Sylvester

Sylvester
	; Thufferin' thuccotash! That gosthdang canary must've gone thomewhere in thith site.
Species	Cat (Tuxedo)
Gender	Male
Member of	Tune Squad
Affiliation	Granny; Tweety; Hector; Speedy Gonzales; Hippety Hopper; Porky Pig; Furrball
Mother	Mrs. Pussycat in The Looney Tunes Show
Sibling(s)	One brother, Alan, in The Looney Tunes Show
Other relative(s)	One descendant, Sylth Vester, in Loonatics Unleashed
Marital status	Single
Son(s)	Sylvester Jr.
First appearance	MM: Life with Feathers (1945)
Played by	Mel Blanc (1945–1989); Bill Farmer (1987-1996); Jeff Bergman (since 1990); Bob Bergen (since 1990); Joe Alaskey (1990–2011); Greg Burson (1993–1997); Terry Klassen (2002–2005); Jeff Bennett (2003-2006); Eric Bauza (2018-2020)
	; Robert McKimson's Sylvester
	File:S&TM Sylvester.png; The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
	; Space Jam
	; Baby Looney Tunes
	File:Baby S2 Sylvester.png; Baby Looney Tunes
	File:BIA Sylvester.png; Looney Tunes: Back in Action
	; The Looney Tunes Show
	File:NLT Sylvester.png; New Looney Tunes
	; Looney Tunes Cartoons
	File:ANL Sylvester.png; Space Jam: A New Legacy
	File:BBB Sylvester.png; Bugs Bunny Builders

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

Looney Tunes
Merrie Melodies

Early appearances

With Tweety

With Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonzales
Gonzales' Tamales
Here Today, Gone Tamale
West of the Pesos
Cannery Woe
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
Mexican Boarders
Mexican Cat Dance
Chili Weather
A Message to Gracias
Nuts and Volts
Road to Andalay
Cats and Bruises
The Wild Chase
It's Nice to Have A Mouse Around The House

With Hippety Hopper and Sylvester Jr.

Hop, Look and Listen
Hippety Hopper
Pop 'im Pop!
Who's Kitten Who?
Hoppy-Go--Lucky
Cats A-Weigh!
Bell Hoppy
Lighthouse Mouse
Too Hop to Handle
The Slap-Hoppy Mouse
Mouse-Taken Identity
Cat's Paw (Sylvester Jr. only)
Goldimouse and the Three Cats (Sylvester Jr. only)
Hoppy Daze
Birds of a Father (Sylvester Jr. only)
Fish and Slips (Sylvester Jr. only)
Claws in the Lease (Sylvester Jr. only)
Freudy Cat

Other appearances

Crowing Pains (with Foghorn Leghorn, Barnyard Dawg and Henry Hawk)
Doggone Cats
Catch as Cats Can
Back Alley Oproar (with Elmer Fudd)
Kit for Cat (with Elmer Fudd)
Scaredy Cat (with Porky Pig)
Mouse Mazurka
The Scarlet Pumpernickel (with Daffy Duck and others)
Stooge for a Mouse (with Hector)
Canned Feud
A Mouse Divided
Little Red Rodent Hood
Tree for Two
Dr. Jerkyl's Hide
Claws for Alarm (with Porky Pig)
By Word of Mouse
Jumpin' Jupiter (with Porky Pig)
A Kiddie's Kitty
Heir-Conditioned (with Elmer Fudd)
Pappy's Puppy
The Unexpected Pest
Yankee Dood It (with Elmer Fudd)
Mouse and Garden
D' Fightin' Ones
Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (with Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and others)
The Yolk's On You (with Daffy Duck and Foghorn Leghorn)
Father of the Bird

Comics

Video games

Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports

Theme parks

Biography

Debut series

The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries

We're All a Little Looney

Come on and Slam! and Welcome to the Jam!

Sylvester Sells Out

Sylvester Gets Modern

Going Down The Rabbit Hole

It's Hard Hat Time

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, Museum Scream, and Fully Vetted.

In popular culture

WARNING: The following section contains content that may be seen as mature or offensive to some readers.  Reader discretion is advised.

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 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 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.

Family Guy

Main article: Family Guy

"Padre de Famillia:" 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.

"I got you now, mousthe!"

References

↑ Blanc, Mel; Bashe, Philip (1989). That's Not All, Folks!. New York, NY: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51244-3.

[1] Blanc, Mel; Bashe, Philip (1989). That's Not All, Folks!. New York, NY: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51244-3.

[1]