Monday 13 April 2015

A Tweety Question

Can someone explain this? Two cats are fighting over Tweety in a nest atop a pole. The force of the fight causes them to fall to the ground below. Director Bob Clampett (or maybe it was done in layout) changes the perspective of the fall from looking down from the top of the pole.



Suddenly, Tweety appears to yell “Bomb’s away!”



So, since this is shot from the top of the pole, where is Tweety standing? How is he standing?

The cartoon is “A Gruesome Twosome,” animated by Manny Gould, Rod Scribner, Bob McKimson and Basil Davidovich.

4 comments:

  1. The cats yowling after Tweety smashes their hands was animated by Manny Gould, the "Bombs Away!" gag was animated by Basil "Dave" Davidovich. I've always thought that Tweety, being a bird could hover almost anywhere in the frame by flapping his wings. In this shot, he seems to be standing on the edge of the frame, regardless of how the camera is tracking. A radical and abstract approach to layout, this is Bob Clampett, remember? This is the "naked" version of Tweety; note that he is pink or flesh color throughout.

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    1. It certainly was an innovative approach to playing with the unlimited boundaries of animation itself to have Tweety appear like he's stepped out from the actual film frame itself for that moment.

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  2. I think that for this gag Bob Clampett and his crew really didn't care so much about the perspective as much as getting a laugh by having Tweety yell "Bombs away!" suddenly.

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    1. "An Itch In Time" also gave us a similar "didn't care" shot with the sudden close-up of the dog's head while the background doesn't change. Perhaps the same could be said for this scene with Tweety appearing like he stepped out of the movie screen itself to do that.

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