The Cagey Canary

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Original Title
Blue Ribbon

Airdate:
22 November 1941 Blue Ribbon reissue: 11 October 1947

Series:

Merrie Melodies

MPAA Number:	Production Number:
7188	MM-7-11^[1]

Copyright Renewed:

22 April 1969^[2]

Starring:

Granny
Cat
Canary

Crew

Voice Characterizations:

Mel Blanc (uncredited)
Sara Berner (uncredited)
Georgia Stark (uncredited)^[3]

Director:

Tex Avery (planned, uncredited)
Bob Clampett (finished, uncredited)

Film Editor:

Treg Brown (uncredited)

Musician:

Carl W. Stalling

Video A
B

The Cagey Canary is a 1941 Merrie Melodies short planned by Tex Avery and finished by Bob Clampett.

Title[]

The title is a play on a "caged canary," "cagey" meaning one who is cautious when it comes to revealing information.

Plot[]

A cat tries to catch a canary, but he is stopped by Granny and she threatens to throw him out in the rain. The cat tries some devious tricks to get the bird, but he is always interrupted by the canary's whistle. The canary even gets the cat to whistle by showing him a picture of a pretty girl. The canary taunts the cat while flying to and from his cage, but the cat is waiting for him, and the canary escapes. In desperation, the cat puts ear muffs on Granny while she is sleeping. The canary tries whistling but to no avail, so he makes all sorts of noises before hitting the cat with a wall ironing board, allowing the canary to remove the earmuffs from Granny. Finally, the cat has had enough, so he lets himself out in the rain. The canary is victorious, but his victory doesn't last as Granny wakes and is angry. The frightened canary flies out in the rain too. Left all alone in a barrel with the cat, the canary asks if anyone is interested in a homeless cat and canary.

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

This cartoon features a cat and bird pairing, predating the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons.
- Incidentally, Bob Clampett, who finished the cartoon when Tex Avery had left the studio, would direct the first Tweety cartoon, released a year later; further when Clampett was the original director for the short "Tweetie Pie" where Sylvester and Tweety finally meet, he would leave the studio for television leading to that short to be taken up by Friz Freleng who would be the main director for the iconic duo from then on.
- Tex Avery would direct a cartoon with a similar plot in his MGM years titled "King-Size Canary"
This was one of the three cartoons that Tex Avery planned to make in 1941, but were completed by Bob Clampett in the end due to his departure. The other two cartoons are "Aloha Hooey" and "Crazy Cruise".
- This is the first cartoon Bob Clampett directed using Tex Avery's unit.
The cartoon's original opening and ending titles were cut when reissued in 1947. However, a cel of the original titles are known to exist.
- A film element of the original titles is presumed lost, as the restored version on HBO Max instead uses the Blue Ribbon reissue titles.
Vitaphone release number: 225^[6]