A Tale of Two Kitties (1942)
Two dim-witted cats, Babbit and Catstello, try ladders, dynamite, and a homemade glider to reach a pink baby bird nesting high in a tree, only to be outsmarted at every turn and finally blacked out by their would-be prey's air-raid-warden act.
A Tale of Two Kitties is the screen debut of Tweety Bird, then named Orson and voiced with the “I tawt I taw a puddy tat” catchphrase that would follow the character for decades; director Bob Clampett later said he modeled the bird’s look on his own baby photos.
Background
A Tale of Two Kitties marks the screen debut of the character who would become Tweety Bird, although here the bird is simply called Orson and had not yet been given the name audiences would come to know. Director Bob Clampett built the short around two dim-witted cats, Babbit and Catstello, whose names and comic rhythm were a clear parody of the popular comedy duo Abbott and Costello, as they try increasingly elaborate schemes to reach a baby bird nesting high in a tree.
What to watch for
Watch for the bird’s famous catchphrase, “I tawt I taw a puddy tat,” introduced here for the first time and destined to follow the character for decades of cartoons afterward. Clampett later said he based the bird’s rounded, oversized-head design on his own baby photographs, an unusual piece of trivia behind one of animation’s most enduring character designs.
