Andrea/Duck Dodgers here. I friendly welcome every fan of animation at my blog. The goal is to support the love and rediscovery of Classic Theatrical Cartoons from the Golden Age of Animation, keeping meanwhile an eye on Golden Age "Funny Animals" Comics as well as on modern animated productions! Every SUPPRESSED ethnic caricature to be sometimes presented here is just for HISTORICAL and EDUCATIONAL purpose and NOT to offend anyone. Stay Tooned and Enjoy the place !

Monday, April 03, 2006

" A Gruesome Twosome "



"A Gruesome Twosome " is possibly the wildest and most violent cartoon ever made. Directed by the inimitable Bob Clampett, this Looney Tunes cartoon (the corrent print actually is a reissue, showing the Merrie Melodies opening and closing but intact original title card as well as credits: a strange kind of alteration that also happened to other shorts, like Bob Clampett's "Wagon Heels" and Frank Tashlin's "Nasty Quacks") hit the screens in 1945.

The main characters of this short are two alley cat: a dopey orange cat and a Jimmy Durante-like cat. My theory is that the title could be a reference to the short-lived improbale pairing of Buster Keaton (in fact the orange cat in this picture is essentially a stone-face character, even if he got the additional characteristic of being a dimwitted idiot) and Jimmy Durante, in the Thirties .

The two, competing for a cute li'l gal kitty (voiced By Sarah Berner), try to bring her a little bird, which is revealed to be none other than Tweety, in his third official appearence .
Still naked, Tweey in this cartoon, as well as in the other Bob Clampett cartoons in which he starred, is wild and violent and he is in no way paragonable to the passive character , of the latter Freleng's cartoons (when he was paired with Sylvester the cat as a blue eyed loveable and sweet creature object of the feline's attentions).

I tried to post some screenshots that, in my opinion, show the best examples of the ability of the animators working in Clampett's unit.
Look at the facial expression and the wild takes and enjoy the incontrollable energy that comes from every single drawing of this magnificent short .



































Yours Truly ,

Duck Dodgers

Blog Founder and Administrator

15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wonderfull pictures!!!Did you forgett the "100 best"?

10:57 am

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My fave Tweety cartoon! Nice!

11:42 am

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like that print! By the way when are you going to post stills from the Terrytoon "The Magic Pencil"(1940)?

8:46 pm

 
Blogger Duck Dodgers said...

Excuse me, Nic!
I'm really busy!
I will try to do it before the end of the month.

7:19 am

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, I am sorry. I didn't knowyou were still busy. I can wait on the stills.

11:04 am

 
Blogger C. A. M. Thompson said...

Really love this blog.

Great pics. Really wish Warner Bros. hadn't oversaturated the color so much on some of these old cartoons though when they were remastering them. There's no way they were originally that bright.

7:49 am

 
Blogger Kevin W. Martinez said...

Hey, duck dodgers.

This is Leviathan (from the GAC Forums), and i wanted to say that i have enjoyed your blog, and the cartoons showcased on it.

However, I particualrly like the Gruesome Twosome Pics. Those violent gags look even more violent in frame form than in realtime. I'm looking forward to the next carton you showcase.

-Kevin (aka Leviathan)

3:58 pm

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They're idea of restoration is saturating the colours and applying Digital Video Noise Reduction.

6:47 pm

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

*their

6:47 pm

 
Blogger Gabriel said...

Great post, Duck. I wish you had included some pics of Tweety slapping the bee, that's one of my favorite gags in this cartoon.

11:20 pm

 
Blogger San Francisco Photos said...

Love all the classic cartoons!

5:20 pm

 
Blogger Chris Sobieniak said...

Being reminded often of noticing when they do the camera shake before the dog steps in to steal the kiss exposes a little of the unpainted section of the background near the top of the frame, but it was just one of those unintentional things you'd see in these scenarios (I've seen worse).

5:39 am

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Duck,

Can you send me some high res images of a gruesome twosome.

Thank you,

kartunek2s@hotmail.com

4:18 pm

 
Anonymous Jorny said...

I like this cartoon.One of my like.
Thank you!

7:19 am

 
Anonymous Jorny said...

My fave Tweety cartoon! Nice!*their

Love all the classic cartoons!

7:22 am

 

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