''A Gruesome Twosome'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoon directed by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

. The short was released on June 9, 1945, and stars Tweety. This is the last Tweety film directed by Clampett, following 1942's ''

A Tale of Two Kitties ''A Tale of Two Kitties'' is a 1942 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, and features music by Carl W. Stalling. The short was released on November 21, 1942, and features the debut of ...

'' and 1944's ''

Birdy and the Beast ''Birdy and the Beast'' is a 1944 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on August 19, 1944, and stars Tweety. Plot Tweety is sitting in his nest, when a cat watches him. Tweety flies off and the cat cha ...

'', and the last one before he is permanently paired with

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

. One of the cats in this cartoon is a caricature of the comedian

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

Plot

The cartoon opens up with two cats (a couple) talking/singing in meows (set to the tune of the 1909 pop tune ''Me-ow''). Then we see a red cat (a caricature of

) who hits a yellow cat with a frying pan while the yellow cat is talking to the female cat. Then the red cat tries to get the girl to kiss him. As he tries to kiss her, out of nowhere an insane dog (who admits that he "doesn't actually belong in this picture") pops up and kisses the female cat, prompting the Durante cat to exclaim that "Everybody wants to get into the act. Umbriago! IT'S DISGUSTING!" As the two cats fight, the female tells them whoever can bring her a bird can be her "fella". Then the red cat uses numerous tricks to stop the yellow cat. Then we see the cats climbing up the pole. Tweety states his usual catchphrase "I tawt I taw a putty tat" followed by "I tawt I taw ANOTHER putty tat". Then both cats realize that the other one is up with them and they fight and Tweety hits them with a mallet causing them to fall off the pole; then Tweety states "Aw, the poor puddy tats! They fall down and go BOOM!" (on the word BOOM, Tweety yells at the top of his lungs) and smiles. Then the red cat wakes up, and so does the yellow but the yellow gets hit by a frying pan again. Then the cats fight again and the red cat realizes that they must use strategy (which the Durante cat pronounces "stragedy"). Then the red cat comes up with a plan. We then see them in an unrealistic horse costume and the red cat states that he is the head. Then Tweety pops out of the tail and grabs a bee. As he slaps it he puts it in the horse costume and hits the costume and the cats get stung and crash into a tree. Then the red cat comes up with another plan. But then Tweety lures a dog to attack the cats by grabbing its bone and putting it into the cat's costume and the cats get attacked; then Tweety says "You know I get wid of more putty tats that way!" then does the Durante "hot cha cha cha" as the film irises out.

Reception

Animation scholar

Michael Barrier Michael J. Barrier (born June 15, 1940) is an American animation historian. Work Barrier was the founder and editor of ''Funnyworld'', the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha a ...

writes, "Like the earlier cartoon ''

'', ''A Gruesome Twosome'' pits Tweety against two cats, and Tweety is so overpowering that even two foes seem like far too few. There's scarcely a hint here of the cute yellow canary that Tweety would become when director

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

took the helm. Clampett's Tweety is not a baby bird anyone would want to encounter in a dark alley." The Ren and Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi combined the two cats in this short to create Stimpy with the Jimmy Durante cat's coloring and nose, and the yellow cat's stupidity, girth, and personality.

Cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

as Tweety, Durante Cat, Dumb Cat and Dog (uncredited) * Sara Berner as Female Cat (uncredited)Clampett's "A Gruesome Twosome" (1945)"
Retrieved 2018-03-28.

Home media

''A Gruesome Twosome'' is presented (uncut and restored) on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3''.

References

External links

*
Article on the Big Cartoon Database.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruesome Twosome, A 1945 films 1945 animated films Merrie Melodies short films Animated films about cats Cultural depictions of Jimmy Durante Films directed by Bob Clampett Films scored by Carl Stalling Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Tweety films 1940s English-language films