Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., also known as Sylvester the Cat, or simply Sylvester, is an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat and one of the main characters of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical shorts. He often appears as an antagonist to Tweety Bird or Speedy Gonzales, and usually acts as one of the pets of Granny, alongside Tweety. His voice was originated by Mel Blanc.
Outside of his antagonist role, Sylvester also appeared with his son Sylvester Jr. and Hippety Hopper in shorts directed by Robert McKimson, and was briefly a pet to Porky Pig in a few by Chuck Jones.
Character description
Appearances
TV series
Movies
Shorts
- Early appearances
- With Tweety
- With Speedy Gonzales
- With Hippety Hopper and Sylvester Jr.
- Other appearances
Comics
Video games
Theme parks
Biography
Original Cartoons
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Early Years
Sylvester made his debut in the 1945 Merrie Melodies short, Life with Feathers, as a clueless cat for a lovebird who wants to get eaten. While he refuses to eat him out of suspicion, the bird invents multiple schemes to get through his goal, yet the cat's persistence prevails as he keeps deflecting back on his attempts. Their conflict escalates until Sylvester is convinced on eating him, but the lovebird's fate changes when he receives news from his wife. Once the lovebird's wife changes her mind about staying, he calls on Sylvester on eating him again.
Sylvester wasn't paired with Tweety until the 1947 short Tweetie Pie. In this cartoon, Sylvester (referred here as Thomas) discovers the little canary for the first time and is motivated on consuming him, but is scolded by his unseen owner when she adopts Tweety. Despite her warning, Thomas keeps on stalking Tweety, only to backfire from the bird's wits, which culminates in the cat trying to saw a hole at the ceiling around his cage. Thomas is then severely punished after he assumes that his owner had heard the racket caused between him and Tweety, only to be revealed that he was punished by Tweety, who continuously whacks him with a shovel and calls a "bad ol' puddy tat!"
Sylvester also appeared alongside Porky Pig in the 1946 cartoon Kitty Cornered, where he is depicted as a leading member of four cats, who plan on returning to their home after getting kicked out by Porky.
The Bad Ol' Puddy Tat
In the Sylvester and Tweety shorts directed by Friz Freleng, Sylvester is usually portrayed as a foolish, yet sympathetic figure who simply wishes to catch his prey. He falls prey to Tweety's quick strategies, but his persistence keeps him to think of other ways to get him. His schemes are generally flawed, and tend to backfire when it seems like they have an advantage. In some shorts, he is either portrayed as an unaffiliated alley cat or a domesticated house pet, usually as a pet of Granny. Apart from Tweety, Sylvester also has multiple run-ins with Hector, a bulldog who played a minor role in many Tweety shorts, usually as the former's arch-enemy.
El Gringo Pussygato
In cartoons starring Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester is similarly portrayed as a bumbling foil who tries his best to outsmart the fastest mouse in all of Mexico. He mostly acts as a bodyguard that attempts to safeguard food (primarily cheese) from starving mice, who call help on Speedy to relieve their hunger. As with his chases with Tweety, Sylvester is similarly outwitted and humiliated by Speedy, with the key difference being that Speedy can physically outrun him in almost every turn. He is mockingly called "el gringo pussygato" among similar titles by Speedy and the other mice.
We're All a Little Looney
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The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
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Come on and Slam! and Welcome to the Jam!
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Sylvester Gets Modern
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Going Down The Rabbit Hole
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Back to Basics
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It's Hard Hat Time
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Sylvester Sells Out
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Development
Gallery
- Main article: Sylvester/Gallery
Toys and merchandise
Behind the scenes
- Sylvester's name is a play on Felis silvestris, the scientific name of the European wildcat.
- "Sufferin' succotash!" is said to have originated from the minced oath "Suffering Savior," and makes reference to succotash; a vegetable dish made primarily of sweet corn and beans.
- Mel Blanc stated that Sylvester was the easiest character to voice, because "[he's] just my normal speaking voice with a spray at the end".[1]
- Sylvester has died at least more times than any other characters in the franchise.
- He was killed in the shorts Peck Up Your Troubles, I Taw a Putty Tat, Back Alley Oproar, Mouse Mazurka, Bad Ol' Putty Tat, Ain't She Tweet, Satan's Waitin', Muzzle Tough, Sandy Claws, Tweety's Circus, Too Hop To Handle, Tree Cornered Tweety, Tweet and Lovely, Trick or Tweet, The Wild Chase, and Museum Scream.
In popular culture
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- A stuffed doll of Sylvester makes an appearance at the department store in the 1984 film Gremlins.
- In a 1985 episode of the TV game show Press Your Luck, host Peter Tomarken provided a question on which cartoon character said, "sufferin' succotash," to which all three contestants correctly answered Sylvester. When Tomarken mistakenly credits the phrase to Daffy Duck, he receives a telephone call from Mel Blanc as Sylvester, who tells him, "Sufferin' succotash, everybody knows that!"
- In the 1988 movie Short Circuit 2, Johnny Five gets unwanted attention from a cat he refers to as Felix, Sylvester, and Garfield.
- In the Full House episodes "Middle Age Crazy," "Fogged In," "Working Mothers, "Pal Joey," "El Problema Grande de D.J.," "Blast from the Past," "Nerd for a Day," "Joey & Stacy and... Oh, Yeah, Jesse," "Those Better Not Be the Days," "The I.Q. Man," "Terror in Tanner Town," "Happy New Year:" a 1986 Looney Tunes poster appears in Joey's bedroom from the second season onwards, featuring Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Sylvester, Road Runner, and Tweety.
- In The Simpsons episode "Bart the Murderer," Sufferin' Succotash, named after Sylvester's catchphrase, is one of the racehorses that Fat Tony bets against.
- In the 1993 film Hot Shots! Part Deux, Saddam Hussein says "Sufferin' succotash!" in Sylvester's lisp when he sees President "Tug" Benson. However, when Benson accidentally swings towards a fireplace, Hussein shouts "Yes!" in the same lisp before it is revealed that Benson's skin is made out of asbestos.
- In the 1993 film Wayne's World 2, when Kim seduces Garth by kissing his hand, he starts sputtering random lines from fictional characters, such as Tweety's "I thought I saw I puddy cat."
- In the Beast Wars: Transformers episode "Endgame Part 2: When Legends Fall," Thurst mockingly calls Cheetor a "puddytat," much like how Tweety calls Sylvester by that name.
- In the 2003 film Rugrats Go Wild, Spike the dog (who can be heard through Eliza's gift) makes fun of Siri the clouded leopard by calling her a pussy cat, and then mocks her even more by saying, "You're a very scary putty tat" in the same manner as Tweety would say to Sylvester.
- In the Robot Chicken skit "Illegal Alien Problems" of the episode "Werewolves vs. Unicorns," while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger investigates the issues of illegal immigration in California, he presents Sylvester as a border guard, who works at the US-Mexico border and explains how its security works. When Speedy Gonzales runs through a highly guarded fence, Sylvester responds in anger by saying, "Son of a bitch!"
- In the The Big Bang Theory episode "The Desperation Emanation," Looney Tunes #189 (featuring Sylvester and Tweety on the cover) is behind Stuart when he talks to the gang.
- In a 2015 episode of WWE Smackdown, the highlight of Roman Reigns's promo is where he infamously calls out Seth Rollins for being a "sniveling little, suck-up sellout full of sufferin' succotash."[2]
- In the Fresh Off the Boat episode "Workin' the 'Ween," Louis dresses himself and Maria as Sylvester and Tweety, respectively, hoping to distract her enough that she doesn't remember she wants her pacifier. He says to her, "I tawt I saw a puddy tat."
- In the 2023 film The Flash, the alternate 2013 version of Barry Allen has a Looney Tunes background screen on his computer, which includes Sylvester, Tweety, Bugs, Daffy, Road Runner, and Wile E.
- In the Transformers: Earthspark episode "House Rules," a farmer yells "Sufferin' succotash!" upon seeing that his corn field was destroyed by Thrash and Swindle.
- In the Velma episode "Private Velmjamin," Fred wants to return a nativity miniature model with the Looney Tunes to Father O'Rourke, after Fred briefly became Catholic. Elmer Fudd is baby Jesus, Sylvester is Joseph, Granny is Mary, and Daffy, Porky, and Bugs as the three wise men.
- In the Teen Titans Go! episode "The Great Azarathian Bake-Off," when Mar watches a dog chase Cat, she comments, "I thought I saw I puddy cat," with her Grr responding, "You did. You did see a puddy cat."
Family Guy
- Main article: Family Guy
- "Padre de Familia:" Peter makes a new American character called Rapid Dave, after finding out that Speedy Gonzales is an immigrant and bad influence. Sylvester appears in the cutaway and is voiced by Jeff Bergman.
- "Stewie is Enciente:" In the Looney Tunes edition of Top Chef, the judges criticize Elmer's carrot stew because there was a live rabbit in it. One of the judges praises Sylvester's "sufferin' succotash," however, to which he thanks in his signature lisp. Sylvester is again voiced by Jeff Bergman.
Notes
References
