Thursday, October 25, 2018

Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku - Day 25: The Strange Case Of... "Hyde And Go Tweet"!!




Greetings, Boils & Ghouls...



...and welcome to 'Day Twenty-Five' of "Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku" where I aim to bring you another creepy cartoon classic from the plethora of spooky animated short films that have been released throughout the course of animation history - any of which can be streamed on TV via the magic of Roku players - so let's dim the lights, for more fun & frights! :-O


If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - that I published twenty-five days ago, you will know I plan to post a Hallowe'en / Horror related article every day, throughout the month of October, featuring one vintage cartoon classic with spooky overtones each and every time. With recommendations for thirty-one of the most spook-tacular shorts I can find, by the end of the month, this means you'll have plenty of great choices for your creepy cartoon viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en... as well as ensuring lots of laughs & screams come October 31st! :-D


Likewise... if you read my previous post on 'Day Twenty-Four' of this month-long blogathon, you might recall that it featured a cartoon cat who went through a pretty torrid time while in search of more "candy, candy, candy, candy, candy..." to eat during a "Trick Or Treat" marathon for Halloween. Well, by way of coincidence, today's spooky short also features a well-known cartoon cat... only this one is on the hunt for birds, rather than candy. However, when one of those birds gets a dose of some strange concoction called "Hyde Formula", while attempting to hide in the offices of one 'Dr. Jekyll', our furry feline friend gets more than he bargained for in a strange case of... "Hyde And Go Tweet"!!








Released on 14th May and directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng this vintage 'Merrie Melodies' cartoon, like so many others, featured the voice characterisations of Mel Blanc, plus the musical direction of Milt Franklyn, and was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. prior to it's initial release in 1960... although the 'MCMLIX' copyright date suggests it was completed in 1959, the year before:






The story, written by Michael Maltese and Friz Freleng (both uncredited as such), begins with a cat - whom many will recognise as 'Sylvester' - snoozing in the sunlight on the window ledge of an office. The sign-writing on the window pane confirms that the office is that of a certain 'Dr. Jekyll', who we see entering the premises soon after. Having first locked the door and removed his hat, he heads over to his desk and reaches for a bottle, marked "Hyde Formula", some of which he pours into a glass and proceeds to drink. Whatever is in the "Hyde Formula", it has an unusual (not to mention immediate) effect on the diminutive doctor... who goes through a number of changes to his physical characteristics as a result of drinking this concoction. The end result being that the mild-mannered man is transformed in to his monstrous alter-ego, "Mr. Hyde", who (with an evil laugh) crosses the room to get his hat and leave. Meanwhile, just as 'Sylvester' is getting-up to see what's causing the commotion inside, he changes back into the form of 'Dr. Jekyll'... leaving 'Sylvester' seeming rather purplexed. Casting one eye over his shoulder, to see 'Dr. Jekyll' heading out of the office... 'Sylvester' smiles to himself, as if to say it was all in his imagination, and then settles down to go back to sleep.




'Sylvester' Is Asleep On The Window Ledge, As 'Dr. Jekyll' Arrives At His Office...




Having Locked The Door, And Removed His Hat, 'Dr. Jekyll' Drinks Some "Hyde Formula"...




The Concoction Has An Immediate (And Unusual) Effect On Dr. Jekyll's Appearance...




Transforming 'Dr. Jekyll' Into His Monstrous Alter-Ego, 'Mr. Hyde'...




With An Evil Laugh, 'Mr. Hyde' Goes To Grab His Hat And Leave...




But, By The Time 'Sylvester' Looks In The Window, He Has Changed Back To 'Dr. Jekyll'...




'Sylvester' Glances Over His Shoulder, As 'Dr. Jekyll' Leaves The Office...




And Wonders To Himself: What Could Have Been Causing All The Commotion?




Before Smiling To Himself, Having (Presumably) Decided It Was All In His Imagination...




And Then Settles Back Down To Continue His Nap In The Morning Sunshine !!



However, he has barely nodded-off again... when he hears the sound of birds approaching, and his primal instincts cause him to sit-up so that he can be ready to hunt his prey. Now fully alert, he stalks his prey... who have alighted on the other side of the building. Carefully, 'Sylvester' creeps along the window ledge and then, when he believes the birds are within reach, he pounces forward. Sadly for poor old 'Sylvester' he isn't quick enough this time... and the birds fly-off, out of reach. Unfortunately, however, 'Sylvester' built-up so much momentum, as he sprung forward, that he skids past the end of the ledge and almost falls to the ground. Luckily for him, though, he somehow manages to cling-on to the side of the building and then haul himself back up again. Then, with his back safely propped-up against the wall once more, he sits there and counts his blessings. As he does so, a small yellow feathered bird appears... and, in need of a rest from flying, it lands on the ledge for a quick breather. No sooner has the little bird looked around, he spots 'Sylvester' nearby and, with that all too familiar phrase: "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Cat", we now know the bird is 'Tweety' - but, so does 'Sylvester'! :-O




'Sylvester' Wakes-Up With A Start, Having Heard The Sound Of Birds Nearby...




So, He Sneaks-Up On Them... And Then Suddenly Pounces Forward !!




But, The Birds Manage To Fly Away... While 'Sylvester' Goes Flying Off The Ledge !! 




Luckily For 'Sylvester', He Just About Manages To Hang-On To The Ledge...




Then He Somehow Pulls Himself Back To Safety, Avoiding A Nasty Fall !!




Now, With His Back Propped-Up Against The Wall, He Counts His Blessings...




And, As He Does So, 'Tweety' Lands On The Ledge - Not Far From Sylvester...




Noticing 'Sylvester' Close By, 'Tweety' Says: "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Cat" !!




But, Unfortunately, 'Sylvester' Had Spotted 'Tweety', Too !!



'Sylvester' lunges forwards once more and makes an(other) unsuccessful grab at what may otherwise have been "breakfast" for him. A chase, back-and-forth, around the window ledges of the building ensues... but, having stolen a lead on his pursuer, 'Tweety' manages to duck inside the building. With little time to spare, 'Tweety' observes: "I Better Hide... Or Dat Bad Ol' Puddy Cat Gonna Get Me!", then promptly jumps-up on the bottle of "Hyde Formula" beside him and hides inside, displacing the green fluid as he does so. Of course, 'Tweety' wasn't to know what was in there... but he soon finds out when the "Hyde Formula" starts to have a similar effect on him as it did on poor old 'Dr. Jekyll' !!




A Chase Ensues, Around The Building, Then 'Tweety' Hops Through An Open Window...




"I Better Hide... Or Dat Bad Ol' Puddy Cat Gonna Get Me!"




So, Having Spotted A Hiding Place Nearby, 'Tweety' Makes Himself Scarce...




But, As He Drops Inside, The "Hyde Formula" Splashes Out Of The Bottle...




Followed, Soon After, By A Noticeably Larger (And Hairier) Version Of 'Tweety'...




Who Appears To Have Consumed Some Of The "Hyde Formula" And Been Transformed !!



Meanwhile, 'Sylvester' has come inside the building... still on the hunt for 'Tweety', searching high and low around the office, even looking in various desk drawers in an effort to find him. Then, he tries to frighten 'Tweety', saying: "No use hiding, bird... I know you're around here somewheres!", but it's only when he's tapped on his back and looks around that he discovers the tables have been turned!




Meanwhile, 'Sylvester' Is Already Inside The Building... Still Looking For 'Tweety' !!




'Sylvester' Makes A Thorough Search Of The Place, Hunting High And Low...





"No use hiding, bird... I know you're around here somewheres!"




Then, 'Sylvester' Feels Someone (Or Something) Tapping Repeatedly On His Back...




But When He Turns To See Who (Or What) It Was... He Gets The Shock Of His Life !!




Because The Tables Have Been Turned... And The Hunter Is Now The Hunted !!



As 'Sylvester' stands there, gawping at the monstrous yellow bird stood before him, he is justifiably anxious about his current situation. When he hears the evil laugh, reminiscent of 'Mr. Hyde', and then 'Tweety' says to him: "You Bad Ol' Puddy Tat!", 'Sylvester' goes to pieces out of sheer fright! :-O :-D




'Tweety' Lets Out An Evil Laugh, Just Like 'Mr. Hyde', And 'Sylvester' Freezes In Fear !!




Then 'Tweety' Leans In And Says To 'Sylvester': "You Bad Ol' Puddy Tat!"




At Which Point, 'Sylvester' Completely Goes To Pieces... Out Of Sheer Fright !!




But, Before 'Tweety' Can Grab Him, 'Sylvester' Pulls Himself Together And Runs...




Just As Fast As His legs Will Carry Him... In The Opposite Direction !!



However, rather than reveal any more of the storyline to you at this stage, I thought I'd leave it for you to discover whether or not 'Sylvester' manages to escape the clutches of the monstrous alter-ego into which 'Tweety' has transformed. Suffice it to say there are some pretty hairy moments for both of them along the way... but, in order to fully appreciate what happens, you'll need to press the "Play" button on the video below, if you'd like to enjoy today's creepy cartoon classic in it's entirety! ;-) :-D







Unlike many of the previous videos that I've shared in this series of posts, "Hyde And Go Tweet" did not seem to be available via 'YouTube' or 'Vimeo' and, as a result, the version that I'm sharing with you today is hosted on the 'Dailymotion' website. Of course, in addition to watching the embedded video of this cartoon right here on my blog, you can also choose to stream it on your phone or tablet by using the 'Dailymotion' app(s) for both the iOS (Apple) plus Android platforms on your mobile devices. For those who prefer to watch on their big screen television, there is also a private channel for 'Daily Motion' which is available using the "Add channel with a code" option, that can be found in the 'Manage Account' section of the Roku website. Just use ACCESS CODE: dailymotion to install it







DAILY MOTION PRIVATE CHANNEL..........................................ACCESS CODE: dailymotion

*** N.B. this channel can not be found within the built-in channel store on Roku devices !! ***

HINT: If you are uncertain as to how you go about installing a private channel on your Roku device, you will find full instructions in my "SPECIAL MONTH-LONG BLOGATHON PREVIEW" post as to what needs to be done. For those who may be worried about things being too "tech-y", there's not really much to it... and, once you have signed-in to your Roku account via a desktop web browser, it is quite a simple procedure to type in the (above) access code and have the app automatically added to the selection of channels found under the 'Home' screen of your Roku device(s). Should you have any difficulty, and are unable to finish the process with the instructions from my blogathon preview, just leave a comment below - saying what stage of the process you are stuck on - and I'll do my best to offer some further suggestions as to where you may be going wrong. If you're unable to install the 'Daily Motion' private channel, for whatever reason, you can always just watch the cartoon here! :-D


EXTRA TIP: The built-in 'Search' function within the private channel for 'Daily Motion' is a fairly basic affair and does not permit you to search easily by 'Username' - in this case: "MatthewHunter" - or the unique identifier (which is "x6gkoro" for the video above) - so your best hope of finding this "Hyde And Go Tweet" cartoon within the 'Daily Motion' private channel on your Roku device is to use the title provided by the uploader... so, in this case, you would need to type in all (or part) of the following text: "Hyde and Go Tweet (Friz Freleng, 1960) (Complete)" which is shown (in full) across the centre of the embedded video included in this post. Experience has taught me not all the video titles will be included within the 'Daily Motion' search results so, if you adopt the same method when searching for another video from their website, your chosen title may not show-up at all. That said, having personally tested this one myself, I can confirm that you will see it listed and that you should be able to stream it on Roku device(s) in it's entirety, without issues! :-)


On whichever platform you decide to watch this video, be sure to keep an eye-out for the unusual title sequence at the beginning of this animated short. It's one of those things that usually only rewards the few who bother to pay attention during the opening credits but I liked it enough to feel it warranted a special mention in this post. Basically, because the entire cartoon is set in (or around) an office block, the credits have been placed on various windows around the building, so as to look like sign-writing: much like they did with the name 'Dr. Jekyll' on the windows of his office in the animated short itself. Anyway, in addition to having the names (and job titles) of all those involved placed in sign-writing on the windows, the animators have gone one step further with this idea... and that's what makes these opening credits so good. Essentially each credit given is assigned an individual office and what's even better, about the way this has been done, is that the "view" through each window to the various rooms beyond has been drawn based upon the individual credit assigned to that office. So, for example, they have included a microphone stand in the office room assigned to 'Mel Blanc' who did all the "Voices" for this animated short. Likewise, there's a piano (and a cold beer) for 'Milt Franklyn' who composed the "Music" for this cartoon, plus a bunch of film reels in the office of 'Treg Brown' who handled the responsibilities of "Film Editor" (for which he was credited) as well as doing all the "Sound Effects", for which he went uncredited - guess they must have run out of windows and/or office space! :-P ;-)




For The Animation Dept. - Drawing Boards, Pencils, Paper, etc.
For The Layouts & Backgrounds Dept. - Paintbrushes, etc.
For The Film Editor - Reel, Upon Reel, Upon Reel Of Film !!




For The "Voices" In This Short - A Microphone, Plus A Stand, etc.
For The "Music" In This Short - A Piano, Some Sheet Music, And A Frothy Pint !!




For The Director - Absolutely Nothing... Apart From A Desk Lamp !!

Well, From The Look Of This... He Just Sits There With His Feet Up, Anyhow !!




In terms of related memorabilia for this creepy cartoon classic, while I did fall short in my attempts to find an original poster for this spooky short - i.e. one that was in use at the time of it's initial release - there were several other items of interest, including a contemporary fan art poster which I propose to share with you, by way of rounding-off this article on Friz Freleng's "Hyde And Go Tweet" (1960):-




Hyde And Go Tweet (1960) - 16" x 12" Limited Edition Giclee On Paper 
From Warner Brothers (Taken From An Original 1960 Lobby Card) [Screenshot Image] (Colour)




Hyde And Go Tweet (1960) - 16" x 12" Limited Edition Giclee On Paper 
From Warner Bros. (Taken From Original 1960 Lobby Card) [Screenshot Image] (Black & White)




Hyde And Go Tweet (1960) [Contemporary Fan Art Poster] (Phantom City Creative)



The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that, in the colour limited edition giclee image (above) the bottle label reads: "Formula 'X' Dr. Jekyll" instead of just "Hyde Formula" as used in the short. Sadly, I was unable to find any explanation for this... but, if anyone reading this post is any the wiser as to the official reason why it was changed for the final print, then please leave a comment at the end of this post, so as to inform others (including myself) of the thinking behind this little oddity! ;-) :-)



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I'd also like to remind readers of this blog that there are now just six days left to go until Halloween !!







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Anyhow, that's all I've got time for today... but do remember to come back again tomorrow, for my next creepy cartoon recommendation from the archives of animated film history, when I will suggest another spooky short for 'Day 26' of "Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku" that you can stream right here on this blog - as well as through the equivalent channel on your Roku player(s). Meanwhile... please be sure to visit the "Countdown To Hallowe'en" website and show your support for this annual online Hallowe'en extravaganza PLUS don't forget to use the links you find there and check out all the other 'Cryptkeepers' taking part this year. I know they'll appreciate it, if you visit their blogs and share your thoughts on the contribution(s) they've made.



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ONE LAST THING, BEFORE I GO: Don't forget that, aside from the Hallowe'en / Horror-themed ghastliness going on around these parts for the next month, you can also keep up with the UK Roku action (as it happens) by checking-out my regular 'Weekly RoundUp' posts each weekend where you will find up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related is posted on a weekly basis (well, almost).



Until the next time, then...



That's all folks !!





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