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38-546: Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton 's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid." He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age , made between 1942 and 1964. Despite the perceptions that people may hold, owing to the long eyelashes and high-pitched voice (which Mel Blanc provided), Tweety

76-464: A baby bird, which 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 feline adversary, even kicking the cat when he

114-400: A flag pole by playing " This Little Piggy " with Valiant's fingers and releasing his grip. The scene is essentially a re-creation of a gag from A Tale of Two Kitties , with Valiant replacing Catstello as Tweety's victim. This was the last time Mel Blanc voiced Tweety. During the 1990s, Tweety also starred in the animated TV series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries , in which Granny ran

152-418: A 1952 cartoon 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 of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries directly states that he is a canary. His shape more closely suggests that of

190-492: A detective agency with the assistance of Tweety, Sylvester and Hector. In the series, Tweety has the starring role and is voiced by Joe Alaskey . The storyline carries into the 2000 direct-to-video feature-length animated film Tweety's High-Flying Adventure , where Joe Alaskey reprises his role. Tweety's prototype, Orson, also made an appearance in the series. Tweety also appears in Tiny Toon Adventures as

228-419: A hit single with " I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat ", a song performed in character by Tweety and featuring Sylvester. In the lyrics Sylvester sings "I'd like to eat that Thweetie Pie when he leaves his cage", implying that Tweety's name is actually Sweetie Pie. Later the name "Sweetie Pie" was applied to the young, pink female canary in the Tiny Toon Adventures animated TV series of the early 1990s. From 1945 until

266-599: A less hot-tempered (but still somewhat ornery) yellow canary. In the documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar , animator Clampett stated that Tweety had been based "on my own naked baby picture." Clampett did two more shorts with the "naked genius", as a Jimmy Durante -ish cat once called him in A Gruesome Twosome . The second Tweety short, Birdy and the Beast , finally bestowed the baby bird with his new name, and gave him his blue eyes. Many of Mel Blanc 's characters are known for speech impediments. One of Tweety's most noticeable

304-501: A malicious side when egged on. Despite this, in comparison with other major Looney Tunes protagonists such as Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn , Tweety was not given a complete character arc , instead embodying the "innocent child" role offsetting the motives of his superior Sylvester and their guardian figure. Bob Clampett created the character that would become Tweety in the 1942 short A Tale of Two Kitties , pitting him against two hungry cats named Babbit and Catstello (based on

342-418: A pale supercilium . The underparts are white with brown streaking. The juvenile resembles the female, but has heavier streaking. This species is easily distinguished from the yellow-fronted canary by its lack of black facial markings, and its bill is less heavy than that of other similar African Crithagra species. The brimstone canary , with overlapping range, is a known confusion species. Its habitat

380-493: Is karoo and coastal or mountain valley scrub. It builds a compact cup nest in a scrub. The yellow canary is a common and gregarious seedeater. Its call is chissick or cheree , and the song is a warbled zee-zeree-chereeo . Birdy and the Beast Tweety is sitting in his nest, when a cat watches him. Tweety flies off and the cat chases after him. But, the cat doesn't have the ability to fly, so instead he falls to

418-421: Is any indication of that); the only difference is that Bugs does not have trouble pronouncing /s/, /k/ and /g/ as mentioned above. Clampett began work on a short that would pit Tweety against a then-unnamed, lisping black and white cat created by Friz Freleng in 1946. However, Clampett left the studio before going into full production on the short (which had a storyboard produced, where it was titled "Fat Rat and

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456-513: Is down. One example of a malicious moment is in the cartoon Birdy and the Beast , where a cat chases Tweety by flying until he remembers that cats cannot fly, causing him to fall. Tweety says sympathetically, "Awww, the poor kitty cat! He faw down and go ( in a loud, tough, masculine voice ) BOOM!!" and then grins mischievously. A similar use of that voice is in A Tale Of Two Kitties when Tweety, wearing an air raid warden 's helmet, suddenly yells " Turn out those lights! " Tweety's aggressive nature

494-452: Is full of nothing but eggs. He attempts to catch Tweety once again but fails, then Tweety fakes his screaming and sets a hand grenade with its pin pulled next to him. Thinking it was the bird itself, the cat grabs the grenade. The real Tweety says, "He got it and he can have it." The cat blows up and Tweety then confesses, "You know, I get rid of more putty tats that way!", then drew a line on the tree of how many cats he got rid of. Birdy and

532-454: Is male although his ambiguity was played with. For example, in the cartoon " Snow Business ", when Granny entered a room containing Tweety and Sylvester she said: "Here I am, boys!" Another confirmation that Tweety is male comes from the cartoon Greedy for Tweety in which during a hospital stay, Granny (portrayed as a nurse) utters "Oh the poor little Tweety bird, let's makes him a little more comfortable," as she adjusts his bed. Nonetheless,

570-443: Is that /s/, /k/, and /g/ are changed to /t/, /d/, or (final s) /θ/; for example, "pussy cat" comes out as "putty tat", later rendered "puddy tat", "Granny" comes out as "Dwanny" and "sweetie pie" comes out as "tweetie pie" (a phonological pattern referred to as 'fronting'), hence his name. He also has trouble with liquid consonants : as with Elmer Fudd , /l/ and /r/ come out as /w/. In Canary Row and Putty Tat Trouble , he begins

608-563: The DC Comics special, Catwoman/ Tweety and Sylvester, where Tweety teams up with Black Canary , who he just calls "bwonde wady". Voice artist Mel Blanc originated the character's voice. After the Golden Age of American Animation came to an end, Blanc continued to voice the character in TV specials, commercials, music recordings, and films, such as 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit , which

646-526: The Looney Tunes ending instead of Porky Pig or Bugs Bunny . This is also notable for being a rare instance where Tweety plays a villain character. Bob Bergen voices the role again. In 1996, Tweety (voiced by Bob Bergen again) appeared in the feature film, Space Jam , with legendary basketball player Michael Jordan . In 2001, a younger version of Tweety appeared on Baby Looney Tunes , thus coming full circle from his earliest appearances. Here he

684-529: The "Le Gros-bec jaune du Cap de Bonne Espérance" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson . The yellow canary was formerly placed in the genus Serinus but a phylogenetic study published in 2012 found that the genus was polyphyletic . In the reorganisation to create monophyletic genera, Serinus was split and a number of species including

722-673: The Stupid Cat"), however Freleng would use Tweety in his own separate project. Freleng toned Tweety down and gave him a cuter appearance, resulting in his long-lashed blue-pupil eyes and yellow feathers. Clampett mentions in Bugs Bunny: Superstar that the feathers were added to satisfy censors who objected to the naked bird. The first short to team Tweety and the cat, later named Sylvester , was 1947's Tweetie Pie , which won Warner Bros. its first Academy Award for Best Short Subject . Sylvester and Tweety proved to be one of

760-414: The bulldog's dish. The bulldog makes his appearance and growls at the cat, but the feline smacks the dog with the bowl. The dog chases the cat (with Tweety following the bulldog) until the leash attached to the dog's collar yanks him to the ground, with his face scrunched in. The bulldog says to the audience, "This shouldn't even happen to a dog" and then pulls his collar off. Tweety wanders and ends up in

798-418: The cartoon by singing a song about himself, "I'm a tweet wittow biwd in a diwded tage; Tweety'th my name but I don't know my age, I don't have to wuwy and dat is dat; I'm tafe in hewe fwom dat ol' putty tat." (Translation: "I'm a sweet little bird in a gilded cage...") Aside from this speech impediment, Tweety's voice is that of Bugs Bunny , one speed up (if The Old Grey Hare , which depicts Bugs as an infant,

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836-442: The cat's mouth, causing him to explode. Tweety then says, "Oh, the poor putty tat got hot as a firecracker." (With a suspenseful drum roll.) "He blew up and go... boom." The cat survives, but he's still out to get Tweety. When he arrives at the bottom of the tree, he becomes a nest. Tweety attempts to get into it, but a hen, laying her eggs, causes him to get off. When she's finished, she flies off. The cat also arrives and his mouth

874-417: The cat's mouth, while he is looking for the bird. Tweety sets the cat's mouth on fire by holding a match on it. As the cat reactively jumps up from the fire and hits his head on top an open fence railing, Tweety helps the cat by using a hose and putting out the fire. However, when he fires the hose (by now wearing a firefighter's hat) it turns out that it is connected to a gas (petrol) can, and gasoline goes into

912-535: The character. In honor of Tweety's 80th anniversary, Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled 80 themed murals done by artists from around the world. Western Publications produced a comic book about Tweety and Sylvester entitled Tweety and Sylvester , first in Dell Comics Four Color series #406, 489, and 524, then in their own title from Dell Comics (#4–37, 1954–1962), then later from Gold Key Comics (#1–102, 1963–1972). In 2017, Tweety appeared in

950-416: The famous comedians Abbott and Costello ). On the original model sheet, Tweety was named Orson, which was also the name of a bird character from an earlier Clampett cartoon Wacky Blackout . Tweety was created not as a domestic canary, but as a generic (and wild) baby bird in an outdoor nest: naked (pink), jowly, and also far more aggressive and saucy, as opposed to the later, better-known version of him as

988-705: The finale of The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries , he is friends with Sylvester. Eric Bauza reprised his role from Looney Tunes Cartoons . Tweety and Sylvester have been used to endorse products such as Miracle Whip dressing and MCI Communications long distance. In 1998, the United States Post Office honored Tweety and Sylvester with a 32-cent postage stamp. Tweety also appears in products produced by Warner Brothers Studios. British artist Banksy 's 2008 New York art installation The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill features Tweety , an animatronic sculpture of an aged and molting version of

1026-485: The ground as Cartoon Network announced all live-action productions were scrapped in December 2022. Tweety starred in a direct-to-video film King Tweety which was released on June 14, 2022. Eric Bauza reprised the role. Tweety appears in the preschool series Bugs Bunny Builders which aired as part of Cartoonito on Cartoon Network and HBO Max on July 25, 2022. In the series, similar to Baby Looney Tunes and

1064-418: The ground, while Tweety was lying down on a cloud. The bird then says, "Oh, the poor titty-tat (kitty-cat). He falled down and go... BOOM!!" (on the word BOOM!, Tweety yells at the top of his lungs) and smiles, then he jumps down and lands on the cat. The cat attempts to chase Tweety, but Tweety scurries away. Tweety tries to fool the cat by hiding in the bulldog's dish. The cat comes in and starts looking in

1102-454: The mentor of Sweetie Pie, and one of the faculty at Acme Looniversity. He was voiced by Jeff Bergman for most of his appearances and Bob Bergen in “Animaniacs”. In the 1995 cartoon short Carrotblanca , a parody/homage to Casablanca , Tweety appeared as "Usmarte", a parody of the character Ugarte played by Peter Lorre in the original film. In several sequences, Tweety was speaking and laughing in character like Peter Lorre. He also does

1140-612: The most notable pairings in animation history. Most of their cartoons followed a standard formula: In a few of the cartoons, Sylvester does manage to briefly eat Tweety up with a gulp. However, either Granny or another character makes him spit Tweety out right away. In the 1952 Christmas-themed short Gift Wrapped , Sylvester was also briefly eaten by Hector the Bulldog, and forced by Granny to spit him out; as punishment, both Sylvester and Hector were tied up with their mouths gagged shut. In 1951, Mel Blanc (with Billy May 's orchestra) had

1178-672: The original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed, Freleng had almost exclusive use of Tweety at the Warner cartoon studio (much like Yosemite Sam ), with the exception of a brief cameo in No Barking in 1954, directed by Chuck Jones (that year, Freleng used Pepé Le Pew , a Jones character, for the only time in his career and the only time in a Tweety short, Dog Pounded ). Tweety had a cameo role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit , making Eddie Valiant ( Bob Hoskins ) fall from

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1216-576: The yellow canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra that had originally been introduced in 1827 by the English ornithologist William Swainson . Four subspecies are recognised: The yellow canary is typically 10 cm in length. The adult male colour ranges from almost uniform yellow in the northwest of its range to streaked, olive backed birds in the southeast. The underparts, rump and tail sides are yellow. The female has grey-brown upperparts, black wings with yellow flight feathers, and

1254-581: Was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the crossbills in the genus Loxia and coined the binomial name Loxia flaviventris . He specified the location as the Cape of Good Hope . The specific epithet flaviventris is from Latin flavus meaning "yellow" and venter , ventris meaning "belly". Gmelin based his account on

1292-550: Was a boy or a girl. Tweety whispered into his ear and Sylvester had a surprised expression and said "Huh, I was wrong." Tweety has recently appeared as a major character in New Looney Tunes and Looney Tunes Cartoons , where his designs are mostly based on his Freleng heyday with a few Bob Clampett elements to make him more suited for 1942–1944, and his personality reverts him to being more violent and abusive in nature while being toned down to retain his cute facade. He

1330-403: Was also initially characterized by Friz Freleng when he began directing the series, but would later be toned-down to instead have him be portrayed as a cutesy bird usually going about his business, and doing little to thwart Sylvester's ill-conceived plots, allowing them to simply collapse on their own; he became even less aggressive when Granny was introduced, but occasionally Tweety still showed

1368-499: Was one of Blanc's final projects as Tweety. Before and after Blanc's death in 1989, several voice actors have provided the voice in his stead. These voice actors are: Yellow canary Serinus flaviventris The yellow canary ( Crithagra flaviventris ) is a small passerine bird in the true finch family. It is a resident breeder in much of the western and central regions of southern Africa and has been introduced to Ascension and St Helena islands. The yellow canary

1406-483: Was voiced again by Bob Bergen. Looney Tunes Cartoons is the second time that Eric Bauza voices Tweety. On February 17, 2021, it was announced Tweety would star in Tweety Mysteries which would have been similar to The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries . The series would have been a live-action/animated hybrid aimed towards girls and would have aired on Cartoon Network . However, the series never got off

1444-682: Was voiced by Sam Vincent . In 2011, Tweety was featured, with his Looney Tunes co-stars, in Cartoon Network 's series The Looney Tunes Show . He is voiced by Jeff Bergman . He appeared in the episode "Ridiculous Journey", where he and Sylvester work together with Taz to get back home to Granny and Bugs Bunny . He had been revealed to have fought in World War II alongside a young Granny. Sylvester also asked him how old he was, to which Tweety replied, "I'll never tell." Sylvester then asked if Tweety would at least tell him if he (Tweety)

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