View source for The Jet Cage

{{Short description|1962 film by Friz Freleng}}
{{Infobox film
| image=
| caption =
| director = [[Friz Freleng]]
| writer = Friz Freleng<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |title=I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety |date=1991 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-1644-9 |page=150}}</ref>
| animator = [[Gerry Chiniquy]]<br>Art Leonardi<br>[[Virgil Ross]]<br>[[Lee Halpern]]<br>[[Bob Matz]]
| background_artist = Tom O'Loughlin
| layout_artist =[[Hawley Pratt]]
| editing = [[Treg Brown]]
| starring = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[June Foray]]
| music = [[Milt Franklyn]]<br>[[William Lava]] (uncredited)
| producer = 
| studio = [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]]
| distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]<br>[[The Vitaphone Corporation]]
| released = {{Film date|1962|09|22}}
| color_process = [[Technicolor]]
| runtime = 6 minutes
| language = English
}}

'''''The Jet Cage''''' is a 1962 [[Warner Bros.]] ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon directed by [[Friz Freleng]].<ref name=Beck>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=339}}</ref> The short was released on September 22, 1962, and stars [[Tweety]] and [[Sylvester the Cat|Sylvester]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/151/mode/2up |pages=151–152}}</ref>

Voice actors are [[Mel Blanc]] (doing the voices of [[Sylvester the Cat|Sylvester]], [[Tweety]] and Blackbird) and [[June Foray]] (doing the voice for [[Granny (Looney Tunes)|Granny]]).

The animation was by [[Gerry Chiniquy]], Lee Halpern, Art Leonardi, Bob Matz and Virgil Ross. The layouts were designed by [[Hawley Pratt]] and the backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin. The original music was composed by [[Milt Franklyn]], who died during production on April 24,<ref>[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/warner-club-news-1962-part-1/ Warner Club News (1962) – Part 1]</ref> and an uncredited [[William Lava]] who completed Franklyn's unfinished score. It was the last Tweety short directed by Freleng (Tweety's final Golden Age short, ''[[Hawaiian Aye Aye]]'', was directed by [[Gerry Chiniquy]]).

==Plot==
Tweety sits in his house, a [[bird cage]], looking at the birds through the window. Tweety yearns dearly to fly freely like other birds, but not allowed to do so by [[Granny (Looney Tunes)|Granny]]. That is considering his safety, as Sylvester is always lurking around waiting for a chance to nab him to eat him.

Granny reads a newspaper advertisement by Jet Age Technology, who has invented a $12.95 Flying Bird-Cage, which would allow birds to fly safely. Granny, who understands Tweety's longing for freedom, decides to buy the cage and presents it to Tweety. This enables Tweety to fly around outdoors without leaving the security of his cage.

Sylvester is at first taken aback at the sight of Tweety flying safely, piloting the jet-powered cage like an [[airplane]]. Two crows also watch in awe ("And all this time, I've been doing it the hard way," one crow remarks). Sylvester resolves to ground Tweety's cage and get his meal; his eyes rolling around to follow his every move.

Each of the following attempts are in vain:
* An attempt to snare the cage with a butterfly catcher's net. The jet-powered cage is strong enough to drag the [[butterfly net]], along with the cat hanging to it—until he crashes into a light pole.
* After Tweety comes in for flying instructions ("I forgot what to do in case of fog!"), Sylvester sneaks inside the cage. Tweety eventually senses he's in trouble and releases the "bombs" into a river while in mid-air, just before Sylvester is about to strike.
* Sylvester then builds a "NIKE rocket" designed to intercept the flying object of interest. The rocket simply flies back at the cat, who ducks into a nearby barrel, but the rocket flies into the barrel just before Sylvester hammers the lid shut from inside. Upon realizing the rocket is in the barrel as well, a panicked Sylvester manages to remove the nails, but the second he attempts to step out of the barrel, the rocket explodes.
* A horseshoe-shaped [[magnet]] tied to a fishing rod. While the cage momentarily struggles against the magnet's pull (and the puddy tries to reel in his meal), Tweety manages to get the cage to break free. Sylvester is dragged into downtown traffic and crashes into a bus.
* Sylvester then uses a pair of [[ping-pong]] paddles as makeshift wings to fly beside Tweety. Sylvester gloats, mocking the bird for thinking he outsmarted him, but Tweety points out that Sylvester has his hands full. The cat tosses the paddles aside and shoots back, "Well now I haven't!" ... just before he realizes he's in for a big fall.

At the end, Sylvester—limping on crutches and heavily bandaged—decides to join the [[U.S. Air Force]], vowing to earn his wings and get Tweety once and for all (Sylvester was reading the sign: "Earn your wings at the U.S.A.F. Hmm that’s what I’ll do. And when I do, watch out, bird!”).<ref>Ironically Sylvester is the emblem of two actual Air Force Squadrons: the [[45th Reconnaissance Squadron]] and the [[151st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron]].</ref>

Throughout the cartoon, the sound effects for the jet cage's engines are more appropriate to a propeller-driven aircraft, and so is the terminology Tweety uses when he reads aloud from the pilot's manual.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0056118}}
* [http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/1962.html Davemackey.com]

{{Tweety in animation}}
{{Sylvester the Cat in animation}}
{{Granny (Looney Tunes) in animation}}
{{Friz Freleng}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jet Cage, The}}
[[Category:1962 comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s Warner Bros. animated short films]]
[[Category:American aviation films]]
[[Category:Looney Tunes shorts]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Sylvester the Cat films]]
[[Category:Tweety films]]
[[Category:Animated films about birds]]
[[Category:Animated films about aviation]]
[[Category:Short films directed by Friz Freleng]]
[[Category:Films scored by Milt Franklyn]]
[[Category:Films scored by William Lava]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films]]
[[Category:American animated short films]]
[[Category:Granny (Looney Tunes) films]]
[[Category:English-language short films]]
[[Category:1962 animated short films]]