Fowl Weather

Fowl Weather is a 1953 Merrie Melodies short directed by I. Freleng. 
== Title ==
The title is a play on "foul weather," "fowl" meaning a rooster or hen, tying into Sylvester trying to infiltrate a chicken coop.
== Plot ==
Granny leaves Hector in charge of looking after Tweety while she's away, otherwise she will shoot Hector. Sylvester tries to eat Tweety, first by disguising himself as a scarecrow (complete with ragged clothes and tall stilts), then Hector starts barking and an annoyed Sylvester hits him with his wooden leg and yells his only spoken line in the cartoon, "Aaaaah, shaddap!" Furious, Hector gets back up and bites the wooden leg and chases Sylvester away. Nonetheless, now out of his cage, Tweety decides to look around. He decides to greet the farm animals. "Hello, moo-moo cow!", even unintentionally insulting the pig with "Hi there, dirty piggy!" After detecting a goat to really be Sylvester in a realistic rubber mask ("Hello, puddy tat!"), Tweety takes cover in a chicken coop.
Sylvester tries several times to get into the coop using a toy soldier, dressing himself poorly as a hen, etc., only to be stopped by the rooster, who beats him soundly. While mimicking one of the baby chicks, Tweety comes across a worm and tells the "piece of spaghetti with eyes" to hide from the other chickens. A last attempt involves Sylvester, still in hen "costume", and the rooster, waiting while Sylvester "lays eggs". The rooster decides to use a grenade to make him "hatch" one. At this point, Hector realizes Tweety's absence, and demands to know his whereabouts. Short on time, and fearing Granny will kill him, he paints Sylvester yellow, stuffs the cat in Tweety's birdcage and has him act like Tweety.
Granny returns, and the ruse works. Tweety meanwhile also returns and notices the change of circumstances. "Ho ho! If he's a birdie, den dat makes me a putty tat!" Tweety claims and starts acting like a cat, much to Hector's shock.
== Availability ==
TweetAndLovelyVHS.jpg|(1999) VHS Looney Tunes Presents: Tweety: Tweet and Lovely
I Love Tweety - Volume 2.jpg|(2001) DVD I Love Tweety: Volume 2 (restored with DVNR)
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2017 - )(uncensored, but unrestored, same print as for Looney Tunes Presents: Tweety: Tweet and Lovely VHS)
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored without DVNR)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2024 - ) (restored without DVNR)
== Censorship ==
* On ABC, the part where the aggressive rooster orders Sylvester to "hatch" a hand grenade was edited to remove the scene of the rooster getting the hand grenade, putting it under Sylvester, and the grenade exploding.https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-e-f.aspx
** The CBS version cuts the same scene as ABC. Unlike ABC's version, the short scene of Sylvester fleeing the coop to put out the fire on his tail was also edited out, which does not result in the plot hole of why Sylvester is fleeing the coop like in ABC's version.https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-e-f.aspx
* The Cartoon Network and Boomerang version keeps in the grenade part, but cuts a brief and violent scene of Hector the Bulldog imagining himself being shot to death by Granny as punishment for not safeguarding Tweety, though an earlier scene where Granny warns Hector and mimics shooting him with her umbrella was unedited.https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-e-f.aspxhttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20o2oz As of 2013, the short has been shown uncut on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, and has been released uncut (but not digitally remastered) on Boomerang streaming service in 2017.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vpb6O87L3I
== Notes ==
* This is the first cartoon where Hector the Bulldog is given his name, although his name would rarely be used until The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.
* This cartoon was shown in theatres with Trouble Along the Way during its original release.
== Gallery ==
FowlWeatherCredits1.png
FowlWeatherCredits2.png
File:Fowl Weather (1953) - Caught.jpg
== References ==
Category:Sylvester Cartoons
Category:Tweety Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1953
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Hawley Pratt
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Irv Wyner
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Bea Benaderet
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer