| 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 William Lava (uncredited) |
| 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 | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Jet Cage is a 1962Warner Bros.Looney Tunes cartoon directed byFriz Freleng.[2] The short was released on September 22, 1962, and starsTweety andSylvester.[3]
The voice actors areMel Blanc (doing the voices of Sylvester, Tweety and Blackbird) andJune Foray (doing the voice forGranny).
The animation was byGerry Chiniquy, Lee Halpern, Art Leonardi, Bob Matz and Virgil Ross. The layouts were designed byHawley Pratt and the backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin. The original music was composed byMilt Franklyn, who died during production on April 24,[4] and by an uncreditedWilliam 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 abird cage in his house, looking at the birds through the window. Tweety yearns dearly to fly freely like other birds, but is not allowed to do so byGranny. That is considering his safety, as Sylvester is always lurking around waiting for a chance to capture and eat him.
Granny reads a newspaper advertisement by Jet Age Technology, which has invented a $12.95 Flying Bird Cage, which would allow birds to 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 outdoors without leaving his cage's security.
Sylvester is at first taken aback at the sight of Tweety flying safely, piloting the jet-powered cage like anairplane. 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 is in vain:
At the end, Sylvester—limping on crutches and heavily bandaged—decides to join theU.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.