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Sylvester James Pussycat, Sr. is a tuxedo cat who appears in several Looney Tunes cartoons, often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. When depicted with an owner he is mainly with Granny, but very early he was with Porky Pig. Sylvester appeared in 103 golden age shorts, making him the fourth most frequent character, after Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck.

Background[]

Development[]

Before Sylvester's appearance in the cartoons, Blanc voiced a character named Sylvester on The Judy Canova Show using the voice that would eventually become associated with the cat.

Personality and Pride[]

Life with Feathers-Sylvester

Sylvester's first appearance in Life with Feathers (1945)

Sylvester shows much pride and plenty of envy, and he also never gives up. Despite his pride and persistence, Sylvester was definitely on the "loser" side of the Looney Tunes winner/loser hierarchy. His character is that of Wile E. Coyote, except that ironically Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote as well as Sylvester/Tweety are parodies of a predatory cat and mouse pairing, foreshadowing his future pairing with Speedy Gonzales.

In The Wild Chase, Sylvester is paired with Wile E. Coyote while they both try to catch Speedy Gonzales and Road Runner. As usual they both fail. He shows a different character when paired with Porky Pig in explorations of spooky places, in which he doesn't speak, as a scaredy cat. (In these cartoons, he basically plays the terrified Costello to Porky's oblivious Abbott.)

Sylvester's most developed role is as a hapless mouse-catching instructor to his dubious son, Sylvester Junior, in which the "mouse" is a powerful baby kangaroo named "Hippety Hopper". His alternately confident and bewildered episodes bring his son to shame, while Sylvester himself is reduced to nervous breakdowns. He is often referred to as a putty tat by Tweety and Senor Gringo Pussygato by Speedy Gonzales. His famous catchphrase is "Sufferin' Succotash" which is said to be a minced saying for "Suffering Misses" (Daffy also says it from time to time).

Sylvester's trademark is his sloppy, yet stridulating lisp. In his autobiography, That's Not All Folks!, voice actor Mel Blanc stated that Sylvester's voice is based on that of Daffy Duck, plus the even more slobbery lisp it gets and minus the post-production speed-up that was done with Daffy's. Daffy's lisp, as well as Sylvester's, were based on the lisp of producer Leon Schlesinger. However, Blanc made no such claim. He said that Daffy's lisp was based on him having a long beak, and that he borrowed the voice for Sylvester.  He also pointed out that, minus the lisp, Sylvester's voice was fairly close to his own (a claim that his son Noel Blanc has confirmed). In addition, director Bob Clampett, in a 1970 Funnyworld interview, agreed with Blanc's account concerning Schlesinger.

To emphasize the lisp, as with Daffy's catchphrase "You're desthpicable", Sylvester's trademark exclamation is "Sufferin' succotash!", which is said to be a minced oath of "Suffering Savior". (Daffy also says "Sufferin' succotash!" from time to time.)

Friz Freleng-directed episodes[]

Sylvester first appeared (in his present form) in the 1945 short Life with Feathers, which was directed by Friz Freleng. Although this was his first official appearance, there was a claim that in Notes to You, there was a prototypical version of him.

Sylvester's first official appearance with Tweety was in the 1947 short Tweetie Pie where he tries to eat Tweety but gets punished. In the film-shorts, he usually gets clobbered by Granny or Hector the Bulldog whenever he tries to eat Tweety. Other than Tweety, he also chases Speedy Gonzales, but Speedy would cause a pain for him. He also appears with Elmer J. Fudd in some cartoons. The pair's cartoons lasted from 1947 to 1954, shortly before the closure of the Warner Bros. studio. Sylvester and Tweety became one of the most well-known pairings in Looney Tunes, next to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Some of their episodes have won or were nominated for Academy Awards.

Physical Appearance[]

Voice Actors[]

Appearances[]

Warner Bros. Cartoons[]

Filmography[]

WARNER BROS. WIKI LOGO
Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki has a listing of the appearances by Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr..

Quotes[]

  • "Sufferin' succotash. What a perfect time for me to go on a diet.
  • "I need to take 'birds' off of my diet litht; that one went right through me." ~ A Bird In A Guilty Cage
  • Junior: "Did you give him his jutht desserts, Father?" Sylvester: "No, he doesn't like desserts." ~ Cats A-Weigh
  • Tweety: "I wonder where that puddy tat went to?" Sylvester [swinging on wooden swing, flattened by rock-crusher]: "Does thith anthwer your question?"  
  • "Eep."  
  • "Give me about a 20-second lead, then follow me." [catches Tweety, then spends 15 seconds unsuccessfully attempting to eat him before getting attacked] "Oh, stupid mercenary pussycats!" ~ Tweety's High Flying Adventure  
  • "Help! Pussycat overboard!" ~ Tweety's High Flying Adventure

Gallery[]

WARNER BROS. WIKI LOGO
Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr..

Trivia[]

  • Sylvester's name is a pun on silvestris, the scientific name for the wild cat, the ancestor of domestic cats, as well as a rare name for kids (including actor Sylvester Stallone).
  • In his early appearances he was unnamed but until then his original name was Thomas in Tweetie Pie, most likely as a reference to Tom and Jerry, with Tom's full name being Thomas.
  • Sylvester has "died" the most of any Looney Tunes characters, having "died" in I Taw a Putty Tat, Back Alley Oproar, Peck Up Your Troubles, Satan's Waitin', Mouse Mazurka, Tweety's Circus, Trick or Tweet, and Tweet and Lovely.
  • Prior to Sylvester's appearance in the cartoons, Blanc voiced a character of the same name on The Judy Canova Show using the voice that would eventually become associated with the cat.
  • Sylvester once had a black nose, but his nose has since always been red like a Conrad's.
  • Sylvester could be heard in an episode of the game show Press Your Luck. Host Peter Tomarken had earlier incorrectly credited his catchphrase "Suffering Succotash!" to Daffy Duck. Even though all three contestants had correctly answered "Sylvester", they were ruled incorrect. In a segment produced later and edited into the broadcast, Sylvester phoned Tomarken and told him, "Daffy Duck steals from me all the time." This was a joke because Daffy usually says it.
  • In The Looney Tunes Show, Sylvester's appearance has changed in the series. His body is more shorter and slender and his canine teeth are more sharp and prominent making him look more like a housecat.
  • Sylvester is jealous of Tweety because Granny gives him more attention.
  • Sylvester was originally called Thomas (Like Tom and Jerry). After "Tweety Pie" his name was changed to Sylvester.

In Popular Culture[]

  • In the Adventure Time episode "Ignition Point," in the scene where Jake and Finn are face-to-face with the cook, Jake says, "Sufferin' succotash," Sylvester's famous line.
  • In Drawn Together, Sylvester has Appeared in "Clum Babies" as one of the clients whom were seeking for a cure, depicted in a wheel chair.
  • In Family Guy, in Padre de Familia, he appeared Chasing Peter Griffin's made character, Rapid Dave, who was an equivalent to Speedy Gonzales.

External links[]

See also[]



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Media
Franchises: Show-logo-looneyTunesMerrie Melodies logo

Shorts:
Television: The Bugs Bunny ShowThe Porky Pig ShowThe Road Runner ShowThe Merrie Melodies ShowSylvester and TweetyThe Daffy Duck ShowThe Daffy/Speedy ShowLooney Tunes on NickelodeonMerrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and FriendsThat's Warner Bros.!Bugs N' Daffy
Feature Films: The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner MovieThe Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny MovieBugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit TalesDaffy Duck's Fantastic IslandDaffy Duck's QuackbustersSpace JamThe Looney Tunes Hall of FameLooney Tunes: Back in Action
Specials: Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie GhouliesCarnival of the AnimalsBugs Bunny's Easter FunniesBugs Bunny in SpaceBugs Bunny's Howl-o-Ween SpecialA Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's CourtBugs Bunny's ValentineBugs Bunny's Looney Christmas TalesHow Bugs Bunny Won the WestThe Bugs Bunny Mother's Day SpecialBugs Bunny's Thanksgiving DietDaffy Duck's Easter SpecialBugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All OverThe Bugs Bunny Mystery SpecialDaffy Duck's Thanks-For-Giving SpecialBugs Bunny: All American HeroBugs Bunny's Mad World of TelevisionAn Ounce of PreventionBugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video StarsBugs Bunny's Wild World of SportsHappy Birthday Bugs! 50 Looney YearsBugs Bunny's Overtures to DisasterBugs Bunny's Creature FeaturesBugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes

Characters
Main characters: Barnyard DawgBeaky BuzzardBugs BunnyCecil TurtleCharlie DogClaude CatDaffy DuckElmer FuddFoghorn LeghornGossamerGrannyHector the BulldogHenery HawkHippety HopperHubie and BertieLola BunnyMac and ToshMarc Anthony and PussyfootMarvin the MartianMichigan J. FrogMiss PrissyPenelope PussycatPepé Le PewPete PumaPorky PigRalph WolfRoad RunnerSam SheepdogSpeedy GonzalesSylvesterSylvester Jr.TazThe CrusherTweety BirdWile E. CoyoteWitch HazelYosemite Sam

Minor characters: Blacque Jacque ShellacqueBoskoThe CrusherGiovanni JonesYoyo DodoTasmanian She-DevilMelissa DuckHugo the Abominable SnowmanSpike and ChesterNasty CanastaThe GremlinPrivate SnafuPetunia PigPlayboy PenguinShropshire SlasherCount BloodcountMama BuzzardColonel ShuffleEgghead Jr.Owl JolsonToro the BullRocky and MugsyMinah BirdInkiBeansLittle KittyHam And ExOliver OwlPiggyGabby GoatBuddyHoneySlowpoke RodriguezThe Three BearsFoxyK-9A. FleaSnifflesConstruction WorkerFrisky PuppyRalph MouseHoney BunnyRoxyThe Martin BrothersRalph PhillipsClyde BunnyFauntleroy FlipDr. I.Q. HiGruesome GorillaSloppy MoeHatta MariBusinessmanThe WeaselWiloughbyThe Two Curious PuppiesCool CatBabbit and CatstelloInstant MartiansBobo the ElephantColonel RimfireSmokey The GenieJose and ManuelMerlin the Magic Mouse and Second BananaConrad the CatAngus MacRoryBanty RoosterThree Little PigsTom TurkeyGoopy GeerNelly the GiraffeAla BahmaDr. LorreCottontail SmithBunny and ClaudeClaude HopperThe Hep CatThe Drunk StorkThe CatSinging CatSouthern SheriffOld Woman's CanaryOld Woman's CatBluebeardPorky's Drunken FriendsOld WomanLittle Red Riding Hood's Grandma • Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Walking Hood/Little Red Riding Rabbit/Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears) • Goldilocks (The Bear's Tale/Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears) • The CrowKing ArthurKing Arthur's Knights

Studios
Warner Bros. CartoonsDePatie-Freleng EnterprisesFormat FilmsChuck Jones EnterprisesReel FX
People
Dave BarryWarren BatchelderMel BlancTed BonnicksenArthur Q. BryanBill ButlerBob ClampettRuss DysonMilt FranklynFriz FrelengManny GouldGeorge GrandpreKen HarrisHugh HarmanRochelle HudsonRudolf IsingUb IwerksChuck JonesCarman MaxwellNorman McCabeChuck McKimsonRobert McKimsonTom McKimsonWillian LavaLou LillyMichael MalteseTedd PierceHawley PrattTom RayVirgil RossLeon SchlesingerRob ScribnerEddie SelzerCarl StallingLarry Storch
Music/Songs
A Hot Time in the Old Town TonightWhistle and Blow Your Blues AwayI Think You're DuckyThe Merry-Go-Round Broke DownMerrily We Roll Along
Other


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Media
Space JamVideo gameSoundtrackVideoSpace Jam: A New Legacy
Characters
Space Jam: Bugs BunnyLola BunnyDaffy DuckPorky PigMichael JordanElmer FuddSylvester the CatTweety BirdTasmanian DevilMr. SwackhammerThe NerdlucksYosemite SamGrannyFoghorn LeghornMarvin the MartianStanley PodolakWile E. Coyote and the Road RunnerPepé Le PewSpeedy GonzalesSylvester JuniorPete PumaToro the BullHenery HawkPorky's Drunken FriendsHector the BulldogGruesome GorillaThe CrusherMama BuzzardWitch HazelThree BearsThe Martin BrothersSpike and ChesterSnifflesRocky and MugsyMarc Anthony and PussyfootAla BahmaAngus MacRoryBarnyard DawgBeaky BuzzardBobo the ElephantSlowpoke RodriguezThe WeaselLittle Red Riding HoodMichigan J. FrogCharlie DogCecil TurtleClaude CatGiovanni JonesGossamerOwl JolsonRalph Wolf and Sam SheepdogHippety HopperAngus MacRoryJuanita JordanJeffery JordanMarcus JordanJasmine JordanBill MurrayLarry Bird

Space Jam: A New Legacy: LeBron JamesDom JamesAl-G RhythmBatmanParzivalJokerNolan SorrentoI-R0kPeteScooby-DooShaggy RogersSupermanGandalfHarry PotterThe MaskIron GiantKing KongEmmet BrickowskiWyldstyleMax RockatanskyAustin PowersRick BlaineIlsa LundArya StarkDrogonNeoScorpionSub-ZeroMumbleOsmosis JonesDorothy GaleTotoScarecrowTin WoodmanCowardly LionSloth Fratelli GizmoFred FlintstoneBarney RubbleYogi BearGeorge JetsonLloyd GarmadonUnikittyBennyWilly WonkaFrodo BagginsMetalbeardSamwise GamgeeLegolasGimliHermione GrangerRonald WeasleyWonder WomanThe FlashAquamanCyborgGreen LanternAlfred PennyworthKaiColeJayZaneMaster WuNyaLeah EstrogenTrinityImperator FuriosaShazamRobinBatgirlFinnJakeStarfireRavenBeast BoyBlossomBubblesButtercupRick SanchezMorty SmithMikey WalshBrand WalshChunk CohenMouth DevereauxData WangAndy CarmichaelStef SteinbrennerLord VoldemortLex LuthorSauronAgent SmithItThe Wicked Witch of the WestLord BusinessStripeImmortan JoeDr. EvilDorian TyrellFreddy KruegerJason VoorheesJack TorranceMechagodzillaSarumanGollumTwo-FaceThe PenguinCatwomanThe RiddlerHarley QuinnMaster ChenThraxShang TsungSinestroBaneScarecrowPoison IvyMr. FreezeBlack AdamDeathstrokeShao KahnDarkseidGoon Squad

Music
Theme SongFly Like an Eagle • The Winner • I Believe I Can FlyHit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem) • I Found My Smile Again • For You I WillUpside Down ('Round-N-'Round) • Givin' U All That I've Got • Basketball JonesPump Up the JamI Turn to You • All of My Days • That's the Way (I Like It) • Buggin' • JumpEverybody Wants to Rule the WorldTom Sawyer • The Crowd Go Crazy • We're Not Gonna Take It • Space Jam Rap Battle • Man in the Mirror
Locations
Moron MountainLooney Tune LandThe Tune StadiumSchlesinger GymServer-verse • Harry Potter World • DC World • Mad Max World • Austin Powers World • Casablanca World • Game of Thrones World • The Wizard of Oz World • The Matrix World • Wonder Woman World • The LEGO Movie World • The Lord of the Rings World • The Mask World • Ready Player One World • Scooby-Doo World • The Flintstones World • The Jetsons World • Yogi Bear World • Gremlins World • The Goonies World • Beetlejuice World • Ninjago World • Adventure Time World • The Powerpuff Girls World • Teen Titans Go! World
See Also
Looney TunesMerrie MelodiesLooney Tunes: Back in ActionTune SquadList of cameos in Space JamSpace Jam/Gallery Space Jam/TranscriptDom Ball


v - e - d
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Media
Looney Tunes: Back in ActionSoundtrackVideo gameVideo
Characters
Live-action: D.J. DrakeKate HoughtonMr. ChairmanDamian DrakeDusty TailsBob Smith

Animated:

Locations
Temple of the Blue Monkey
Vehicles
Objects
Blue Monkey
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See Also
Looney TunesMerrie MelodiesSpace Jam


v - e - d
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Media
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters | The Night of the Living Duck | The Duxorcist
Characters
Daffy Duck | Bugs Bunny | Porky Pig | Hugo the Abominable Snowman | Sylvester | Tweety | Count Blood Count | Melissa Duck | Egghead | Gossamer
See Also
Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies | Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island


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Bugs BunnyDaffy DuckPorky PigTina RussoLola BunnyPetunia PigGrannyYosemite SamMarvin the MartianTasmanian DevilElmer FuddThe CrusherPete PumaWitch HazelFoghorn LeghornMac and ToshSpeedy GonzalesGiovanni JonesCecil TurtleGossamerPepe Le PewSylvesterTweetyWile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Episodes
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Transportations
Songs
See also


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