Tweety Bird (also known as
Tweety Pie or simply
Tweety) is a
fictional Yellow Canary in the
Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies
series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as
it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being a typical
English
onomatopoeia for the sounds of
birds. His characteristics are based on
Red Skelton famous "Mean Widdle Kid". Tweety appeared in 48 cartoons in the
Golden Age.
Despite the perceptions that people may hold, owing to the long lashes and high pitched voice of Tweety, Tweety is male.
[citation needed] This was established several times in the series "Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries". It was also confirmed toward the end of
Snow Business
when Granny exclaimed to Tweety and Sylvester, "Here I am, boys!" On
the other hand, a 1951 episode was entitled "Ain't She Tweet". Also, his
species is ambiguous; although originally and often portrayed as a
young
canary,
he is also frequently called a rare and valuable "tweety bird" as a
plot device, and once called "the only living specimen". Nevertheless,
the
title song directly states that the bird is a canary. His shape more closely suggests that of a
baby
bird, which in fact is what he was during his early appearances
(although the "baby bird" aspect has been used in a few later cartoons
as a plot device). The yellow feathers were added but otherwise he
retained the baby-bird shape.
In his early appearances in
Bob Clampett
cartoons, Tweety is a very aggressive character who tries anything to
foil his foe, even kicking his enemy when he is down. Tweety was toned
down when
Friz Freleng started directing the series into a more cutesy bird, and even more when
Granny
was introduced, however sometimes Tweety still kept his malicious side.
One of his most notable "malicious" moments is in the cartoon
Birdy and the Beast;
when a cat tries to chase Tweety by flying and falls after remembering
that cats cannot fly, Tweety says sympathetically, "Awww, the poor kitty
cat! He faw down and go (
in a loud, tough, masculine voice) BOOM!!", after which he grins mischievously. A similar gag was used in
A Tale Of Two Kitties when Tweety, wearing an air raid warden's helmet, suddenly yells out in that same voice: "Turn out those lights!" >> I love once with one cartoon character "
Tweety" looking adorable
