Inbetweener
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 9:24 AM
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Why is Tweety's gender confused?
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Tweety is obviously a boy and he was voiced by a male voice artist, the uber-talented Mel Blanc.
Did this gender-confusion have something to do with Tweety's childlike demeanor?
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Everything the Light Touches Is Our Kingdom.
ROAR!, Confound it, Kiddies, Don't miss my Cartoon Show! - King Leonardo.
(This post was edited by zavkram on Jan 3, 2012, 9:22 AM)
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Apprentice
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 10:39 AM
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It may be that he is marketed as such a feminine character. Example- http://cartoonpictures.tk/wp-content/uploads/pictures/tweety-bird-230.jpg
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What you see depends on what you're looking for.
(This post was edited by zavkram on Jan 3, 2012, 9:22 AM)
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Inbetweener
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 11:37 AM
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From that picture you showed me, I see that all of this confusion is due mainly to marketing.
If this is due to modern marketing, than the guys at the marketing dept. at Warner Bros really need to have their heads examined.
The executives seem to be totally shameless in the way that they market things.
Maybe they just adhere to the stereotype that little girls love cute and cuddly things, and the belief that maybe they find Tweety to be a cute character like those Care Bears...
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Everything the Light Touches Is Our Kingdom.
ROAR!, Confound it, Kiddies, Don't miss my Cartoon Show! - King Leonardo.
(This post was edited by zavkram on Jan 3, 2012, 9:28 AM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 1:30 PM
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Confusion over Tweety's gender started long before that merchandising campaign. Friz Freelng once recounted that people would frequently ask him what sex Tweety is, to which he would typically reply, "It really doesn't matter, but actually Tweety's a guy."
This has been such a long and ongoing syndrome that it was even made light of on an episode of The Looney Tunes Show: at the end of the episode "Eligible Bachelors", Sylvester is shocked to learn (via flashbacks within this episode) that Tweety served in WW2. When Tweety refuses to divulge his true age, Sylvester asks, "Can you at least tell me if you're a boy or a girl??" Tweety then whispers (inaudibly to the audience) into Sylvester's ear, the cat's eyes widen and then he tuts, "Well, I was wrong."
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An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool.
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 5:38 PM
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I always thought it was due to the marketing of Tweety towards girls. Tweety is adorable--so placing him on girls' t-shirts seems like a no-brainer. The only problem is that due to this perhaps the marketers are a bit confused. One time, Tweety was given a bit of a makeover where his beak was a dark red, and he had a pink flower on his head.
I've also once seen a Tweety shirt that said "blonde" on it. 
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 8:29 PM
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On a semi-related note, there was apparently also some speculation that Jerry (of Tom & Jerry) fame might be a female, supposedly sparked by a single moment in the short Baby Puss where Jerry acts like a woman being peeked at in the shower.
But let me ask you all this: would the Earth really spin off its' axis if WB decided to make Tweety a girl? I don't think so. If someone at Warner held a press conference tomorrow and declared, "from now on, Tweety is female", would the universe implode upon itself? hardly. Yes, it would be weird for a while, and a few lines and references here and there in the shorts might have to be altered, but really, imagining Tweety as a girl wouldn't really be that much of a stretch.
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An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool.
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Jan 2, 2012, 9:21 PM
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I also thought that the Tweety confusion was due to marketing, and also the cutesy childish demeanor he has.
Although it's true that his gender doesn't really matter, he was originally a boy. Why change it? (I don't consider marketing a good reason)
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Directing Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Jan 3, 2012, 9:38 AM
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Just FYI, I edited your initial post to remove any references to a former member of the GAC Forums. There is really no need to bring that particular topic up over here.
I also edited your posts for the sake of clarity; because they contained a lot of long and confusing sentences. I've always found that "less is more"... please keep your statements brief and to the point; it makes for easier reading by all.
Getting back to your original question; you do raise an interesting one... However, I agree with those who feel that the current marketing of Tweety is not a major factor in the confusion of his gender. Rather, his gender appears to have been a source of confusion since the character made his debut.
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"I'd like to cover you with furs and automobiles!"
(This post was edited by zavkram on Jan 3, 2012, 9:39 AM)
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Jan 3, 2012, 10:14 AM
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Similar confusion applies to Pussyfoot, the kitten in "Feed the Kitty" etc. Unlike Tweety, who is cute-masking-malicious, Pussyfoot is totally cute, and his childish innocence is even more 'feminine'.
I think the point is that male cartoonists created male characters by default, because they were extensions of themselves. Female characters in cartoons were not default characters but created to fill gender-specific roles, ie. girlfriend, wife, mother etc. (Even Betty Boop started off as Bimbo's girlfriend.) So while it didn't matter what sex they were, Tweety and Pussyfoot were both conceived of as boys because their creators were boys - if they had made them female they would have turned them into female caricatures, as opposed to personality caricatures.
Nowadays there is pressure to correct this imbalance - especially from the marketing department - to ensure that there are characters for girls to identify with.
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Back by popular demand -
"La-la-La-la.. I can't hear you!"
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Jan 3, 2012, 10:23 AM
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Similar confusion applies to Pussyfoot, the kitten in "Feed the Kitty" etc. Unlike Tweety, who is cute-masking-malicious, Pussyfoot is totally cute, and his childish innocence is even more 'feminine'. Also, like Tweety, Pussyfoot is marketed towards girls. I own a Pussyfoot t-shirt that says "Good Kitty" with a cute picture of Pussyfoot and the back reads "Gone Bad" with an angry version of him. In fact, I've seen several Pussyfoot t-shirts in my life at stores--all dedicated towards girls because "Hey, it's an adorable kitten"
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Inbetweener
Posted:
Jan 3, 2012, 10:26 AM
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Hmmm, okay, well thanks a million for editing a few things out that may prove harmful and well as keeping statements to the point and less is more, and easy reading, and therefore even more replies!
So now i know why there are always so many slow replies in my posts, sometimes.
i often found that "less is more" TOO!
Thanks a million for helping me out, would you like to be friends, i'm a friendly lion, by the way  .
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Everything the Light Touches Is Our Kingdom.
ROAR!, Confound it, Kiddies, Don't miss my Cartoon Show! - King Leonardo.
(This post was edited by Lion55 on Jan 3, 2012, 10:26 AM)
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Supervising Animator
Posted:
Jan 3, 2012, 8:10 PM
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Tweety's a guy!
He wears a Blue Hat sometimes that looks like a sailor's hat.
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Thank God for kids who love obscure things-Lee Hazelwood (1929-2007)
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Directing Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Jan 4, 2012, 2:45 AM
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He wore the hat in the first few cartoons in the series. I think the last time he wore it was in "Bad "Ol Putty Tat".
BTW, Peter, I love your seasonal avatar!
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"I'd like to cover you with furs and automobiles!"
(This post was edited by zavkram on Jan 4, 2012, 2:46 AM)
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Jan 4, 2012, 8:34 AM
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Tweety wore the hat in two shorts to be exact. The first was "I Taw a Putty Tat" the second--and last was indeed "Bad Ol Putty Tat"
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Jan 4, 2012, 2:50 PM
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In addition to wearing the sailor hat, in Bad Ol' Putty Tat, Sylvester painted his finger to look like a female bird and Tweety went gaga over her. Then quickly found out it was a scam.
(This post was edited by cartoonfan4ever on Jan 4, 2012, 2:50 PM)
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Apprentice
Posted:
Jan 7, 2012, 3:00 PM
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Ha, I personally never thought Tweety was a girl. He never actually struck me as one. When I learnt that some people thought he was, I toyed with the possibility but decided he was very definitely a boy.
~There were a few others who's gender I confused at first, but I never did that with Tweety.
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~Provoker of ill-prone bellies since 1998
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Member
Posted:
Jan 31, 2012, 6:44 PM
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Their own extensions. The role of women in comics there is no default characters, but to create to fill the gender-specific roles.
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Party Dresses
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