But wait a minute, he thinks. Director Bob McKimson holds the pose for 26 frames.
“Hey!” he shouts. “Tom cats can’t be mothers!”
Sylvester’s body is static so the animator can concentrate on moving the head around in different shapes during the dialogue. Here are some frames.
The opening credits say this is a Henery Hawk cartoon, not a Sylvester cartoon. Even then, the star is the not-yet-named Foghorn Leghorn, with a different voice than what Mel Blanc used later, but with some Senator Claghorn-isms already part of the dialogue from Warren Foster (egs. interrupting a sentence to remark “I say!” and ending sentences with “That is”).
It seems the Warners directors were trying to find ways to use Sylvester. The time this cartoon was released, Friz Freleng had paired him with Tweety, and won an Oscar. Art Davis and his writers came up with an idiot version of him with a dopey voice. Chuck Jones tried him in several horror cartoons with an oblivious Porky Pig. After this cartoon, McKimson came up with a combination far more lasting—a “giant mouse” (kangaroo) nemesis in Hop, Look and Listen (released in 1948), adding Sylvester, Jr. into the mix in Pop ‘Em Pop (released in 1950). The three of them settled in for a long career on the screen.
Meanwhile, McKimson realised Foggy was of star calibre and gave him a leading role (occasionally with the dog in this short) until 1963’s Banty Raids, about a year before the end of the studio’s life. With this one cartoon, McKimson managed to spawn two series of well-remembered shorts.
Of all the characters whose personalities varied under the direction of the Termite Terrace triumvirate, Sylvester probably changes the most. Jones' Sylvester was a real nonspeaking cat, saving an oblivious Porky from disaster (the scene in "Scaredy Cat" of a bound and gagged Porky holding a sign reading "You were right Sylvester" is downright moving). Freleng's Sylvester set the standard as a foil for Tweety and Speedy. McKimson, who inherited the Clampett unit, made initial attempts to sustain the zaniness but ultimately devolved into stodginess; his Sylvester, consequently, after early efforts like "Crowing Pains," became the most bland and human-like (and Sylvester Jr. didn't help).
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