. . . for Chicken McNugget Happy Meals to feed America's tots (not to be confused with "Tater Tots," which COULD be vegan, depending upon which cooking oil is used). The black house cat featured in TWEETY PIE is called "Thomas" several times by his mistress. Though most of this story takes place indoors, Thomas eats the first-shown yellow bird (hence, the title TWEETY PIE--along the lines of a chicken pot pie--instead of a label such as TWEETY BIRD) during the opening wintry scene. As any bird watcher knows, 90% of birds within a given species are virtually identical, within their male and female groupings. Seen one sea gull, seen them all. Heard one mallard quack, heard them all. Clearly, Warner Bros.' animators intended TWEETY PIE to show kids that they could eat one--or one hundred--feathered friends, and there would still be plenty more available from where those critters consumed came. McNuggets may not have been on McDonald's menu when TWEETY PIE was first released, but they were sure a lot closer to becoming a reality after Tom the Cat had shown what a convenience-type food birds could be, cooked or raw. Tom plops Tweety the First into his mouth, no Fuss, no Muss. Obviously, Tweety's mistress is hankering after succulent little bird bits herself, since she's so intent on keeping Tom away from her food stock so she can personally sample Tweety the Second. Bon Apetit! say the Brothers Warner.

The first short to pair Sylvester & Tweety was also the first short to win an Oscar for Warner Bros, breaking the streak MGM had going thanks to Tom & Jerry. Which is interesting because, in some ways, the Sylvester & Tweety series was very similar to Tom & Jerry. At least in terms of the basic structure of a cat chasing after a cute little critter. Also, the cat being named Thomas and the human woman who scolds the cat and hits him with a broom are other similarities in this first entry. Obviously there's much more to both series that separates them but there seemed to be something about this premise they both had in common that pleased Oscar voters back then as Tom & Jerry won a bunch of them and Sylvester & Tweety won a couple.The story here is pretty basic. Sylvester (called Thomas here) catches Tweety outside in the snow. But before he can eat the bird, his owner catches him and brings adorable little Tweety inside. This doesn't stop the cat, who tries repeatedly to get at the bird with comical results. Tweety is much more aggressive (and Jerry-like) in defending himself against Sylvester in this first short. This is a good start to a series that would get much better once Sylvester developed his own personality and Tweety's was fleshed out some more. As it is, it's a funny short with nice animation, music, and voicework. I'm not sure it deserved the Oscar win but the Academy probably wanted to give a win to someone besides MGM or Disney that year and WB's Looney Tunes were screwed out of wins many other times.

There are better Looney Tunes cartoons than the Sylvester and Tweety series but the series is still entertaining and nice to watch. Sylvester and Tweety are not among Looney Tunes' greatest duos, but at least their duo makes sense and doesn't feel odd(unlike Daffy and Speedy). Tweetie Pie signals their debut together- having been seen before solo- and it is a great one and one of their better cartoons. The cruelty of Sylvester/Thomas' owner is a turn-off point, the one character here who you dislike from the get go, but that's a personal nit-pick above all else. The animation is vibrant and detailed and with plenty of bounce, both Tweety and Thomas/Sylvester well and recognisably drawn and Thomas/Sylvester's facial expressions are expressively done. Carl Stalling's music not only is orchestrated beautifully but rhythmically it bursts with character and it gives great energy to the action. It's not just it sounding nice and that it's action-enhancing but also how well it accompanies the gestures and expressions of the characters and even the sound effects too. The dialogue is sharp and the gags while not surprising are made funny, in some instances hilarious(especially the one with Thomas/Sylvester trying to fly up to the cage via an electric fan), by the interactions between the duo and Thomas/Sylvester's facial expressions. Which like with Wile E. Coyote induces some of the laughs on their own, I don't think the fireplace gag would have worked quite so well without his reaction to that he was burning. Tweetie Pie is violent but actually not in a sadistic or bizarre way that it churns the stomach like the Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry cartoons did. Tweety has the cute- but not too sickly sweet- persona that he is now famous for but he also has shades of the anarchic personality that was given to him in the Bob Clampett outings. But Thomas/Sylvester makes the biggest impression, not just because he has the funniest moments but you also root for him, and this is in general not just here. He may have a different name and be fatter but the voice and the catchphrase are unmistakable. The two work great together and as aforementioned at the beginning of the review their chemistry makes sense, plus as usual Mel Blanc voices superbly. All in all, a great debut for this bird and mouse duo, one of their best if not their very best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Sylvester (here called Thomas) the cat first meets Tweety bird in the debut cartoon of the duo that would go onto star in a great many lackluster efforts. This was the best of the bunch which trust me isn't saying that much at all as I actively loathe Tweety bird as a character and always tried to avoid his shorts when I was a kid. Perhaps if the first one didn't win an Oscar the Tweety shorts wouldn't have been so numerous, but who knows, perhaps that's merely wishful thinking on my part. This animated short can be seen on Disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Greg Ford.My Grade: B