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Bob Clampett was just 29 years old when he directed the first Tweety Bird cartoon, "A Tale of Two Kitties." But 33 years later Clampett revealed an even more personal connection to the famous bird in a documentary about Warner Brothers. He confessed that the character was based "on my own naked baby picture."

At the age of 18 Clampett had joined Warner Brothers' animation department (in 1931), and at 22 he designed the character of Porky Pig. He remained with the studio for fifteen years, but it was just four years before he left that he directed the first Tweety Bird cartoon.

1942 was the first year of America's involvement in World War II, and Clampett had already directed a cartoon with birds for Warner Brothers called Wacky Blackouts (about a barnyard coping with air raid drills). In Tweety's first cartoon, he also warns two warring cats to "Turn out those lights!" (The cats are modelled after the comedy team Abbott and Costello.) But it's his playful sassiness that audiences loved. The Tweety character is first spotted sleeping innocently as the cat's paw passes over his nest - and his first line became his trademark. "I tot I taw a puddy tat!" Later as one cat hangs from a high wire, Tweety tugs his fingers loose one by one while saying "This little piggy went to market..."

Though the cartoon was writen by Warren Foster, Tweety's personality may have come from Clampett's affection for the tiny, cheerful, face that reminded him of his own baby picture. Clampett continued lovingly developing the Tweety character through three
more cartoons over the next two years, and then started (though without finishing)
the first cartoon in which Tweety first confronts the predatory Sylvester the cat.
Released in 1947, the cartoon (directed by Friz Freleng) won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject Cartoon.

Clampett moved on to other studios, and eventually re-visited his interest in puppets. (Clampett's first job had been designing Mickey Mouse dolls for the Walt Disney studios.) In 1949 he created the popular TV show "Time for Beany," which one three Emmy awards (and was even praised by Albert Einstein!) After other puppet TV shows, he tried an animated version of his original characters called "Beany and Cecil." It was eventually picked up by ABC in 1962 and ran on the network for five years.

In his later life he enjoyed gave lectures about the history of animation. Cartoon historians report some tension between Chuck Jones, another Warner Brothers director, and Bob Clampett. But cartoon lovers will always remember Clampett's long run at Warner Brothers, and the creativity behind the characters he helped create.

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