Hyde and Go Tweet

Hyde and Go Tweet
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Airdate:	14 May 1960
Series:	Merrie Melodies
Production Number:	1526
Vitaphone Number:	2930
Copyright Renewed:	22 May 1987
Starring:	Sylvester Tweety
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc
Director:	Friz Freleng
Written By:	Michael Maltese (uncredited)
Producer:	John W. Burton
Animated By:	Art Davis Gerry Chiniquy Virgil Ross
Assistant Animators:	Art Leonardi (uncredited)
Layout Artist:	Hawley Pratt
Background Artist:	Tom O'Loughlin
Film Editor:	Treg Brown
Musician:	Milt Franklyn

Hyde and Go Tweet is a 1960 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title

The title is a play on the children's game "Hide-and-go-seek."

Plot

Sylvester is sleeping on the ledge of a tall building. After observing Dr. Jekyll drinking a Mr. Hyde potion, and briefly turning into a monstrous alter ego, Sylvester laughs it off and resumes his sleep. In a dream-like sequence, Sylvester chases some pigeons away after their coos disrupt his nap. He then pursues his prey, Tweety, along the building's ledge. Tweety escapes inside and hides in the Hyde formula. Sylvester demands that Tweety show himself, which he does: he's turned into an monstrous, giant bird of prey who - after years of harassment and being chased, combined with payback being the first thing on his mind - starts chasing Sylvester!

Sylvester is frantically trying to get the elevator to come up, and he turns and looks down the corner, and Tweety Hyde is ambling along, laughing maniacally. For most of the rest of the cartoon, Tweety frequently switches between his usual, innocent self, which Sylvester chases, and the evil bird-monster, which goes after the cat. After several back-and-forth chases, Sylvester nabs a normal-sized Tweety. Still failing to figure out the monster bird and his potential meal are one and the same, the cat locks himself in a small kitchen, throws the key out the window and begins to "make that Tweety sandwich I've been dreaming of." But while Sylvester is searching for some ketchup, Tweety changes back into his Hyde-like self and devours his adversary whole. Sylvester frees himself and tries to escape the room repeatedly calling out for help.

Just then, Sylvester awakens to realize that this whole experience was a dream and he sees a normal-sized Tweety struggling to fly to the ledge of the building. Sylvester is convinced that Tweety poses a giant risk to his well-being and runs through a wall to escape! Two cats observe his action and refer to it as cowardice. Tweety agrees.

Availability

(1984) VHS
The Looney Tunes Video Show Volume 15

(1985) VHS
Sylvester and Tweety's Crazy Capers

(1985) Beta
Sylvester and Tweety's Crazy Capers

(1988) VHS
The Cartoon Collection

(1990) VHS
Sylvester and Tweety (1990)

(1993) LaserDisc
Looney Tunes After Dark

(1995) VHS
Bumper Edition (Woolworths Exclusive)

(1996) VHS
Looney Tunes Collection - Sylvester and Tweety

(1996) VHS
Special Bumper Collection (Vol. 3)

(1996) VHS
Looney Tunes Presents Marvin the Martian & K-9: 50 Years on Earth!

(1997) VHS
Classic Bumper Collection

(1999) VHS
Looney Tunes Presents Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes [reissued version]

(2003) VHS
Tweety & Sylvester (2003)

(2020) DVD
Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes Marvin the Martian Space Tunes Double Feature

Streaming

Boomerang App (2017 - 2024)

HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)

Censorship

• On ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, the scene of Sylvester, who is trying to escape the Hyde-esque Tweety Bird, looking down, getting on the ledge, telling Tweety, "I'll jump," then asiding to the audience, "I've got a choice?" was re-edited to remove the line, "I'll jump! I've got a choice?", as the censors felt it had suicidal implications, and replaced the removed line with the POV shot of Sylvester looking down and seeing just how far he has to jump to get away from the monstrous Tweety. This scene was not edited when Cartoon Network and Boomerang aired the short, despite temporarily airing a version of "For Scent-imental Reasons" that had a window-jumping scene and dialogue that was censored because it seemingly advocated suicide.

Notes

• This cartoon was used in the movie Daffy Duck's Quackbusters with new animation showing Sylvester in Daffy's office.
  • The closing credits in that film incorrectly credit Carl Stalling with music instead of Milt Franklyn.
• It was also used in Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special.
• This cartoon lacks a MPAA number on the credits card.
• This is one of the few, if not only, times in which Tweety chases Sylvester.
• The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode called "London Broiled" is based on this cartoon, which also has Tweety turning into a Hyde-like monster. The two cats in the end of the cartoon reappear in "London Broiled", as well as making cameos in the series from time to time.
• This cartoon also serves as the basis for a level in Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers called "Hyde and Shriek", where Tweety, after getting into the Hyde Potion, will also turn into a monster and chase after Sylvester (rather than the other way around), and Sylvester must hit the Tweety monster with a shrinking potion so that Tweety will revert to normal before he can chase after him again.
• This Friz Freleng cartoon was later remade by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises as The Inspector cartoon, "Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!" (1966), where Sgt. Deux Deux drinks the Hyde formula, becomes a monster, and chases the Inspector.
• Michael Maltese wrote this cartoon, but was not credited as he had left the Warner Bros. studio for Hanna-Barbera before its release.
• "Voice Characterizations" is replaced with "Voices" in the opening credits.
• On Cartoon Network and Boomerang, this cartoon is shown with PAL audio.
• The restored HBO Max print of this cartoon incorrectly uses the "A VITAPHONE RELEASE" byline from another cartoon (most likely from "From Hare to Heir") and scraps the original 1959-60 end card.
• The plot of this cartoon is homaged in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode segment Go Sweetie Hyde, where Sweetie turns into a monster and tries to eat Furrball.

Gallery

Lobby card

Lobby card

Lobby card

Lobby card

TV Title Cards

Sylvester and Tweety