Canary Row (1950) User Reviews

Three interesting aspects of CANARY ROW . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 8 November 2015]

. . . begin with Warner Bros.' title source. These plays on words often smacked of topical humor, and CANARY ROW is meant to evoke the title of Nobel Literature Prize winner John Steinbeck's quite ribald 1945 novel, CANNERY ROW (which I only remember for its analogy between a "Ford coil" and an unmentionable feature of female anatomy). Surprisingly, CANARY ROW needs no help from Steinbeck to step over the boundary of good taste and skirt Triple X territory. That eyebrow raising moment comes about six minutes into this animated short, as Sylvester paces a city street with a billboard clearly visible in the background which reads "Drink Friz: Six Delicious Flavors." Since CANARY ROW is directed by FRIZ Freleng, this would be like having Mrs. Pitt's upcoming directorial effort sporting the Tagline: "Drink Jolie: Six Delicious Flavors." Nowadays, that alone would be enough to earn even a Muppet movie an "R" rating. Finally, CANARY ROW reveals that "Tweety" and its sinister owner "Granny" weigh EXACTLY the same. This reminds me of an H.G. Wells short story, in which a morbidly obese man tells a wizard that his fondest wish would be to lose lots of weight. When this blimp wakes up the next morning, he's the same gross size--but he floats out of his bed, entirely weightless!

Tweety and Sylvester's Canary Row introduces us to Granny

[tavm · 8/10 · 8 January 2008]

With this cartoon, Sylvester the Cat has a new obstacle in trying to catch the Tweety Bird: His owner, Granny, as originally voiced by Bea Benaderet (June Foray would later take over). She may be elderly but she can still belt the cat with the best of them! Other obstacles include an 800 pound weight and Sylvester's miscalculation in the distance from his building to Tweety's in using a rope to swing from one place to another. The cat also disguises himself as a monkey at one point. Since Friz Freling is the director, look for his name on one of the buildings as a drink with "Six Delicious Flavors". This was on disc 4 of The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1. Very funny and highly recommended.

Granny wasn't too old to debut.

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 15 January 2007]

Sylvester and Tweety had only been co-starring for a few years by this point, but Granny appears to be the prototype for the current - if unrealistic - image of the senior citizen kicking booty. As a cat lover, I've always wondered why Sylvester has to suffer so much in these cartoons, even if he's a sinister predator. But in "Canary Row", he suffers at the hands of Tweety, Granny, and even the desk clerk. Will that feline ever get what he wants?! Anyway, it's a pretty funny cartoon. Tweety is sort of the epitome of a facade hiding something nasty.

Watch for a sign advertising "Friz" (Freleng, that is).

Sylvester was always the real star

[movieman_kev · 6/10 · 2 November 2005]

Sylvester cat spies Tweety bird in a hotel room across the street, but no dog or cats are allowed in there, as per the rules of the management. So he must improvise, but gets more than he has bargained for with Tweety's owner, Granny in a pretty standard Sylvester and Tweety cartoon. It's known high and wide that I dislike Tweety and Granny with a searing intense passion. Fortunately Sylvester's antics are what makes this one watchable and even humorous in a few instances. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1.

My Grade: C+

You can't outfox old Granny.

[slymusic · 8 June 2009]

Directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, "Canary Row" is an excellent Tweety/Sylvester/Granny cartoon. Poor Sly - he'll never catch that bird, try as he might.

Here are my two favorite gags from this cartoon (don't read on if you haven't yet seen it). First, Sly crawls inside a gutter and climbs up the building to the windowsill where Tweety's birdcage rests. Tweety spots the slobbering feline in the nick of time and drops a bowling ball down the gutter. Sly gets knocked back down the gutter and reveals that the bowling ball is actually inside him! He uncontrollably rolls down a street into a bowling alley and makes a strike! And second, the film ends with Sly sprinting on a power line, trying to avoid being electrocuted by a streetcar that is driven by Granny and Tweety.

"Canary Row" also boasts an excellent music score by perhaps the most underrated 20th Century composer & arranger: Carl W. Stalling. Some instances of Stalling's genius at work are Sylvester's pacing & tiptoeing scenes, as well as the scene in which he draws up a blueprint and makes various calculations (accompanied by a wonderful bass clarinet). I also appreciate Tweety singing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" while Sylvester conducts the musical accompaniment.

Here's A Real Triangle Of Trouble Involving Sylvester, Tweety And Granny

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 15 June 2020]

Oh-Oh! - It looks like that bad, ol' putty-tat is up to no good once again.

Surveying the downtown area from his lookout point inside the office of the "Bird Watchers' Society", Sylvester spies (with his big, bloodshot eyes) a very tasty morsel (across the street) sitting on a windowsill of the Broken Arms Apartments.

And, with that scenario setting the tone of 1950's "Canary Row" - We find Sylvester (that conniving feline), once again, stooping to just about anything in order to capture and consume cute, little Tweety.

But, have no fear! 'Cause Granny is near. And, she will see to it that absolutely no harm comes to her darling, little Tweety... (Yep. You can count on Granny for that)

Don't Mess With Granny!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 5 February 2007]

Tweety is perched in his cage on the ledge and Sylvester is across the street at the "Bird Watching Society" Building on about the same level. Both are looking through binoculars, and they spot each other. Tweety then utters his famous phrase, "I taught I taw a puddy cat." (thought I saw a pussy cat.) Sylvester scampers over to grab the bird. Tweety flies out of his cage and Granny comes to the rescue, bashing the cat and driving it away.

The rest of the animated short shows a series of attempts by Sylvester to grab Tweetie - a familiar theme - and how either bad luck or Granny thwarts him every time. The cat dons disguises and tries a number of clever schemes...all of which are funny and very entertaining.

In all, a good cartoon and fun to watch.

Hooray for Granny!

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 3 March 2010]

This was an entertaining cartoon, but what made it was Granny. I love how she defends Tweety by bashing Sylvester on the head with her umbrella. Sylvester is his crafty and raspacious self, and Tweety is still cute. This wouldn't be possible without the vocals of Mel Blanc, is there anything this genius cannot do? Seemingly not. Characters aside, Sylvester's attempts to capture Tweety are funny and devious, using various disguises including a street monkey. Also the animation smooth and colourful, and the music(such as the simple "I am a Tweety who lives in a cage") is well done. Overall, well worth seeing, not the best of the Looney Tunes canon or the best Sylvester and Tweety cartoon but definitely a good one. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Help! Help! Da bad old puddy tat is after me!"

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 14 September 2015]

It's Granny's first appearance in a Sylvester & Tweety short, which pretty much makes it a classic for that reason alone. This is a very funny cartoon with a plot that's as simple as they come. Tweety is singing in his cage near an open apartment building window. Sylvester spies him and determines to get the bird. But he wasn't prepared for Tweety's owner, Granny, and her umbrella of pain. Lots of great physical gags in this one with poor old Sylvester the brunt of all of them. Tweety and Granny have many funny lines. The animation is bright and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is lively and fun. I always love hearing Tweety sing. Wonderful voice work from the great Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet. If you're a fan of Sylvester & Tweety shorts, this is one you won't want to miss.

A run-of-the-mill Sylvester and Tweety cartoon slightly lifted by Granny's debut

[phantom_tollbooth · 5/10 · 18 August 2008]

Friz Freleng's 'Canary Row' is a pretty standard Sylvester and Tweety cartoon that somehow got itself nominated for an Oscar. Even more bizarrely, its producer withdrew the nomination for some unknown reason. The main reason for 'Canary Row' gaining heightened attention is probably the first appearance of Granny. To people like me who have grown up watching these cartoons for years, Granny is a well established character and her appearance here is just standard antics. To an audience who had never seen her before, however, Granny added a certain something new to the old cat and bird formula. Granny undoubtedly steals the cartoon, featuring prominently in the few jokes that work. When she's not on screen, the cartoon sags and reverts to predictable, overused gags. Which is not to say that Granny's presence makes every scene great. She plays a significant role in the extended and thoroughly pointless monkey sequence, the most half-hearted joke of the cartoon after the tired ropeswing-into-the-side-of-the-building time filler. I'm not a huge fan of Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester series (I greatly prefer the characters when they appear without each other) but there are certain episodes that stand out as being vastly superior. 'Canary Row' is certainly not one of them, falling firmly into the run-of-the-mill chase category. Oscar material it ain't!

Everyone KNOWS that birds can talk . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 28 January 2016]

. . . but CANARY ROW's "Granny" doesn't do so much as a double-take when she becomes the first Earthling ever addressed by a cat in Freddie Mercury's English. While anyone in their right mind would immediately dump any other pets that they possessed at the nearest Shelter in order to clear their decks and latch onto a talking cat with the tightest stranglehold they could muster with an eye toward monetizing their find, Granny embarks upon a counter-intuitive course of feline abuse. When she's not whacking this cat prodigy with a furled umbrella, she's trying to dismember him at the wheel of a hijacked streetcar. Fortunately for Granny, the cat is nearly impervious to her assaults. He's so strong that he can toss a quarter-ton weight around like a pillow, or catch it with his face like a dog intercepting a Frisbee. This uncanny strength doesn't always work to the cat's advantage, as he's unable to detect the relatively subtle difference in weight between Granny and a canary. The only conclusion to be drawn here is that any old lady who can squeeze through the tiny door of a bird cage must be a witch. This cat, then, is her "familiar," and they're just fooling around with each other before they enjoy a hearty canary stew together.

One of the best in the series!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 4 September 2017]

Players: "Tweety", "Sylvester", "Granny".

Director: I. FRELENG. Story: Tedd Pierce. Animation: Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Emery Hawkins, Gerry Chiniquy, Ken Champin. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Carl W. Stalling. Color by Technicolor.

Copyright 3 January 1951 by The Vitaphone Corp. (In notice: 1949). A Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" cartoon. U.S. release: 7 October 1950. 7 minutes.

COMMENT: Granny and Tweety are holed up in a city hotel. Sylvester tries to reach Tweety by various stratagems including impersonating a monkey and a bellboy, climbing up a drainpipe and swinging from the window-ledge of an adjacent building.

This is clever, if somewhat familiar stuff, handled with pace and style. The iris out with Sylvester being chased by a streetcar driven by Tweety and Granny is a nice touch.

I also like the ferociously angry desk clerk transforming himself into a cooing slave when he answers Granny's phone.

Definitely recommended!

Good Short

[Michael_Elliott · 19 April 2009]

Canary Row (1950)

*** (out of 4)

Tweety Bird is safely in his cage when Sylvester decides to try and kidnap him for dinner. Sylvester seems to have the upper hand until Granny comes to the rescue. This here isn't the best Tweety/Sylvester short out there but the real star is Granny who clearly steals the film. The feisty old lady still knows how to throw a few punches and her protection of Tweety is the main reason to see this film. Believe it or not this series was never one of my favorites but this one here is an enjoyable seven-minutes with some nice laughs and good action.