Title: The Song of the Birds
Studio: Fleischer
Date: 03/01/35
Credits:
Direction:
Dave Fleischer
Animation:
Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall
Musical Score:
Sammy Timberg
Series: Color Classics
Running time (of viewed version): 7:41
Commercial DVD Availability: Somewhere In Dreamland
Synopsis: Boy is too weak to follow through on killing a bird and merely maims it; birds show an abnormally sense of community.
Comments: Stereoptical backgrounds. Will very flat plane cel animation in front. The song of the birds seems to be trying to pierce through my ear drums to my brain. The reds are also trying to burn through my eyes to my brain. Do you know why kids want to shoot birds? Because they are tasty. I think the kid feels bad when he shoots the bird because it has little meat and he has no sauce at hand. The birds almost bury the chick alive, which is pretty grim. It is only when the chick lives that the boy breaks his gun. Apparently if it had died, he would have continued using it. I'm not sure if the wink at the end means he's about to kill the bird. The flock moves in lockstep and it looks like a shortcut. There's one continuous (but moving) stereoptical background after the titles for about a minute and 15 seconds. WHich is impressive if you notice it. Which I did after watching it several times. But it seems like it would be lost on the average viewer in the theater.
I saw this cartoon at a revival back in the early eighties. These two little old ladies sitting in front of me were crying their eyes out during the funeral procession.
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