Bad Ol’ Putty Tat

Film Review by Dean Duncan Jul 13, 2015

What a great first shot. The birdhouse, panning down across the wrapped barbed wire, coming to rest on a battered Sylvester. Tweety always spends a lot of time telling us how frightened he his, even though he clearly isn’t frightened at all. (Cf. Olive Oyl in I Yam What I Yam.) It’s makes for a funny disjunction, and maybe even a heartening one, for attentive little viewers. The bouncing business with the trampoline is lovely—terrific rhythm (that would be Freleng), the use of off-screen space, the fun variety of implements that Tweety makes use of. It’s amazing how easily these characters can get their hands on sticks of dynamite. The string thing makes for a nice compound gag. The finger puppet section is very nicely calculated. Tweety’s hat-switch is a simple, satisfying solution to his little dilemma. The badminton section is again benefited by that great sense of rhythm, the occasional off-screen staging. The train gag at the end is a bit perfunctory. Mortals, after all. Barely though.