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Life with Feathers

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Life with Feathers
Directed byI. Freleng
Story byTedd Pierce[1]
Produced byEdward Selzer
Starring
Edited byTreg Brown
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Milt Franklyn
Animation by
Layouts by
Backgrounds byPaul Julian
Distributed by
Release date
  • March 24, 1945 (1945-03-24)
Running time
7:41
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Life with Feathers is a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short film directed by Friz Freleng.[4] The short was released on March 24, 1945, and is the first cartoon to feature Sylvester the Cat.[5]

Plot

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A lovebird (with a voice and demeanor patterned after Wallace Wimpole from Fibber McGee and Molly) experiences a tumultuous turn of events when his rather abusive spouse named "Sweetypuss" evicts him from their shared birdcage after a fight. Since lovbirds are supposed to be together forever, the bird contemplates suicide. Convinced that his fate lies in the jaws of a cat, the death-seeking avian strategically positions himself near Sylvester the Cat, hoping for a swift demise. However, Sylvester's hesitation, stemming from suspicions of the willing-to-be-eaten bird being poisonous, thwarts the initial plan.

Undeterred, the bird resorts to inventive schemes, including mailing for a mallet to propel himself into Sylvester's mouth. Yet, the cat's resourcefulness prevails, as he smokes a pipe to dissuade the suicidal bird and ensnares him in a bottle. A comedic interlude ensues as Sylvester unwittingly ingests one of the bird 's (who had escaped) feathers, and mistakenly believes the bird had gotten into his mouth while he was sleeping to be eaten, with Sylvestor subsequently perceiving himself to be poisoned. Through acts of altruism, the still alive bird administers an antidote, only to be rebuffed by Sylvester's rejection and subsequent banishment.

Further attempts at self-sacrifice, such as masquerading as Santa Claus and leveraging auditory stimuli, fail to elicit the desired response from Sylvester until, finally, Sylvestor can't take anymore and allows himself to eat the bird ("I'd rather die than starve to death!") However, right as he is about to eat the lovebird, the bird's fortunes turn as he recieves a telegram that his wife has left to go home to her mother, freeing him from her abuse. Nevertheless, Sylvester's unyielding pursuit prompts the lovebird's hasty retreat to the safety of his birdcage. However, upon discovering his tempramental wife has changed her mind and is staying, tbis leads the lovebird to frantically call for Sylvester to come back and eat him.

Cast

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Production notes

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Life with Feathers marks the debut of Sylvester the Cat, who would later star in 102 additional shorts. The cartoon earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It was re-released as part of the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies program on March 3, 1951, retaining its original closing bullet titles.

The title is a play on the longest-running non-musical play on Broadway, Life with Father (the title being the only connection between the two works). Warner Bros. would produce a film version in 1947.

It was notably the final cartoon to feature the 1941–45 opening rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" and the last non-Bugs Bunny cartoon to include the "Warner Bros. Pictures Inc." and "Present" fade-in after the WB shield zooms in. In 1951, Chuck Jones recycled a similar concept for Hubie & Bertie's last cartoon, Cheese Chasers. The American and European Turner "dubbed versions" depict Sylvester with black fur, though the restored version on Blu-ray Disc/DVD reveals his original lighter bluish-black fur. Scenes from the cartoon were reused in Kit For Cat, Tweety's S.O.S., and Catch as Cats Can.

Home media

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References

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  1. ^ Beck, Jerry (1991). I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8050-1644-4.
  2. ^ Ohmart, Ben (2012). Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices. BearManor Media. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-5939-3788-1.
  3. ^ "Moonlighting Animation Artists in Comics: OWEN FITZGERALD -". cartoonresearch.com. January 31, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-8050-0894-4.
  5. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8160-3831-2. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
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