Birds Anonymous

Birds Anonymous is a 1957 Merrie Melodies animated short, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster, starring Tweety Bird, Sylvester and Sam. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc.

The film is a lighthearted parody of 1950s melodramas about substance abuse and drug recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Plot

The short opens with Sylvester once again attempting to catch Tweety, this time succeeding and closing the blinds to hide the evidence. Before he can eat Tweety, however, he is interrupted by a crimson, erudite, milquetoast cat (named "Clarence" or "Sam" in some sources but unnamed in the short itself), who tells him that his constant cravings for Tweety are a sign of profound personal weakness, and that the only way for him to overcome this weakness is to kick the habit for good. Believing that he is in need of help, Sylvester proudly joins "Birds Anonymous", a group of cats who have banded together to overcome their addictions to birds.

However, Sylvester's resolve begins to break down after a short time, primarily due to constant temptation since he still lives in the same house as Tweety. The temptations begins to grow even more after TV commercials featuring a stuffed turkey and bird-themed songs on the radio. Sylvester valiantly makes many attempts to control his baser urges, even physically chaining himself to a radiator at one point, but eventually gives in and makes a grab for Tweety, only to be stopped by his cat friend again.

Sylvester in unable to sleep that night and his urges return. He attempts to literally drink Tweety through a straw but fails. Ashamed of his weakness, Sylvester collapses into sobs, but the cat friend consoles him, telling him severe withdrawal symptoms are all part of the process, and that if he stays with Birds Anonymous' program, he will eventually succeed and come to love birds, as he does. However, when the cat kisses Tweety to prove his point, years of denial take their toll and the B.A. cat begins laughing maniacally and attempts to devour Tweety himself, this time with Sylvester restraining him and telling him to control himself!

Tweety, escaping to a nearby counter, watches and sums up the whole affair with a shrug: "Like I said before, once a bad ol' puddy tat, always a bad ol' puddy tat!"

Production

The voice of the erudite, milquetoast cat's (retroactively named Clarence in modern Looney Tunes comics) sounds similar to Marvin the Martian (the creation of the junior Termite Terrace director, Chuck Jones).

Honors

Birds Anonymous won the Academy Award for best Animated Short Subject in 1957 beating Tabasco Road starring Speedy Gonzales and his drunk friends (both shorts were eventually given Blue Ribbon reissues). When Eddie Selzer died, the statuette was passed on to Mel Blanc, who said that this was his favorite cartoon to do voices for, especially when it came to Sylvester.

Availability

This film appeared in The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie's third act "The Oswalds". As of 2005^[update], Birds Anonymous can also be found, uncut and restored, on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3.

External links

• Birds Anonymous at the Internet Movie Database
• Birds Anonymous at Allmovie