A Tale of Two Kitties

A Tale of Two Kitties
Merrie Melodies (Tweety/Babbit and Catstello) series
The unrestored July 31, 1948 Blue Ribbon reissue title card of A Tale of Two Kitties.
Directed by	Bob Clampett
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Story by	Warren Foster
Voices by	Mel Blanc (Catstello / Tweety) Tedd Pierce (Babbit; uncredited)
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Studio	Leon Schlesinger Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	November 21, 1942 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 minutes (one reel)
Language	English
Preceded by	none
Followed by	Birdy And The Beast

A Tale of Two Kitties is an American cartoon, released in 1942, notable for the first appearance of A yellow canary, who would come to be known as Tweety. It was directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, and features music by Carl W. Stalling. It was also the first appearance of Babbit and Catstello, based on the popular comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The title is an obvious pun on the Charles Dickens classic, A Tale of Two Cities.

It is one of many a.a.p.-owned cartoons to fall in the public domain, as United Artists did not renew the copyright in time. It was released to DVD commercially on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5.

Even in this initial appearance, Tweety reveals early on that his cute appearance masks a willingness to be merciless, even sadistic, towards anyone who threatens him. After slipping one of the cats a bomb which explodes (offscreen), the bird remarks, "Aw, da poor putty tat - he cwushed his widdow head!" Followed by a big grin. (This line was patterned after a catchphrase from a Red Skelton character, and would be used in other Warner cartoons, such as Easter Yeggs.)

The bird was unnamed in the short, although at the time the staff called it "Orson".

Influences in other media

I tawt I taw a putty tat!
I did, I taw a putty tat!

• This short is referenced in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where Eddie Valiant finds Tweety when he hangs from the pole of a building. Tweety drops Eddie by playing "This Little Piggy" in the exact manner as he does in this short.
• In the Mighty Mouse short Prehistoric Perils, Oil Can Harry uses the same tactic to drop Pearl Pureheart off a power line.
• In an episode of The Plucky Duck Show "The Return of Batduck", Plucky says "Is there an insurance salesman in the audience?" as Catstello does in this film.

Censorship

• The cartoon takes a direct shot at the then-censorship bureau known as the Hays Office. Catstello is atop a ladder trying to reach Tweety. Babbit is at the bottom of the ladder, yelling to his corpulent pal, "Give me the bird! Give me the bird!" Catstello turns to the audience and says in his Brooklynese way, "If da Hays Office would only let me... I'd give him 'da boid' all right" (with the "Boid" being a euphemism for "the finger"). The WB removed that line when the short aired on "The Bugs N' Daffy Show".^[1]

See also

• List of films in the public domain

References

External links

• A Tale of Two Kitties at the Internet Movie Database
• A Tale of Two Kitties is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• A Tale of Two Kitties at YouTube
• A Tale of Two Kitties at Cinemaniacal