He’s
the little yellow canary bird that is the eternal target of Sylvester the Cat.
Tweety usually benefits from either the intercession of outsiders, such as Granny
or one of the generic bulldogs that infest WB cartoons, or just plain cartoon
laws of gravity and luck. On occasion, and this was particularly true in his first
few cartoons, Tweety would take the offensive in protecting himself.
Tweety was the creation of Bob Clampett, who had a fascination with baby birds
he fondly remembered from nature films, as well as a baby picture of himself he
remembered rather less fondly. While WB had had similar birds before, Clampett
gave the bird a lisping baby voice, a head proportioned like a baby, and a temperament
borrowed perhaps from the Red Skelton character of Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid.
In his debut in “A Tale of Two Kitties” and in the follow-ups “Birdy
and the Beast” and “A Gruesome Twosome,” Tweety shows that he
is no helpless little orphan, as he uses gasoline, hand grenades, dynamite and
clubs to protect himself. |