King Tweety
review by Bobby Blakey
“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”
The Looney Tunes feature so many iconic characters, but it is usually Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck that get to be front and center. This time though every ones favorite Looney canary is getting the spotlight with the all-new original feature King Tweety and of course being joined by Sylvester and Granny. Can this new film bring something fresh to this classic duo or will it fail to get the royal treatment?
King Tweety follows Tweety who unexpectedly becomes next in line for the crown when the queen of an island paradise disappears. His Little Highness’ entourage includes motorbike daredevil Granny and sly Sylvester, whose allegiance is tested when he uncovers a sinister plot to eliminate Tweety for good! Feathers and fur will fly in this hilarious story that proves royalty – and loyalty – can come in many shapes and sizes.
The film features the voice talents of Eric Bauza as Sylvester/Tweety/Larry Bird/the Handsome Stewart; Flula Borg as Harold/Singing Fish/Enthusiastic Crowdgoer; Carlease Burke as Queen Honk/Candice the Crane; Jon Daly as Diego; Regi Davis as Rodrigo the Dog/Charlie Bird Parker/an Owl; Dana DeLorenzo as Izza; Riki Lindhome as Beep Beep; Candi Milo as Granny/Green Bean/Lady Bird Johnson; Maya Lynne Robinson as Officer Gnutz/Dancer; Niccole Thurman as Aoogah/Melaney Blank and Mark Whitten as Officer Siedes/John Foray.
I have to say that I am not a big fan of the Looney Tunes in general and these two characters particularly. That being said I was still interested in seeing how this new film and modern designs worked. As a visual animated feature I think it was excellent with a bright and vibrant visual treat to the senses and some fun designs. They for sure took the film in directions I
would have never thought for these two and it worked to make it a lot of fun.
At the same time it still felt off with the usual game they play against each of cat vs bird essentially erased for this story. Of course for this version to work it needed to do that, but for someone that grew up on them it instantly felt like this was not the same characters. It was made further off with Sylvester’s iconic voice being changed a bit. I am sure there was some sort of sensitive nature of his usual speech impediment went in to make it less pronounced, but that is part of what makes Sylvester. It honestly felt like a different character and for me then made it not really be the duo fans have loved for so long.
In the end the film does entertain and will no doubt work for the young kids and some adults will have fun with it too I am sure. There is a great throw away conversation involving the song Jesse’s Girl that is hilarious and made it worth seeing for that alone. While not for me and no doubt not intended to be, it is a good flick for the kids to have some fun with and might end up on rotation in some homes.
In addition to the film this release also includes 3 bonus episodes. Grab your copy of King Tweety when it hits digital and DVD on June 14th from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.