Sweetie Bird is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. She appears often in the show. Sweetie was voiced by Candi Milo, and later by Tessa Netting.
Biography
Sweetie is a young, pink female canary, who wears a light blue bowed ribbon in her hair. She attends Acme Looniversity and lives in Acme Acres. Her mentor and favorite teacher is Tweety. Sweetie's pink coloring, devious grin, and somewhat mean-spirited personality seem to be a throwback to Tweety's early appearances.
Sweetie is voiced similarly to comedian Judy Tenuta -- speaking in a liquid trill followed by a throaty screech (when excited). Her voice rises to a deeper, more sadistic tone when she is about to harm, eat, or squash something or someone. Her voice can quickly go from sweet to tough as nails.
Sweetie uses a delicate flutter when she flies and toddles on the ground in a cute "baby" walk.
Sweetie's diet consists mainly of worms, horse-flies and other insects. She usually refers to a bug as "a tiny, little morsel," or "a tasty, tender McBugget." Sweetie has a ravenous appetite for worms, but the elusive Bookworm is much too smart to fall for her "sweet" facade. Often the tables get turned on Sweetie and she is pursued by Furrball, who she inevitably ends up clobbering mercilessly. Depending on the cartoon, Sweetie lives in a treetop nest, in a birdhouse, or in a cage at Elmyra's house. In most of these cartoons, Furrball is chasing the little bird, who always manages to annihilate him.
In the reboot, she serves as Babs' roommate and best friend. Her appearance keeps a ponytail, dresses in punk fashion, her feathers are magenta and the tip ponytail of her hair is dyed purple. In the series, she also has two mothers Suzie and Sabita, who look just like sisters.
Personality
Abandoned as an egg, Sweetie grew up tough on the inside and tender on the outside. Sweetie's personality tends towards behaving in an amiable manner, but is prone to a mischievous streak when dealing with her main enemy and longtime pursuer, Furrball. Completely sweet, yet totally diabolical, our sleepy-eyed baby hatchling is somewhat of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. As the cutest thing on two wings, Sweetie plays her "sweet routine" to its saccharin limits, posing coyly and acting like a flying Shirley Temple, but deep in her heart, Sweetie has the survival instincts of an urban guerrilla.
In "Let's Do Lunch", Sweetie is owned by Elmyra Duff, who also owns Furrball, setting up the familiar scenario seen in earlier Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. In "Cross-Country Kitty", Sweetie and Furrball are both living with Mary Melody. Sweetie constantly outsmarts the predatory Furrball by making him look bad in front of his usually sweet-tempered owner, to the point of his eviction (or even voluntarily leaving because of her) from the home or apartment.
In the reboot, Sweetie gets along with everyone unless provoked if something she has gets tampered with. She also far more tomboy behavior and less antagonistic.
Her Own Cartoon
Sweetie Bird is one of the few characters outside of the main cast of Buster, Babs, Plucky, Hamton, Elmyra and Montana Max to get an entire episode devoted to them. In "How Sweetie It Is", Buster and Babs get ready to host another show, until Sweetie comes up and tells them that she wants an episode of her own too. Her episode is divided into three different shorts; "Egged On Eagle", "Let's Do Lunch" and "The Raven".
Sweetie presenting her contract in "How Sweetie It Is"
In "Egged On Eagle", the stork brings the American Bald Eagle (with a defeathered scalp) an egg, but the Bald Eagle is not married and has to deal with being a single parent. The egg hatches and out pops Sweetie, as they instantly clash on their methods of doing things, from flying to catching food.
In "Let's Do Lunch", Elmyra gives Furrball a home if and only if he leaves Sweetie alone,but despite Sweetie trying to get him to eat her, he avoids her every plan. Sweetie finally succeeds and Furrball is out, but when she tries to eat Bookworm (reading a book in a plastic tube), she also gets booted out and straight into Furrball's mouth! Despite them both already being kicked out of Elmyra's home, Furrball still spits her out.
In "The Raven", Sweetie participates in her own humorous version of Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem of the same name which takes place around Christmas time. She constantly annoys Edgar Allen Poe to get into his house, as she does not like flying south for the winter, or freezing in the cold. Film legend Vincent Price narrates the story as Edgar Allen Poe.
Trivia
- In the "New Class Day" episode segment "Just-Us League of Supertoons", Sweetie is a member of the mighty superhero team. She is Pink Canary, a parody of Black Canary.
- In "Looniversity", Sweetie promoted from supporting to main character, possibly to mirror the Looney Builders in Bugs Bunny Builders.
Quotes
- "I pride myself on persistence."
- "Well, pluck me bald and call me drafty. Tasty morsel at twelve o'clock. Lunchtime!"
- "Here wormy, wormy!"
- "Leave me alone, you nasty, vicious predator!"
- "I'm only three and a half minutes old."
Appearances
Season 1
- Episode 1: The Looney Beginning -- (Minor role)
- Episode 5: The Buster Bunny Bunch -- Prologue before the episode segment: Buffed Bunny (Cameo), Episode segment: Squish (Minor role: Shown in Dizzy's dream sequences)
- Episode 13: Furrball Follies -- Episode segment: Cross-Country Kitty (Main role)
- Episode 14: The Acme Acres Zone -- Episode segment: A Bacon Strip (Cameo)
- Episode 19: Cinemaniacs! -- Episode segment: Duck Trek (Minor role)
- Episode 20: You Asked for It -- Prologue before the episode segment: Debutante Devil (Cameo: A still image is shown), Episode segment: Debutante Devil (Minor role)
- Episode 22: Citizen Max -- (Cameo)
- Episode 23: Wake Up Call of the Wild -- Episode segment: Kitty Cat-Astrophe (Cameo)
- Episode 24: Buster and the Wolverine -- (Main role)
- Episode 29: Rainy Daze -- Episode segment: Bunny Daze (Cameo: Shown in Babs' daydream sequences)
- Episode 30: Fields of Honey -- (Cameo)
- Episode 32: Spring in Acme Acres -- Episode segment: Love Among the Toons (Cameo)
- Episode 35: A Ditch in Time -- (Cameo: A prehistoric version is shown)
- Episode 36: Animaniacs! -- (Minor role)
- Episode 37: Career Oppor-Toon-ities -- Prologue before the episode segment: Working Pig (Cameo), Episode segment: Working Pig (Cameo: A stuffed toy version is shown), Episode segment: Falling to Pizzas (Cameo)
- Episode 38: Strange Tales of Weird Science -- Episode segment, Pit Bullied (Main role), Episode segment: Duck in the Muck (Minor role)
- Episode 42: Looniversity Daze -- Episode segment: Eating Between the Lines (Main role), Episode segment: What's Up Nurse? (Minor role)
- Episode 43: Best O' Plucky Duck Day -- Episode segment: One Minute Til' Three (Minor role)
- Episode 46: Ask Mr. Popular -- Episode segment: Dapper Diz (Cameo), Episode segment: A Pigment of His Imagination (Supporting role)
- Episode 48: Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool -- Episode segment: Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool (Cameo), Prologue before the episode segment: Venison Anyone? (Cameo)
- Episode 52: The Return of the Acme Acres Zone -- Episode segment: Duck Dodgers Jr. (Cameo: A still image is shown)
- Episode 53: The Acme Home Shopping Show -- Episode segment: Oh, For Art's Sake (Cameo)
- Episode 54: Weirdest Story Ever Told -- Prologue before the episode segment: Robin Hare (Cameo), Episode segment: Robin Hare (Minor role)
- Episode 55: Viewer Mail Day -- Episode segment: Buttering Up the Buttfields (Cameo: A still image of head and face is shown on a menu)
- Episode 56: Son of the Wacko World of Sports -- Episode segment: Buster at the Bat (Minor role)
- Episode 57: Pollution Solution -- Episode segment: No Deposit, No Return of the Trash Bag Dispenser (Cameo)
- Episode 59: Brave Tales of Real Rabbits -- Episode segment: Day for Knight (Cameo)
- Episode 60: How Sweetie It Is Prologue before the episode segment: Egged on Eagle (Main role), Episode segment: Egged on Eagle (Main role), Prologue before the episode segment: Let's Do Lunch (Main role), Episode segment: Let's Do Lunch (Main role), Prologue before the episode segment: The Raven (Main role), Episode segment: The Raven (Main role), Epilogue after the episode segment: The Raven (Main role)
- Episode 62: Here's Hamton -- Episode segment: Milk, It Makes a Body Spout (Cameo)
- Episode 64: K-Acme TV -- (Cameo)
Season 2
- Episode 66: Pledge Week -- Prologue before the episode segment: It's All Relatives (Cameo)
- Episode 68: Elephant Issues -- Episode segment: Why Dizzy Can't Read (Cameo), Episode segment: C.L.I.D.E. and Prejudice (Minor role)
- Episode 69: Hog Wild Hamton -- (Cameo)
- Episode 71: Toon Physics -- Episode segment: The Year Book Star (Cameo)
- Episode74: Henny Youngman Day -- Prologue before the episode segment: Stand-Up and Deliver (Cameo), Episode segment: Stand-Up and Deliver (Cameo)
- Episode 75: Love Disconnection -- Prologue before the episode segment: My Dinner with Elmyra (Cameo: A still image is shown)
- Episode 76: Kon Ducki -- Episode segment: The Voyage of Kon Ducki (Main role), Episode segment: The Making of Kon Ducki (Minor role)
Season 3
- Episode 80: New Class Day -- Episode segment: Just-Us League of Supertoons (Supporting role), Prologue before the episode segment: Sound Off (Cameo: Face not shown)
- Episode 81: Fox Trot -- Episode segment: My Brilliant Revenge (Cameo)
- Episode 85: Toons Take Over -- (Cameo: Shown in toy form and on drawing paper)
- Episode 88: Buster's Directorial Debut -- Episode segment: Fit to be Stewed (Minor role)
- Episode 92: Music Day -- Prologue before the episode segment: Ruffled Ruffee (Cameo), Episode segment: The Horn Blows at Lunchtime (Cameo)
- Episode 95: Weekday Afternoon Live -- (Minor role)
- Episode 97: Best of Buster Day -- Episode segment: Compromising Principals (Cameo)
- Episode 98: It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special -- (Cameo)
Film
- How I Spent My Vacation -- (Minor role)
Specials
- Tiny Toon Spring Break -- (Minor role)
Music
- 1992 Japanese import audio CD of Tiny Toons Sing! -- Song: Tiny Toons Around The World (The Tiny Toons Adventures Theme) (Vocals only), Song: Tiny Toons Rap (Vocals only), Song: Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Vocals only), Song: Where the Boys Are (Vocals only)
Video Games
- Tiny Toon Adventures for NES: She appears in the city level as an enemy.
- Babs' Big Break for Game Boy: She appears as an opponent in the race mini game. She has moderate speed.
- Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland for NES: She appears as an enemy in the Log Ride stage (Where, appropriately enough, Furrball is the playable character).
- Buster Busts Loose for the SNES: She appears in the weight guess bonus round as the smallest character the player has.
- Acme All-Stars for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive: She is the coach of the first team.
- Defenders of the Universe for the PlayStation 2: After getting all the hidden powerups, giant eggs will replace them in remaining locations they would normally be if they weren't obtained before. Sweetie will pop out of the egg and give you an extra continue if you have enough money to pick it up.
- Sweetie's other appearances in the Tiny Toon Adventures video games are mostly cameo appearances, usually showing her being chased by Furrball.
Merchandise
- McDonald's Happy Meal Toy
- Playskool Plush
Gallery
Main article: Sweetie Bird/Gallery