Birdy and the Beast

← A Tale of Two Kitties

Tweety Cartoons

A Gruesome Twosome →

Deprecated

We have moved to portable infoboxes using the new Template:Shorts

Please do not use this template anymore. It is left here for reference purposes.

Birdy and the Beast

Directed By: Bob Clampett Produced By: Eddie Selzer Released: August 19, 1944 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Warren Foster Animation: Tom McKimson Robert McKimson (uncredited) Virgil Ross (uncredited) Rod Scribner (uncredited) Manny Gould (uncredited) Layouts: Backgrounds: Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited) Voiced By: Mel Blanc (uncredited) Bob Clampett (uncredited) Music: Carl W. Stalling Starring: Tweety Schnooks Bulldog Hen Preceded By: From Hand to Mouse Succeeded By: Buckaroo Bugs

Birdy and the Beast is a 1944 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short subject stars Tweety and a Cat.

Title

The title is a play on the French fairy tale, "Beauty and the Beast".

Plot

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

The cat chases Tweety, but Tweety scares him off. Tweety fools the cat by hiding in Butch's dish. The cat comes in and starts looking at Butch's dish. Butch comes in and pounds the cat to the ground.

Tweety wanders into the Cat's mouth, while he is looking for Tweety. Tweety lights the cats tongue on fire by putting a match on it. As the cat runs, Tweety helps the cat by using a hose and putting the fire. When he fires the hose (wearing a fireman hat), it turns out to be connected to a gas can, and gasoline goes into the Cat's mouth, causing him to explode.

The cat survives, but he's still out to get Tweety. When he arrives at the top of tree, he becomes a nest. Tweety gets into it, but a hen who is laying eggs causes him to get off. When she's finished, she flies off. The cat's mouth is full of eggs. His attempt to catch Tweety once again fails when a grenade lands next to him, and he accidentally stuffs it in his mouth. He blows up and Tweety says, "You know I lose more putty tats that way!"

Availability

• VHS - Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Little Tweety and Little Inki Cartoon Festival Featuring "I Taw a Putty Tat"
• VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Tweety and Sylvester
• LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 3, Side 6, Tashlin/Clampett
• Blu-ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 1

Notes

• This is the final Merrie Melodies release to credit Leon Schlesinger.
• This is the only Tweety short animated by Tom McKimson.
• This is the first Tweety cartoon to star Tweety, as the previous short, "A Tale of Two Kitties", was more centered around the two cats Babbit and Catstello, than Tweety.
• The cat has been identified elsewhere as Schnooks, and can be regarded as a prototype Sylvester, albeit with a very different design.
• In the dubbed version, the 1938-1941 closing theme plays instead for both EU and US dubbed.
• The non-dubbed version has been restored as well as the 1944 ending card.
• The Russian dub of the restored print uses the dubbed version's soundtrack, hence the 1938-41 end cue at the end title.
• Butch is a prototype for Hector the Bulldog with the same appearance, but a different name.

Gallery

Unrestored Title Card

External Links

• "Birdy and the Beast" at the Big Cartoon Database