The Jet Cage
| The Jet Cage | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes (Sylvester/Tweety) series | |
| Directed by | Friz Freleng |
| Produced by | David H. DePatie (uncredited) |
| Story by |
Written by: Friz Freleng |
| Voices by |
Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc June Foray |
| Music by |
Music planned by: Milt Franklyn Music finished by: William Lava (uncredited) |
| Animation by |
Character animation: Gerry Chiniquy Lee Halpern Art Leonardi Bob Matz Virgil Ross Effects animation: Harry Love (uncredited) |
| Layouts by |
Character and background layout design: Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by |
Background paint: Tom O'Loughlin |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | September 22, 1962[1] |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Jet Cage is a Looney Tunes cartoon released in 1962 by Warner Bros. The short runs for about six minutes and is written and directed by Friz Freleng.
Voice actors are Mel Blanc (doing the voices of Sylvester, Tweety and Blackbird) and June Foray (doing the voice for Granny).
The animation was by Gerry Chiniquy, Lee Halpern, Art Leonardi, Bob Matz and Virgil Ross. The layouts were designed by Hawley Pratt and the backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin. The original music was composed by Milt Franklyn, who died during production, and an uncredited William Lava who completed the Franklyn's unfinished score.
Plot
Tweety sits in his house, a bird cage, looking at the birds through the window. Tweety yearns dearly to fly freely like other birds, but not allowed to do so by Granny. That is considering his safety, as Sylvester is always lurking around waiting for a chance.
Granny reads a newspaper advertisement by Jet Age Technology who has invented a $12.95 Flying Bird-Cage, which would allow birds fly safely. Granny, who understands Tweety's longing for freedom, decides to buy the cage and presents it to Tweety. This enables Tweety to fly around outdoors without leaving the security of his cage.
Sylvester is at first taken aback at the sight of Tweety flying safely, piloting the jet-powered cage like an airplane. Two crows also watch in awe ("And all this time, I've been doing it the hard way," one crow remarks). Sylvester resolves to ground Tweety's cage and get his meal; his eyes rolling around to follow his every move.
Each of the following attempts are in vain:
- An attempt to snare the cage with a butterfly catcher's net. The jet-powered cage is strong enough to drag the butterfly net, along with the cat hanging to it—until he crashes into a light pole.
- After Tweety coming in for flying instructions ("I forgot what to do in case of fog!"), Sylvester sneaks inside the cage. Tweety eventually senses he's in trouble and releases the "bombs" into a river while in mid-air, just before Sylvester is about to strike.
- Use of a rocket bomb to intercept the flying object of interest. The bomb simply flies back at the cat.
- A horseshoe-shaped magnet tied to a fishing rod. While the cage momentarily struggles against the magnet's pull (and the puddy tries to reel in his meal), Tweety manages to get the cage to break free. Sylvester is dragged into downtown traffic and crashes into a bus.
- Sylvester using large flaps to fly beside Tweety. Sylvester gloats, mocking the bird for thinking he outsmarted him, but Tweety points out that Sylvester has his hands full. The cat tosses the flaps aside and shoots back, "Well now I haven't!" ... just before he realizes he's in for a big fall!
At the end, Sylvester—limping on crutches with all the bandages on—decides to joins the U.S. Air Force, vowing to earn his wings and get Tweety once and for all.
Throughout the cartoon, the sound effects for the jet cage's engines are more appropriate to a propeller-driven aircraft, and so is the terminology Tweety uses when he reads aloud from the pilot's manual.
References
- ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 339. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2. OCLC 19671400.