IslandGuru
Who payed the critics
Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"A Tale of Two Kitties" is another Warner Bros cartoon from the days of World War II. It runs for 6.5 minutes and features the usual suspects who worked on this film (Clampett, Foster, Blanc, Pierce). The most interesting thing is that we have cat versions of Abbott and Costello here and I really wish the focus could have been more on them. Instead, it is all about the gadgets and of course about Tweety (not yet yellow) prevailing. Shame. This was definitely a missed opportunity. There are a couple solid moments, but in the end it is just another fairly mediocre cartoon that could have been a lot more interesting. a missed opportunity. Thumbs down.
MisterWhiplash
Somehow Bob Clampett cartoons were among the first I can remember seeing as a kid - they were the ones from the early days of the Warner brothers animation - and often they were on VHS tapes that even in the late 80's you could buy relatively cheaply as compilations. This involves a very anxious climb up a telephone pole for Catstello as Babbit is down below rooting him on (I think even as a kid it's evident who Mel Blanc is voicing, hint, it's the one who sounds like Daffy when he's exasperated).This is fully of fantastic visual comedy and plenty of character-driven humor; it's "safe" for kids, don't get nervous parents about early Looney Tunes cartoons being too "edgy" (and even if it was who cares) - but it's more than simply a spoof of Abbott and Costello. It's its own brand of wild humor all about tensions and suspense and if the mission to go up that damn pole will work. I love it and think about it often, the kind of characterizations you see as a child and stays with you for the rest of your life. In that sense it's as essential as learning scripture for a Christian as a tot!
Mightyzebra
The cats included instead are Babbit and Castello, spoofs on people called Bud Abbot and Lou Castello. Tweetie Pie is a lot different from the Tweetie Pie we know today, in this episode the bird has more of a mean streak and is not yellow. The two cats are very entertaining, Castello being a plump, cowardly cat who receives most of the action and Babbit is a braver, more grown-up cat. I quite like this Looney Tunes episode because it is funny and Tweetie Pie does a good job in his first appearance. The only things here that bothered me were the references to WWII at the time, Castello pretends to be a Spitfire (he has a large wooden plank around him that resemble wings) and he is shot at. The way he falls to the ground is surprisingly disturbing.The plot is similar to Tweetie Pie and Sylvester plots, Tweetie Pie sees a putty tat trying to eat him and he makes sure that he does not become breakfast, lunch or dinner. In this episode, Tweetie Pie is trying to make sure he is not eaten by Castello, who is hungry. Unfortunately, Castello is not finding his job easy at all...I recommend this is anyone who likes Tweetie Pie and to anyone who does not mind references to WWII in a cartoon. Enjoy "A Tale of Two Kitties"! :-)
Neil Doyle
This is one of the better Warner Bros. cartoons of the era ('42), with two cats patterned after Abbott and Costello (Babbitt and Catstello), with Abbott trying to get Costello to pry a teeny bird (who turns out to be Tweety Bird), out of his nest.The gimmicks Abbott uses to get Costello launched into space are hilarious, each one more clever than the one before. This leaves little time to devote to Tweety Bird, but this is Tweety's first film and he doesn't look quite like the finished product that he became several cartoons later.The usual high standard of animation is present, along with the character voices supplied by Mel Blanc (Catstello and Tweety) and Tedd Pierce (Babbit).