Birdy and the Beast (1944)

Wonderful character development!

Best movie of this year hands down!

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

. . . prominent American of Today the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Extreme Early Warning System wished to warn We People of the Future against in this rare "naked" Tweety cartoon, BIRDY AND THE BEAST. You will learn the answer to that riddle if you pause and zoom your DVD remote at the 7:20 mark of BEAST. As Tweety is saying "I get rid of more" (the five-letter P-word containing two S's, with a Y at the end) "that way," you can count that Tweety is about to notch an 86th hash mark on the trunk of Tweety's nesting tree (which seems to be the same height as Rump Tower in Manhattan). "That way," of course, is via the dispatched-by-hand-grenade route. "Throwing a hand grenade" was 1900s American political slang for a President-Elect Rump Tweet. That Rump's Naked Ambition has used an entire symphony worth of Racist, Misogynistic, Xenophobic, and Slanderous Tweets to scare White People into voting for him while making People of Color AFRAID to exercise their Constitutional Voting Rights (that is, VOTER SUPPRESSION) makes a nude Tweety Bird the perfect Warner's warning against the Advent of Rump. The significance of the number of Tweety's hash marks--86--of course denotes the number of women testifying by Rump's Inauguration (or is it Regurgitation?) Day that the White House Resident-Elect grabbed their Private Part "Down There" before being reward with his Molester-in-Chief title (with many if not most of these abused females being liquidated by the Rump Plumbers Squad BEFORE Jan. 20, 2017).

"Birdy and the Beast" is obviously a play on words on "Beauty and the Beast" and there are two reasons that make this over 70-year-old cartoon from the days of World War II interesting. The first would be that it is one of these rare cases when director Bob Clampett also did some voice acting next to Mel Blanc. And secondly, it is pretty special how Tweety and Sylvester still looked so differently compared to their peak years. Other than that, this is not really a special cartoon. Spike has a little cameo too and I must say the comedy as well as wit and creativity were not too convincing compared to other cartoons from that era. Not one of the strongest Merry Melodies. Thumbs down.

While not among my favourite cartoons of all time, Birdy and the Beast is still really interesting for seeing Bob Clampett's very different characterisation of Tweety and how Tweety evolved over the years. Despite being a very early cartoon for Tweety(only his second) and that he was still developing as a character, Birdy and the Beast is great and one of Tweety's better cartoons.The animation in Birdy and the Beast, as always with Clampett, is very good. Carefully drawn, with meticulous and here at times imaginative backgrounds and lively colours, Birdy and the Beast is a pleasure to watch visually. Who can't help but love the music score too? In unmistakable Carl Stalling fashion, the orchestration is very richly textured and melodiously mellow without ever being too syrupy, rhythmically it's sprightly and energetic and as always with Stalling the music not only sounds beautiful and matches the visuals and action brilliantly, but it also adds so much too, to the extent that even a nod of the head or a face fall has its own music cue.Birdy and the Beast, on top of being very well-made, is also incredibly entertaining. The timing is just right with nothing rushed or drawn out, the gags are uproariously funny and quite inventive for a cartoon starring Tweety and with the cartoon containing some of Tweety's funniest and most quotable lines the dialogue has plenty of wit. The story is unsurprising and formulaic, but nonetheless bounces along nicely and with its constant fun and charm makes that a non-issue. Tweety's very "naked" early character design takes getting used to, but rather than being an under-used or pretty useless plot device like he'd become increasingly in his later cartoons he adds a lot to the story. He's actually funny here too, and while sweet in design he is refreshingly anarchic(a side that I wish was maintained in the later Sylvester and Tweety cartoons). Putty Tat is equally hilarious and a cunning adversary, the conflict between him and Tweety being dynamite in its strongest parts. While Sylvester is a much more familiar counter-part, and funnier and more interesting, you don't miss him. Mel Blanc can do no wrong.On the overall whole, a personal favourite Birdy and the Beast is not, but it is great regardless and one of Tweety's better cartoons and appearances. 9/10 Bethany Cox

One of Robert Clampett's masterpieces marked everywhere by his unique touch in animation! Odd perspectives! Extremely visual humor! Intentionally distorted animation! I was thunderstruck when I first saw this cartoon. Perhaps the year it was released(1944)explains the savagery of this one. With World War II on everyone's mind cartoons were a release valve for home front anger. It's full of wonderful scenes and a distinctly, on one hand, overly cute, on the other hand overly sadistic Tweety as opposed to his later gentler character. I first saw this one one on a local channel's Looney Tunes Show. I would be very surprised if it ever appeared on the Bugs Bunny Show because it's definitely not one for the preschoolers. As mentioned above, Tweety 'tries' to put out the cat's fire with gasoline. There are several other good quotes in this one. "Gee, Puddytat! I didn't know you could fly!" After a switcheroo with a hand grenade the cat says, "I got it! I got it! I got it!" Then comes Tweety's reply, "He's got it and he can have it!" Kaboom! Even the final quote where he is adding this (presumably dead)cat to his tally: "I get wid of more puddytats that way!" Funny it is! Not one for the kiddies, however! When is it coming out on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs?