Tweety made his debut in the 1942 cartoon short, "A Tale of Two Kitties." Creator Bob Clampett originally drew Tweety as a pink and naked baby bird, which was based off of one of his own naked baby pictures. Tweety was also portrayed as having a saucy and aggressive personality in the first cartoons. Tweety was dubbed the "naked genius" and outwitted his opponents with dynamite, clubs, gasoline and hand grenades.
Mel Blanc was the original voice of Tweety. Known as the man of 1,000 voices, Blanc voiced many of beloved cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker and Tweety's nemesis, Sylvester. Blanc gave many of his characters speech impediments. Due to his beak and lack of lips and teeth, Tweety is unable to speak dental sounds. This led to Tweety's most famous catch phrases "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" and "I did, I did taw a puddy tat!"
Sylvester the cat entered Tweety's life in the late 1940s. During the inception of the first Tweety and Sylvester cartoon, Clampett left the studio and Friz Freleng, the creator of Sylvester, stepped in to finish the project. Freleng is responsible for changing Tweety's color and personality. The first Tweety and Sylvester cartoon, "Tweetie Pie," earned Warner Bros. its first Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) in 1947. Most of the cartoons have Sylvester making elaborate plans to catch and eat Tweety, only to have Tweety outwit him.
Tweety has also been featured in spin-off "Looney Tunes" series. He was the star of "The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" in the 1990s. The series was based around a detective agency run by Granny, who owned Tweety, Sylvester and Hector, a bulldog. If there were any doubts about what kind of bird Tweety is, they are put to rest in the lyrics of the theme song. Sylvester sings "Someday I'll eat that darn canary, then I'll be happy yes-sir-ree." A younger version of Tweety starred in the series, "Baby Looney Tunes." Tweety also made appearances in "Tiny Toon Adventures" where he served as a mentor for another bird, Sweetie Pie.