Take one widdle canary and one bad ol’ puddy tat and you have the makings of a classic cartoon team. In fact, you would have thought this pairing was a natural. But sufferin’ succotash, it took several years before the Warner Bros. cartoon crew realized what a terrific twosome they had right under their noses. Tweety worked with other adversaries and Sylvester acted in various cartoons before they had their first on-screen encounter. The rest, as they say, is history. Director Friz Freleng and his colleagues managed to find an endless array of funny facets to the Tweety and Sylvester formula—and that’s one reason the series remained so consistently funny. This collection ranges from a variation on Jack and the Beanstalk to an Alfred Hitchcock spoof that asks the question, “What would happen if Sylvester actually ate his feathered foe?” We also get a look at Sylvester’s continuing career away from Tweety in a handful of entertaining cartoons. Tree for Two features another funny pair of characters, Spike and Chester, while Mouse-Taken Identity introduces the irrepressible (and easily embarrassed) Sylvester Jr. Alone and together, Tweety and Sylvester are funny characters—and this assortment is proof positive. —Leonard Maltin