there are two reasons that make this over 70-year-old cartoon from the days of World War II interesting. The first would be that it is one of these rare cases when director Bob Clampett also did some voice acting next to Mel Blanc. And secondly, it is pretty special how Tweety and Sylvester still looked so differently compared to their peak years. Other than that, this is not really a special cartoon. Spike has a little cameo too and I must say the comedy as well as wit and creativity were not too convincing compared to other cartoons from that era. Not one of the strongest Merry Melodies. Thumbs down.

One of Robert Clampett's masterpieces marked everywhere by his unique touch in animation! Odd perspectives! Extremely visual humor! Intentionally distorted animation! I was thunderstruck when I first saw this cartoon. Perhaps the year it was released(1944)explains the savagery of this one. With World War II on everyone's mind cartoons were a release valve for home front anger. It's full of wonderful scenes and a distinctly, on one hand, overly cute, on the other hand overly sadistic Tweety as opposed to his later gentler character. I first saw this one one on a local channel's Looney Tunes Show. I would be very surprised if it ever appeared on the Bugs Bunny Show because it's definitely not one for the preschoolers. As mentioned above, Tweety 'tries' to put out the cat's fire with gasoline. There are several other good quotes in this one. "Gee, Puddytat! I didn't know you could fly!" After a switcheroo with a hand grenade the cat says, "I got it! I got it! I got it!" Then comes Tweety's reply, "He's got it and he can have it!" Kaboom! Even the final quote where he is adding this (presumably dead)cat to his tally: "I get wid of more puddytats that way!" Funny it is! Not one for the kiddies, however! When is it coming out on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs?

I remember when I first saw this cartoon at about 5 or 6 years of age, and at first, I was a little creeped out by the early Tweety's crude appearance, but I was soon laughing my head off. Being directed by Bob Clampett rather than the future director of the Tweety cartoons, Friz Freeling, you can expect this cartoon to be a bit sillier. Not to mention that this is Tweety's second cartoon appearance so he's (yes, he is a boy) still in his developmental stages. Note that he's pink rather than yellow, he's a bit meaner than in his later cartoons, and he hasn't even been paired up with his arch rival, Sylvester, yet. Nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable cartoon, with a very memorable line, "Aw, the poor puddy tat! He fall down and go... BOOM!"