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A Bird in a Guilty Cage is a 1952 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on the 1900 song "A Bird in a Gilded Cage".

Plot[]

Sylvester is at a store called Stacy's (a spoof of Macy's), where he notices Tweety in the window stand. Going through the package slot, he closes the curtains and climbs up to Tweety's cage, who asks him what he's going to do. After asiding, "How naive can ya get?", Sylvester replies that they're going to play a game called Sandwich, involving Tweety getting sandwiched in two pieces of bread and nearly eaten. "I don't like dat game!"

Tweety flees, with Sylvester in hot pursuit. Frustrated, the cat is forced to stack mannequins on top of each other to reach the canary, who is hiding in the lighting. Tweety climbs down and puts skates on the mannequin statue, causing Sylvester to crash down some stairs. He returns, however, and the chase resumes, leading him to a hat sale, where he begins trying on hats. He finds the one with Tweety on top, and tries to smash him, instead hitting himself. Tweety hides in a dollhouse, which eventually ends with Sylvester shooting his own finger.

As Sylvester shoves his gun in a hole in the wall, another is aimed at his rear. Predictably, this ends in Sylvester getting his buttocks shot. Tweety then goes through the piping system, with Sylvester going to the other end to catch him. However, Tweety comes out a different hole, and puts a stick of dynamite in. Sylvester swallows it, thinking he has gotten Tweety, but as he strolls out, it explodes, leaving him blackened. He decides to cross birds off his diet. "That one sort of upset my stomach!"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • On ABC, the gun-in-one-end-and-out-the-other gag also used in "A Star Is Bored" and "Tease for Two" was edited to remove Sylvester shooting himself in the butt. The sound was left intact, but the actual scene was replaced with a shot of Tweety getting out of the hole in the wall. Also cut was the entire sequence where Sylvester uses his hand to chase Tweety through a dollhouse and mistakenly shoots his finger after Tweety splatters yellow paint on it.[2]
  • The CBS version left the gun-in-one-end-and-out-the-other gag uncut and showed most of the dollhouse sequence, but the dollhouse sequence was still edited to remove the part where Sylvester shoots his own finger, thinking it's Tweety.[2]

Notes[]

  • The gun in a hole gag is reused in the opening titles of "Revenge of the Pink Panther". There, the animated version of Inspector Clouseau points his gun into the gap in the 'A' while another comes out of the 'P'. Predictably, it ends with Clouseau being shot in the face. Prior to that, the same gag would be reused in "A Star Is Bored" and "Tease for Two". It was also used in a Cartoon Network station ID bumper in the early 2000s (see "Censorship" for details).
  • The famous lots-of-doors in-and-out routine (a routine associated with the 1960s animated TV series Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and its myriad spin-offs and remakes) in the dollhouse was previously used in "Little Red Riding Rabbit" and "Buccaneer Bunny"; both of those cartoons were also directed by Freleng.
  • This is one of the three Tweety & Sylvester cartoons where Sylvester crosses birds out from his diet list, while the other two are "Tweet Zoo" and "Trip for Tat".
    • Unlike the latter two cartoons where Sylvester crosses birds out from his diet list, in this one he did so because the "bird" he ate (which actually was a stick of dynamite) had "upset his stomach".
  • In this cartoon, Sylvester is aware about Tweety's naivety that he could use to his advantage, evidenced when he asides the audience "How naive can ya get?"
  • Starting with this cartoon, the "MPPDA" bug in the credits was updated to get new lettering that said "MPAA"; the cartoon following this, "Mouse-Warming", would be the last one to use the "MPPDA" version of the bug.
  • This cartoon was shown in theatres with Big Jim McLain during its original release alongside the reissue of "Fresh Airedale".

Gallery[]

References[]

← Hoppy Go Lucky Sylvester Cartoons Tree for Two →
← Ain't She Tweet Tweety Cartoons Snow Business →
Sylvester Cartoons
1945 Life with FeathersPeck Up Your Troubles
1946 Kitty Kornered
1947 Tweetie PieCrowing PainsDoggone CatsCatch as Cats Can
1948 Back Alley OproarI Taw a Putty TatHop, Look and ListenKit for CatScaredy Cat
1949 Mouse MazurkaBad Ol' Putty TatHippety Hopper
1950 Home, Tweet HomeThe Scarlet PumpernickelAll a Bir-r-r-dCanary RowStooge for a MousePop 'Im Pop!
1951 Canned FeudPutty Tat TroubleRoom and BirdTweety's S.O.S.Tweet Tweet Tweety
1952 Who's Kitten Who?Gift WrappedLittle Red Rodent HoodAin't She TweetHoppy Go LuckyA Bird in a Guilty CageTree for Two
1953 Snow BusinessA Mouse DividedFowl WeatherTom Tom TomcatA Street Cat Named SylvesterCatty CorneredCats A-weigh!
1954 Dog PoundedBell HoppyDr. Jerkyl's HideClaws for AlarmMuzzle ToughSatan's Waitin'By Word of Mouse
1955 Lighthouse MouseSandy ClawsTweety's CircusJumpin' JupiterA Kiddies KittySpeedy GonzalesRed Riding HoodwinkedHeir-ConditionedPappy's Puppy
1956 Too Hop to HandleTweet and SourTree Cornered TweetyThe Unexpected PestTugboat GrannyThe Slap-Hoppy MouseYankee Dood It
1957 Tweet ZooTweety and the BeanstalkBirds AnonymousGreedy for TweetyMouse-Taken IdentityGonzales' Tamales
1958 A Pizza Tweety-PieA Bird in a Bonnet
1959 Trick or TweetTweet and LovelyCat's PawHere Today, Gone TamaleTweet Dreams
1960 West of the PesosGoldimouse and the Three CatsHyde and Go TweetMouse and GardenTrip for Tat
1961 Cannery WoeHoppy DazeBirds of a FatherD' Fightin' OnesThe Rebel Without ClawsThe Pied Piper of GuadalupeThe Last Hungry Cat
1962 Fish and SlipsMexican BoardersThe Jet Cage
1963 Mexican Cat DanceChili WeatherClaws in the Lease
1964 A Message to GraciasFreudy CatNuts and VoltsHawaiian Aye AyeRoad to Andalay
1965 It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the HouseCats and BruisesThe Wild Chase
1966 A Taste of Catnip
1980 The Yolks on You
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 Father of the Bird
2011 I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat


Tweety Cartoons
1942 A Tale of Two Kitties
1944 Birdy and the Beast
1945 A Gruesome Twosome
1947 Tweetie Pie
1948 I Taw a Putty Tat
1949 Bad Ol' Putty Tat
1950 Home, Tweet HomeAll a Bir-r-r-dCanary Row
1951 Putty Tat TroubleRoom and BirdTweety's S.O.S.Tweet Tweet Tweety
1952 Gift WrappedAin't She TweetA Bird in a Guilty Cage
1953 Snow BusinessFowl WeatherTom Tom TomcatA Street Cat Named SylvesterCatty Cornered
1954 Dog PoundedMuzzle ToughSatan's Waitin'
1955 Sandy ClawsTweety's CircusRed Riding HoodwinkedHeir-Conditioned
1956 Tweet and SourTree Cornered TweetyTugboat Granny
1957 Tweet ZooTweety and the BeanstalkBirds AnonymousGreedy for Tweety
1958 A Pizza Tweety-PieA Bird in a Bonnet
1959 Trick or TweetTweet and LovelyTweet Dreams
1960 Hyde and Go TweetTrip for Tat
1961 The Rebel Without ClawsThe Last Hungry Cat
1962 The Jet Cage
1964 Hawaiian Aye Aye
2011 I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat
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