The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture is a 2017 American animated mystery comedy film, based on the 1995 animated television series The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. The film follows the titular duo trying to help their owner solve an important case. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The film was released theatrically in movie theaters for the United States and Canada on January 13, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film will be directed by Karl Toerge and Rob Minkoff and it takes place after the show's series finale.

The film is starring the voice cast members: Jeff Bergman (replacing the late Joe Alaskey respectively), Candi Milo (replacing June Foray respectively), Frank Welker, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Kaprielian, Seth MacFarlane, Jodi Benson, Will Arnett, Tom Kenny, Keith Ferguson, Dee Bradley Baker, John Mariano, Maurice LaMarche, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander and Rob Paulsen.

The film received positive reviews from critics and was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $179 million worldwide against a $35 million budget, making it the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all time and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series, behind The Simpsons Movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and The Rugrats Movie, as well as the fifth highest-grossing 2D-animated film not released by Disney (behind The Simpsons, Sponge Out of Water, The Prince of Egypt, and Rugrats).

Synopsis
Granny, Sylvester, Tweety and Hector are on a Summer Vacation in San Francisco, California where the four settle in a 7 Star Expensive Hotel to stay they for the month after a hard days' work in Solving Mysteries. Upon Arriving in the Hotel, Granny sees her nephew, Billy running the Hotel as it's Manager. Billy got stunned when he saw Granny and greets her well just before Granny introduces her pets. In the lobby, Upon finding a room to stay in, Sylvester attempts to capture Tweety while he was staring at a female canary bird just a few meters away from him. There are even moments when Hector the Dog gets involved by trying to keep Tweety alive. Meanwhile, trouble rises with valuables start disappearing around town and Granny returns to her old job as a detective to solve the intriguing mystery. Now, the iconic duo must somehow coexist to keep their owner out of harm's way. Maybe they can accomplish that before they rip each other to pieces.

Voice Cast

 * Jeff Bergman as Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat
 * Candi Milo as Granny
 * Frank Welker as Hector and Runt
 * Robert De Niro as Rocky
 * Al Pacino as Mugsy
 * Joe Kaprielian as Billy (Granny's nephew)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Chris Stewart (Billy's boss)
 * Jodi Benson as Katie Stewart (Chris Stewart's wife)
 * Will Arnett as Detective John
 * Tom Kenny as Police Officer #1
 * Keith Ferguson as Police Officer #2
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Pesto
 * John Mariano as Bobby
 * Maurice LaMarche as Squit and the Brain
 * Bernadette Peters as Rita
 * Jason Alexander as Announcer
 * Rob Paulsen as Pinky

Rating
The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture is Rated PG for Parental Guidance.

Announcement
On March 21, 2016, it was announced that there will be a Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries animated feature being developed at Warner Bros. and its release date of January 13, 2017 was also announced, with most of the cast members reprising their roles from the previous Looney Tunes films. Karl Toerge, who directed the show, is directing the film, alongside Rob Minkoff (the director of The Lion King (along with Roger Allers), along with directing Stuart Little, Stuart Little 2, The Haunted Mansion, and Mr. Peabody & Sherman) and Tom Minton, James T. Walker and Michael Gerard are going to be producing the film. A month later, the film's title and teaser poster debuted, and it was announced that Robert De Niro and Al Pacino had joined the cast. The film marks the third time a theatrical Warner Bros. Animation film isn't produced by Warner Animation Group since the group's formation in 2013.

On May 16, 2016, it was announced that Henry Danger actor Joe Kaprielian and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane were part of the cast, as the new characters Billy and Chris Stewart, respectively, with Jodi Benson and Will Arnett revealed as Katie Stewart and Detective John the same day. Tom Kenny and Keith Ferguson were announced to voice the Police Officers in the film and Dee Bradley Baker, John Mariano, Maurice LaMarche, Bernadette Peters and Rob Paulsen were also announced to reprise their roles as Rita, Runt, and the Goodfeathers in the film.

Development
Warner Bros. Animation had already begun the process of starting development of movies with budgets of around $100 million. The intellectual property for these films was meant to be supplied by Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna-Barbera (Warner Bros. Animation's in-name only division), Cartoon Network and Turner Entertainment (also both Time-Warner divisions) among others and included The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Cow and Chicken, and more, of course, Codename: Kids Next Door. Cartoon Network had been approaching the original crew from the television series to make a high-profile, animated theatrical feature-length film adaptation and had long wanted to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures to release a Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries film given the network's extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters on cable television history.

Creators Tom Minton and James T. Walker agreed to make a feature film version of the show with the promise it would be the first of a planned trilogy. During development stages of the film, they and their co-producer Michael Gerard and executive producers Jean MacCurdy and Sam Register intended to revisit some of the greatest films of the time, with Scarface and The Dark Knight having the core inspirations for the film.

Animation
The feature animation was handled by Dong Yang Animation in South Korea. The crew used the same processes from the original television series in the making of the film, most notably the 'skroutlines', which was a seamless blend of a more traditional screenplay with a more simple outline which resembled strong short stories and gave the storyboard artists such as Kevin Frank, Dave Cunningham and Jim McLean all the creative and aesthetic freedom neccessary. Minton and T. Walker themselves provided the film's animatics.

Famed comic book artists Todd McFarlane, Fiona Staples and Dave Gibbons, and animation veterans Jan Browning, Brenda Brummet and Karl Jacobs also provided the film's storyboards. Andy Bialk helped on the character designs with Tom Bird and special effects work on the film. Another animation veteran Gregory Hinde also worked with Tom Minton and James T. Walker on the character designs of the film.

The bulk of the animation work was done on Wacom Cintiq tablets, which allowed drawings to be done directly on screen to facilitate production using programs Toonz, DigiCel FlipBook and Toon Boom Studio. Pencilled key animation sequences would be digitally inked-and-painted, enhanced and composited into backgrounds using Toon Boom Harmony. Additional pre-production work was done at Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California where the series' pilot episode was produced. Animation and clean-up work was done at Dong Yang's facilities on South Korea. The final animation was also provided by Koko Enterprises and Seoul Movie in Seoul and TMS Entertainment in Nakano, Tokyo. Computer animation was done at Munich Animation Film.

Sound and music
Fred Kron composed the soundtrack for the film with Jared Faber and Mark Mothersbaugh serving as the soundtrack producers. In addition to using the original series' music work on the film, he also composed themes for all of the Looney Tunes. Sylvester and Tweety's mystery score was the major focus and he also composed themes for Granny, Hector, Rocky, Mugsy, Billy, Chris Stewart and Katie Stewart, and Runt. The music score was recorded at Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage in Burbank and mixed at Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica. The score is orchestrated and conducted by Pete Anthony.

The sound design work was done at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California and Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California.

Theatrical release
The film was released theatrically in movie theaters for the United States and Canada on January 13, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was presented in a 1.85:1 format, rather than Warner Animation Group's standard 2.39:1 format on its previous titles. The film's theatrical release was preceded by School Boxing, a short film based on the animated television series ¡Mucha Lucha!.

Marketing
The teaser trailer was released on June 8, 2016, posted on the Warner Bros. Pictures YouTube channels. A second teaser trailer was released on November 8, 2016. McDonalds released Happy Meal toys to promote the film. On December 5, 2016, promotional tie-ins on every channel consist of bumpers with Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat and Hector in a movie theater announcing the film. In addition, they host the entire line-up, in intermissions between commercial break.

Home media
The film was released on Digital on March 21 and Blu-Ray and DVD on April 11, 2017. It contains the deleted scenes, a ¡Mucha Lucha! short film School Boxing, the 18-minute featurette, the behind-the-scenes look at The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture, featuring interviews with most of the principal cast and crew, animatics, the first episode from Season 1 and the audio commentaries.

Critical
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91% approval rating based on the 99 reviews, and its average rating is 6.35/10. The critical consensus reads, "The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture is packed with a lot of comedy and some mystery that kids won't be able to figure out." Metacritic, assigns the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore gives the film an "B+" on its A+ to F scale.

Box office
The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture has grossed $86 million in the United States and Canada, and $93 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $179 million, against a production budget of $35 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture was released alongside Monster Trucks, and was initially projected to gross around $44 million from 4,218 theaters in its opening weekend, with a chance to go as high as $100 million. Therefore, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture has grossed over $179 million worldwide against a $35 million budget, making it the first highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of 2017 and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.

Trivia

 * The film is meant to be a spoof of various detective films.
 * For the most part, the story is narrated by Sylvester.
 * Rocky and Mugsy are the main villains of the film.
 * Rita, Runt, and the Goodfeathers from The Animaniacs Movie appear in the film. It is revealed that Sylvester knows Rita and Tweety knows the Goodfeathers.
 * Pinky and the Brain make a surprise appearance after the events of The Animaniacs Movie.
 * This is the third film to have some of the Looney Tunes make surprise appearances.
 * Candi Milo replaces June Foray as the voice of Granny in the film.

Main Transcript

 * Main article: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture/Transcript

Trailer Transcripts

 * Main article: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture/Trailer transcripts

Credits

 * Main article: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries: The Motion Picture/Credits