User Reviews

Friz Freleng's 'All Abir-r-r-d' is one of the best Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. Unlike the many repetitive cartoons in the series which simply transplant the same tired gags to a new setting, 'All Abir-r-r-d' makes the most of its concept. Tweety and Sylvester are domestic pets who are being sent unattended across country by train. With both a watchful official and a vicious bulldog to deal with, Sylvester has his work cut out. The Sylvester and Tweety cartoons always benefited from some extra participants and 'All Abir-r-r-d' is a good example of how much these additional characters help. Although they are not especially memorable creations, they throw some more obstacles in Sylvester's path and make for a more interesting battle. This early Sylvester and Tweety short presses many of the right buttons and, while Tweety is often particularly irritating with his forced cuteness, there's some deliciously violent antics between Sylvester and the dog, culminating in a surprisingly brutal climax which is unfortunately marred by a final unfunny non-quip by Tweety.

OK, so I admit that it often seems like most of the Sylvester/Tweety pairings have exactly the same plot: Sylvester tries to get Tweety, but repeatedly fails and always gets maimed in the process, often with the help of a bulldog. I guess that it's sort of like Wile E. Coyote chasing Road Runner (in other words, mammals should never go after birds). "All a Bir-r-r-rd" has the same plot and sets it on a train. In a way, the best part of these cartoons is seeing what sorts of schemes Sylvester comes up with to try and go after Tweety. We know that he's going to fail miserably, but it's also funny to watch Tweety turn into a bad-ass (if you've seen his really early cartoons, you'll see that he was not "cute" at all, but in fact had a cruel streak). This one mainly works as a way to pass time.

By the way, I thought that I saw - I mean, I taut I taw - Sylvester pass a piece of baggage with the name Friz Freleng on it.

Tweety run... Tweety hide... Tweety fly away - 'Cause that bad, ol' putty-tat is out to get you and you've gotta have a good escape plan in order to avoid being caught in his clawing clutches.

For the most part - I found "All a Bir-r-r-d" to be a fairly enjoyable "Merrie Melodie" where that conniving feline, Sylvester gets a whole lot more than he bargained for after he defiantly mouths off at the snarling bulldog in the cage next to him.

Yep. You can be sure that Sylvester is now in big-big trouble (much to the relief of the harassed little Tweety, who's now gonna be awfully lonesome from here to Pasadena).

Pretty simple Sylvester & Tweety short. The duo plus a bulldog are all on a train together in the baggage car. Sylvester tries to eat Tweety repeatedly and is stopped by the conductor and the bulldog. It's a formulaic cartoon but a fun one. A lot of people don't care for this series of shorts but I find myself enjoying every one that I see. Mel Blanc is terrific, as usual. Beautiful, colorful animation. Love all the train stuff. Carl Stalling's music is great. Tweety is adorable and funny. He sings his "I'm a tweet wittle bird in a diwlded tage" song. I believe the bulldog is Hector but he isn't named here. He looks like Hector, though. It's always fun to watch Sylvester get knocked around and there's plenty of those gags in this short. Like I said, you either like Tweety & Sylvester cartoons or you don't. If you do, you'll surely like this one.

Tweety is sent in his cage on a train by his old-lady owner. In the same baggage car, also in a cage, is Sylvester.

In no time, Sylvester has grabbed Tweety but a trainman comes back and slaps the "sneakin' feline," as he calls him, back in his cage. He puts Tweety "in a safer place," up high and tells the cat, "Now, remember: no tricks!" Sylvester puts his halo on and looks innocent. Yeah, right.

I found the funniest stuff, however, didn't involve Sylvester versus Tweety but the "viscious dog" that is in another cage next to Sylvester. The cat gets mouthy with him, and pays a big price in an extremely funny manner. Sylvester just doesn't learn, but that's one reason we love him! (I know a number of IMDb reviewers don't like Tweety but I like both main characters - they both crack me up!)

Also, the train, and the passing scenery, is beautifully illustrated in here - really nice visuals.

As someone who does enjoy the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons better than most and who doesn't have a problem with Tweety, All a Bir-r-r-rd was very easy to like. It is very formulaic with a set-up that has been seen many times with Sylvster and Tweety(in a way though you can deem their cartoons as a formula series) and Tweety's final line is not that funny and is easily the cartoon's worst line. However, All a Bir-r-r-rd has some very colourful animation, with very bright colours and smooth drawings. The music is bouncy and brings real character to the action and chase scenes, together with lush orchestration and clever use of existing and familiar tunes. The dialogue is witty and raises a laugh more than once, the cartoon's crisply paced and the gags do feel fresh rather than tired and don't feel repetitive in the slightest, although Tweety pulls the train cord more than once what happens to Sylvester is different each time. It's the interaction between Sylvester and the bulldog that provides the cartoon's funniest moments, and All a Bir-r-r-rd has some violence but never in a sadistic way though enough to allow us to feel empathy for Sylvester, something that the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons were always great at doing. The characters work really well together, Tweety is cute but not in a forced way and while not as anarchic as he was in some of his earlier cartoons there are shades of that and the conductor has some amusing lines. But they are outshone by the bulldog and especially Sylvester, the bulldog works wonders with Sylvester and is a brutish but funny foil, while Sylvester provides and takes the laughs brilliantly- a lot of the time his facial expressions are on par with the gags in terms of entertainment value- and we are sympathetic towards him as well. In conclusion, entertaining and colourful. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I always enjoy watching this cartoon, with Sylvester trying to catch Tweety on a train, rather than at Grandma's house. It's actually a standard fare, but entertaining, especially when Tweety pulls the emergency stop cord. One of my complaints about this is how sloppy the animators were with the train. When you watch this over and over, like my little boy did (who loves trains, which is why he liked it so much), you begin to notice some things.

Throughout this short, the position of the baggage car changes on the train, either 3rd, 4th or 5th, and in long shots not at all. The engine has either the number 651 or 814, or none at all. The coal tender has either the number 99, or the letters "S.P. & Q.R." on it, or no number or letters at all. The coaches carry the "S.P.Q.R." without the "&" in long shots, and then in closeups it has the words "SouthEast and Western."

All of this doesn't interfere with the story, but the production details were obviously not looked into very carefully.

Still this cartoon is among my favorites with Sylvester and Tweety.

Sylvester cat, Tweety bird, and a bulldog are all on a train. Obviosly Sylvester wants to eat Tweety, but is hampered greatly by the vicious dog, and to a very lesser degree the conductor. This cartoon was not good nor bad it was simply there. It didn't help my theory I formed while watching the previous short on disc 3 "Bad Ol' Putty Tat", because the bird's presence was incidental at best, and it just seemed to me to be a Sylvester versus some random dog cartoon. Basically consisting of said dog beating the snot out of the cat. This animated short can be seen on Disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

My Grade: C

It so happens that Tweety and Sylvester are on the same train. Of course fur and feathers fly. There isn't anything unusual about this one, but the animation and the story line work quite well. Sylvester is more enterprising here as he does a kind of Wile e Coyote thing, never being deterred. It's no secret who will win the ultimate confrontation, but it's fun getting there.