The Jet Cage is a 1962 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.[2] The short was released on September 22, 1962, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.[3]
| The Jet Cage | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Friz Freleng |
| Written by | Friz Freleng[1] |
| Starring | Mel Blanc June Foray |
| Edited by | Treg Brown |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Gerry Chiniquy Art Leonardi Virgil Ross Lee Halpern Bob Matz |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Tom O'Loughlin |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | September 22, 1962 |
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
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 on April 24,[4] and an uncredited William Lava who completed Franklyn's unfinished score. It was the last Tweety short directed by Freleng (Tweety's final Golden Age short, Hawaiian Aye Aye, was directed by Gerry Chiniquy).
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 to nab him to eat him.
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:
At the end, Sylvester—limping on crutches and heavily bandaged—decides to join the U.S. Air Force, vowing to earn his wings and get Tweety once and for all (Sylvester was reading the sign: "Earn your wings at the U.S.A.F. Hmm that’s what I’ll do. And when I do, watch out, bird!”).[5]
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.
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