''A Bird in a Bonnet'' is a 1958
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
''
Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by
Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by
Mel Blanc,
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...
and
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...
.
The short was released on September 27, 1958, and stars
Tweety
Tweety is a 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 an English onomatopoeia for t ...
and
Sylvester.
Plot
Granny visits a 1950s New York City hat shop looking for a new hat. The sales lady has her try on several hats, but Granny seems unsatisfied with each choice (a Napoleon chapeau makes her imitate
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's hand in coat pose and chuckle "Not tonight,
Josephine!"). Meanwhile, Sylvester is chasing Tweety outside and Tweety makes his way into the hat shop. Just as Tweety hides at a table, Sylvester runs in and tries to rummage through the hats to look for him, but the sales lady catches him in the act, and chases him out. Just as the sales lady comes to the table where Tweety is hiding, Tweety stands real still on a hat, making the sales lady think that he's a cute little stuffed bird on a hat. After Granny tries it on, she thinks the same thing and buys the hat.
Tweety soon realizes the joys of being said "stuffed bird" has a two-fold purpose, the second being that it is perfect refuge from Sylvester. But as usual, the puddy tat does everything to get at the bird, first following Granny out of the hat shop. The first time, Granny turns around, but sees Sylvester pretending to sleep. The second time, Granny quickly gets wise and swats the baritone cat with her umbrella.
Other failed attempts for Sylvester to get Tweety include:
* Perching himself atop a delivery truck. Just as he is about to grab dinner, the truck speeds away, requiring the cat to take the crosstown bus to return downtown. Sylvester then barely avoids getting hit by an oncoming car, causing his heart to beat fast and his fur to go white.
* Hiding inside an English gentleman's hat. The man walks up beside Granny and makes a snide remark, just as Sylvester is making a grab for Tweety. Granny uses her umbrella to clout the man and — unwitting — the cat.
* Following Granny into Lacy's Department Store (a play on
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
) and into an elevator. The cat's tail gets stuck in the elevator door, and when he finally disembarks the elevator, his tail has been stretched from the store's eight floors.
* At J.C. Denny's (a pun on
J. C. Penney), the cat snatching Granny's hat with the obvious intent of getting Tweety. Granny follows the thieving cat outside, but Sylvester makes his getaway by putting the hat on and using a balloon to float to safety ... until Tweety pops the balloon. The hat glides to the street undamaged (where Granny retrieves it), while Sylvester plummets into a manhole ("Whoo-hoo-hoo. Hey, look at this, Ralph! A pussycat!" says an
Ed Norton-esque sewer worker).
* Later, using a bellows to blow Granny's hat from her head, causing it to go onto the street. Sylvester barely avoids getting hit by several cars and recovers the hat, but he is struck by a motorscooter driving from an alley. Granny manages to retrieve the hat safely.
In the ending gag, Sylvester uses a fishing rod and reel to latch onto the hat. Granny gets into a taxi, and Sylvester is pulled away by the speeding driver. After being an unwilling car skier for several city blocks (and nearly getting hit by two trucks), Sylvester eventually realizes he needs to reel himself in ... which he does to open the taxi's sunroof and grab Tweety. Just after saying his only line in the cartoon — "Now I've got you, buster!" — the car drives into the
Holland Tunnel
The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...
, where the cat hits his head against the side of the entrance; the bird flies out of his hand and back safely onto the taxicab's roof. "You know, I wose more puddy tats that way!" remarks Tweety as the cartoon ends.
Score
"A Bird in a Bonnet" is one of six cartoons scored with stock music by John Seely from the Capitol Records
Hi-Q library because of a musician's strike in 1958; the others are ''
Weasel While You Work
''Weasel While You Work'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on September 6, 1958, and features Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg. The weasel seen in this short prev ...
'', ''
Hip Hip-Hurry!
''Hip Hip-Hurry!'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 6, 1958, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a pun on the phrase "Hip Hip Hooray!!"
Plot
Th ...
'', ''
Hook, Line and Stinker
''Hook, Line and Stinker'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The title is a pun on the idiom Hook, Line and Sinker. The short was released on October 11, 1958, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. ...
'', ''
Gopher Broke'', and ''
Pre-Hysterical Hare
''Pre-Hysterical Hare'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Robert McKimson and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on November 1, 1958, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The two are in their usual hunter- ...
''. This cartoon is the only
Friz Freleng cartoon to have a Seely score; two others were directed by
Chuck Jones (both starring
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner), while the remaining three were helmed by
Robert McKimson.
See also
*
List of American films of 1958
A list of American films released in 1958. The musical romantic comedy film '' Gigi'' won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
A-B
C-F
G-K
L-R
S-Z
See also
* 1958 in the United States
References
External links
1958 filmsat the Inter ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird In A Bonnet
1958 films
Merrie Melodies short films
Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films
1958 animated films
1958 short films
Animated films about cats
Animated films about birds
Short films directed by Friz Freleng
1950s Warner Bros. animated short films
Tweety films
Sylvester the Cat films
1950s English-language films
Films set in the 1950s
Animated films set in New York City
Cultural depictions of Napoleon