A Bird in a Guilty Cage (1952) User Reviews

Standard but very entertaining

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 27 August 2014]

As someone who does enjoy the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons better than most, A Bird in a Guilty Cage is not one of their absolute best but is still very entertaining stuff and anybody who does like their cartoons should have no problem liking this one. The story is admittedly very formulaic(basically Sylvester trying to catch and eat Tweety but with his attempts back-firing), not unusual for Sylvester and Tweety, and some of the gags especially the doll-house chase one(how many times has the opening and entering a door to come out of another routine been used?) are standard Sylvester and Tweety and the outcomes are not surprising. The gags are still funny and well-timed though, especially the mannequin gags and the ending. The doll-house chase is action-wise very lively as well which makes up for its predictability, Sylvester shooting himself in the finger was the gag that came off least which came across as rather tired. The dialogue has enough freshness and wit, the best being Sylvester's asides and at least there isn't a lame final line from Tweety. The animation is colourful and with a pleasing amount of pleasing detail and Carl Stalling's music is a delight as always, Sylvester's tip-toeing manages to be enhanced thanks to the music being so characterful. A Bird in a Guilty Cage is crisply paced and while Tweety is cute without being cloying and is amusing(though other cartoons of his do a better job showing his anarchic personality, his material is not quite strong enough to come through) all the best parts belong to Sylvester and he is not just hilarious, especially in his asides and facial expressions(crafty without being Grinch-like) but you do feel empathy for him at the same time. Mel Blanc's voice work is brilliant as it consistently was. To conclude, A Bird in a Guilty Cage may be standard but it's also colourful and very entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"I don't like this game . . . "

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 12 April 2016]

. . . constant Looney Tunes whiner Tweety Bird carps after Sylvester Cat chows down on at least a McNugget's worth of America's most irritating butterball. Moments earlier Sylvester had succinctly suggested, "Let's play Sandwich," before slapping the eagerly agreeing yellow tasty treat between a couple slices of bread. A downtown "Stacy's" Department Store has Tweety on sale for $19.50, complete with a gilded cage. Being low on funds, Sylvester decides to enter Stacy's through a night "Bundle Drop" flap, and whistles at the latest in French Swimsuits as he crosses through a store display window of which the cartoon censors allow Warner Bros. only to show the bottom portion (that is, mannequins from the knees down) since A BIRD IN A GUILTY CAGE came out during the same season that the Monokini debuted on the beaches, and bare busts on dummies become as Real as Monthly Playmates within Cartoon Logic. Tweety Birds still sell for around $19.50 Today (though not always with a free cage), but you probably cannot touch a Monokini now for that amount.

I probably would have done that if surrounded by French bathing suits!

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 29 September 2007]

OK, maybe Tweety does get a little annoying sometimes - despite the fact that he started off as a near sadist in his debut - but I really liked the scene in "A Bird in a Guilty Cage" when Sylvester runs into the display of French bathing suits: given the sound that he made, we can probably at least guess how the bathing suits looked! Especially for a lonely guy like him.

Yeah, I know, it's pathetic to focus on a single scene and ignore the rest of the cartoon. Well, it seems like most of the Sylvester/Tweety pairings follow the same plot line, so even the slightest deviation catches my eye. Therefore, I wish to assert that this cartoon is worth seeing just for that one scene.

"Ooh! You a bad puddy tat, that's what you are!"

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 21 February 2016]

Another fun Sylvester & Tweety short. This one's directed by Friz Freleng and takes place in a department store. One night Sylvester is happening by when he sees Tweety in the window (Special Bird and Cage - $19.50). Tweety's singing away ("Ain't She Tweet") and being adorable as usual. Sylvester, of course, becomes obsessed with making the canary his next meal and proceeds to try one thing after another to make that happen. It's a typical short for the series but very funny with some good gags and lines. The animation is colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Excellent voice work from Mel Blanc. Lively music from Carl Stalling. Probably not going to make any top ten lists for the duo but a solid effort nonetheless. I'm sure most fans will like it.

Fun at the department store

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 27 July 2015]

"A Bird in a Guilty Cage" is a nice example of how Warner Bros. cartoons were still really good also during the 1950s. It's another tale of Sylvester trying to catch Tweety and this time GRanny is not around to protect her precious little bird. But Tweety does not really need her anyway. There are some actually pretty funny scenes in here I must say, especially the one with the second gun coming out of the whole I found fairly hilarious. But everything before it was nicely done too. Really good ideas of how Sylvester (unsuccessfully) uses department store items in his attempts of getting the little bird. Well done by Blanc, Freleng and Foster and I recommend this one here.

Love Those 'Asides" & The Music

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 19 April 2007]

I almost always laugh when a cartoon character turns to us, the audience, and makes a remark. Early in this animated short, Sylvester, turns and whispers to us, "How naive can you get?" That's after Tweety is asking him what he wants as the cat reaches into the cage, trying to steal him from the front window at "Stacy's" Department Store.

Also funny, and usually taken for granted by us viewers, is the music. I liked the violin strings being plucked each time Sylvester would tiptoe around that department store front window and then in the main store as he stalked Tweety (who had flown away just before being eaten as a sandwich).

There are the normal amount of great sight gags in here, such as Sylvester making a ladder out of mannequins and then becoming part of the mannequin, or the goofy cat trying on women's hats or the chase through the doll house.

This is very entertaining all the way with great gags and great music.

Same gags, new setting

[phantom_tollbooth · 2/10 · 1 October 2008]

Chuck Jones's Bugs Bunny short 'Hare Conditioned' showed what a rich source of gags a chase through a big department store could be. Friz Freleng's 'A Bird in a Guilty Cage' manages to squander all these opportunities, however, by succumbing to one of the major problems of the Sylvester and Tweety series: it simply replays a lot of old gags in a different setting. The script for 'A Bird in a Guilty Cage' is particularly weak, failing to punctuate any of the gags with a funny line or routine. Many of the gags are poorly executed, such as the muted response Sylvester has to the potentially funny scene in which he shoots off one of his fingers. By the time of 'A Bird in a Guilty Cage', the Tweety and Sylvester series was into double figures and running out of what little steam it had yet it would continue for dozens more episodes, many as weak as this tedious offering. Like Speedy Gonzalez in later cartoons, Tweety is a feeble character who manages to drain all the potential from the usually superb Sylvester.

I detest Tweety

[movieman_kev · 4/10 · 30 October 2005]

Sylvester Cat sees Tweety in the window of a department store and decides to sneak in to catch and eat the bird. I hate Tweety's singing (he only seems to know two songs, which he alternates in every single damn short that he's ever in) I hate Tweety's way of talking with that speech impediment of his. Yes you could say with certainty that I am NOT a big fan of Tweety in the least bit. Give me Wile E., Road Runner, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Foghorn leghorn, or pretty much any other character and I'll be happy. But not Tweety bird. At the end Sylvester crosses birds off his list of things he wants to eat. If only this was the last of the Tweety cartoons *sigh* This animated short can be seen on Disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional Music & effects only track.

My Grade: C-

"Now I ask you vewy confidentiawwy, Ain't She Tweet?"

[slymusic · 18 May 2009]

Another terrific Tweety/Sylvester cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, "A Bird in a Guilty Cage" takes place inside a department store after working hours.

Highlights: Thanks to Carl Stalling, we hear a nice rendition of "Ain't She Sweet" during the opening credits, and shortly afterward Tweety sings it. While taking refuge inside a dollhouse, Tweety utilizes the familiar Friz Freleng gag of entering one door and exiting another door. Sylvester tries on various hats to Stalling's accompaniment of "Oh! You Beautiful Doll". Following Sylvester's ubiquitous tiptoe gag (also enhanced by Stalling's music), he climbs up some sexy mannequin parts to catch Tweety, only to discover that Tweety climbed down and added roller skates to the silly contraption; after Sylvester falls down the basement stairs, he chases Tweety while wearing some of the mannequin parts.

"A Bird in a Guilty Cage" is just another wonderful example of how well Tweety and Sylvester played off of each other. Enough said. Enjoy the cartoon!