I Taw a Putty Tat (1948) User Reviews

Insthpirathional (spoiler in last paragraph)

[alice liddell · 8/10 · 18 July 2000]

It would not be wrong to suggest that the Sylvester/Tweetie series is just another variation on the gleefully vicious Tom and Jerry model, in which a seemingly insignificant creature constantly outwits and eludes his prodigious feline foe. In 1940s Hollywood, however, unlike today, formula was not necessarily a synonym creative laziness, and these short six minutes are packed with hilarity, invention and hilariously inventive violence.

The chief pleasures are Mel Blanc's gloriously funny, iconic, voice-doubling (he does both Thylvesther and 'I tawt I taw' Tweety); the transformation of the seemingly restricted domestic milieu (with its representative prisons, the cage and catbasket) as a space for anarchy and freedom, with Sylvester the cat-rebel constantly undermining the mistress (the only human we see - husband at work? War victim?), by eating her canaries; the beautiful, cool secondary candy colours and strong outlines, reminiscent of THE PINK PANTHER (cartoon) and EUROTRASH; a compositional style that is almost surreal in its well-chosen placing of resonant signifiers in an otherwise minimalist environment; and the exquisite action which is not too far from Itchy and Scratchy in its choreographed sadism.

The film's movement is almost theoremetical (sic?), as Sylvester the budgie murderer becomes the budgie murdered, while Tweetie takes over his power and his murderous characteristics (marked in the shifts from catbasket to cage and vice versa). Sylvester's death is a bit of a shock here, considering the longevity of the series - this must have been intended as a one-off; the final division of spoils tells you a lot about the filmmakers' intentions.

Has a creepy essence to it, but still enjoyable

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 16 February 2011]

I personally do not mind the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons, in fact in general I quite like them. I Taw a Putty Tat is not among their best, but I enjoyed it well enough. I did though find the part where you hear the voices of the digested mice on the creepy side, and the first time I saw this I found the end a bit of a shock and even now I am quite surprised at its longevity.

That said, the animation is excellent, being fluid and colourful and the music has some fine interludes to it. The dialogue is fun and the sight gags work a vast majority of the time with quite a lot fitted in in a short duration which has always impressed me admittedly. Tweety is funny with some great lines, but I feel Sylvester carries it. The supporting characters also add a lot without distracting too much from Sylvester and Tweety. Mel Blanc is superb as always.

All in all, enjoyable if not among the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

So the dog's name is Hector...

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 8 September 2006]

There have been many cartoons in which Sylvester unsuccessfully tries to eat Tweety, but "I Taw a Putty Tat" is significant in that it's the first appearance of Hector the Dog. Personally, I can't figure out why the woman never realized that Sylvester was eating her canaries; my family has owned many cats over the years, but we've never owned birds, lest the cats eat them like Sylvester always tries to do. Anyway, a great cartoon, with Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet doing neat voices.

Hector. The Trojan prince who fought in the Trojan War. When Homer came up with that name for The Iliad (in Greek, it means "holding fast"), he probably never imagined that it would one day get applied to a bulldog in a cartoon.

The second appearance of Tweetie Pie and Sylvester together.

[Mightyzebra · 8/10 · 29 March 2010]

I personally thought this was one of the better Tweetie Pie and Sylvester cartoons (even though they are all good in some way). This was because some gags were used, both in a slapstick and speaking style, that are not usually found in a TP + S cartoon. It was a good surprise to see some of the hat gags and Tweetie's animation style in this cartoon. Also, Tweetie Pie was hardly at all a coward in this cartoon, usually he is vewy quick to retweat into his bird cage. Here however, he acts as a little bit of a Jerry (as in Tom and Jerry) or Bugs Bunny character, interacting with the enemy to get him into horrible situations. Obviously Tweetie Pie has to be more careful with this kind of character approach than say, Bugs, but the role play works very well and I hope I see it in more TP + S cartoons.

The only thing that bugged me about this episode is the creepiness of it, you hear the calls of half-digested mice that Sylvester has eaten and you can tell Sylvester has very recently eaten a bird at the beginning of the cartoon. Most TP + S episodes are not quite this brutal.

Anyhow, the main plot in this episode may be familiar to Sylvester and Tweeite Pie fans, the human in the house buys a new bird from the nearest pet shop and Sylvester tries to eat him, after succeeding snacking on five previous feathered pets in his abode. Will he succeed in making a snack out of Tweetie Pie?

I very much recommend this to people who enjoy TP + S cartoons and to people who would like to see Tweetie as a bit less of a coward than usual. Enjoy "I Taw a Putty Tat"! :-)

8 and a half out of ten.

Classic line... I forgot my widdle hat.

[kenny_c_hueholt · 26 November 2001]

I have this cartoon on video and it's definitely one of my favorites. It's hilarious each time Tweety comes out of Sylvester's mouth and then comes back in just to get his hat. I also liked Sylvester in the maid's outfit.

Enjoyable early outing for Tweety

[bob the moo · 7 December 2003]

When yet another bird goes missing, Sylvester's owner assumes it escaped again (like the others) and orders another one from the pet store. Sylvester prepares for another ready meal, but the new bird is a little more elusive that the others.

I'm not a big fan of Tweety Pie cartoons and my heart always sinks just a little bit when I see one come on. However the animation of Tweety here shows that this must be quite an early cartoon from them and sees Tweety doing his usual stuff – almost innocently outwitting the ever hungry Sylvester the cat. The action is pretty funny and it has good energy, which makes it all quite amusing.

Sylvester is as good as he is but it is Tweety who is actually the strongest character. I usually find him annoying but didn't here, instead he was funny and witty with a little touch of the Bugs about him in the way he plays around with Sylvester.

Overall, I don't usually get much from Tweety Pie cartoons, so the fact that I found this one to be enjoyable and pretty amusing must be a good sign. Watch this before the bird started to just get irritating.

Another Bird Please

[Michael_Elliott · 28 July 2015]

I Taw a Putty Tat (1948)

*** (out of 4)

Fun short has a home order thinking her bird flew off so she orders another but what she doesn't know is that Sylvester has actually been eating them. Soon Tweety is in the bird cage but Sylvester isn't going to have an easy time trying to eat him. I TAW A PUTTY TAT has a terrific title and for the most part the film too is pretty good. I think there are a number of highlights scattered throughout the film but the best has to be when Sylvester is hanging on the ceiling and Tweety uses a hammer to release his nails so that he'd fall into a bulldog's mouth. I've never been a huge fan of this series but there's no question that they're interesting in their own way even when some of them are rather creepy. With that said, this is certainly a good little film that's worth watching.