Word going round is that Tweety, the famous bird who sings like a canary and the scoorge of Sylvester the cat, is all nervous and a-twitter these days. Seems that the bird along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend, Daisy Duck - if you can believe it - were supposed to testify in a counterfeiting case. The famous duck couple were known to be all quacked up about having to testify under oath.
An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case. Although the 'toon trio were sent summons ordering them to testify on Friday in a trial in Naples, Italy, it's a clerical error.
Oh shoot! That would have been some testimony!
The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino, the Italian names for the characters, as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros.
Instead of naming merely the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also listed the cartoon names, which decorate the toys and gadgets the man had reproduced.
According to Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia, the characters won't be able to show up or testify.
Then again, if the cat got word that the bird was out of the cage, he could make his move against the bird. It would be the purrrrfect opportunity.
"It certainly pleased us that the characters were considered real, because that's what we try to do," Sorotto commented.
The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, although this will probably delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli.
"Let's hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear," Ravelli quipped.
Calls seeking comment from Warner Bros. in Milan were not immediately returned. Phones at the Naples court were not answered Tuesday, however, when informed that she/he wouldn't be testifying, Tweety breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Good 'cause I tought I taw a puddy cat!"
Mickey, Donald and Daisy couldn't be reached for comment since it was nap time at the Toon Retirement Home.
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