''Gift Wrapped'' is a 1952

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 ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' animated cartoon directed by

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 '' ...

. The short was released on February 16, 1952, 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

Sylvester awakes on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

morning to find presents under the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

, but is disappointed when his gift is just a rubber mouse. When he hears singing coming from what appears to be a gift-wrapped birdcage and sees that it is labeled for Granny, he looks inside and sees

. Deciding he wants Tweety as his present, he switches the tags on the gifts just as Granny comes downstairs. Granny gives the cage to Sylvester and opens the box with the rubber mouse. Believing it to be a mix-up, she goes to give Sylvester his box and correct the mistake, but once she sees a satisfied Sylvester hiccup Tweety's feathers, she immediately gets wise and makes the cat spit up the bird. After a thorough scolding, Granny insists that Sylvester kiss Tweety under a sprig of

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

, but the now-sulking cat eats Tweety again instead, leading to another forced regurgitation. Granny places Tweety's cage on a pole where she thinks Sylvester won't be able to reach it, but the ever-resourceful feline is determined to get his meal. On his first attempt, Tweety points out a huge present waiting under the

. Sylvester immediately abandons the bird in his greed, runs to the package and opens it with relish, only to find it is

Hector the Bulldog Hector the Bulldog is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Hector is a muscle-bound bulldog with gray fur (except in ''A Street Cat Named Sylvester'' and '' Greedy for Twee ...

, who promptly eats Sylvester. Granny immediately forces Hector to spit out Sylvester and drags him out of the room. Meanwhile, Sylvester resumes his attempts to get to Tweety with the following tricks all ending in failure: * First, he tries reeling in Tweety's cage with a toy steam crane at the top of the staircase landing. An angry Granny, armed with a broomstick, is waiting on at the end of the claw instead and chases Sylvester off with it. * From the attic, the cat saws a hole in the floor and then uses a hook to grab the latch at the top of Tweety's cage. Tweety, observing, "That puddy tat sure doesn't get discouraged," replaces himself in the cage with a stick of lit

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

, which detonates just seconds after the cage is pulled into the attic. After replacing the wrecked cage, a dazed and blackened Sylvester stumbles down the stairs. * During a Western-style showdown with Tweety, Sylvester-as-

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

sneaks up the Christmas tree and snickers as Tweety (playing

Hopalong Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was ...

) points a pop gun at the cat and says, "Stick 'em up, Geronimo!" ... only for the gun to blast a real gunshot in the cat's face when the stopper is pulled out ("Okay, Hoppy, I'm pullin' ya cork!"). An irritated Sylvester uses his bow and arrow to capture the bird, but seconds before he can consume his prize, Granny shoots a toilet plunger over the cat's mouth ("You didn't count on

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

, did you, Geronimo?"). In the final gag, Tweety is playing on his new

train set Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

in the living room when Sylvester sneaks in with some spare train tracks and sets them up to point the train toward his open mouth, then sets the train in reverse. After devouring Tweety in one bite, Sylvester, in turn, is eaten whole by Hector. An outraged Granny makes both the dog and cat spit up their respective prey and, having had enough of their carnivorous pursuits, declares in her rage that she will ensure that there will be peace in the house once and for all as she drags both of them out of the room. The cartoon ends during the evening with Granny (while playing the pipe organ) and Tweety (the only one of the animals who has behaved) singing a variation of the Christmas carol "

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection ''Hymns and Sacred Poems''. The carol, based on , tells of an angelic chorus singing praises to God. As it is known in the modern era, it f ...

". On Tweety's right and left are Sylvester and Hector, both with giant Christmas tree stamps taped all over their mouths to prevent trouble from either of them.

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 ...

, Sylvester and Hector *

Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that ...

as Granny (uncredited) *

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 Ho ...

as Narrator (uncredited)

Home media

*VHS - ''

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the then-husband-and-wife duo of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg in 1979. Lyrics The lyrics tell the story of a grandm ...

'' *DVD - **'' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'' **'' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'' Additionally, despite this cartoon being under copyright, some public domain VHS tapes have this cartoon.

Trivia

* This short was aired as part of the

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

Christmas special titled "MeTV's Super Colossal Cartoon Christmas" that was hosted by characters from '' Toon In with Me'' and ''

Svengoolie ''Svengoolie'' is an American hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1973, before ...

''.

References

External links