Release Date:

September 18, 1954

Main Character(s):

Drunk Stork

Summary:

Too tired to take a giant baby up to the top of the beanstalk, the Drunk Stork leaves said giant baby at the house of an ordinary couple named John and Ethel who must adapt to having an abnormally large baby.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1296 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

This is the second appearance of the Drunk Stork, following “A Mouse Divided” and also the only time he appears in a cartoon that doesn’t feature another continuing character.

Speaking of which, despite the Drunk Stork’s presence, this cartoon is on the fourth disc of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 DVD set, where the disc’s theme is one-shots. Regardless, though, I’m glad this got a restored disc release.

The cartoon was originally titled “Stork Clubbed”.

This is the only Warner cartoon to feature the name of a Bible figure in the title (even though the cartoon itself has nothing to do with David and Goliath).

This is another cartoon where the UPA influence in backgrounds is clearly shown.

This is one of three Warner cartoons (all released in 1954) to feature the voice of Norman Nesbitt, who voices the narrator in this cartoon. His voice would also appear in “From A to Z-Z-Z-Z” (Tuesday’s cartoon) and “Lumber Jack Rabbit” (Thursday’s cartoon).

Favorite Scene:

The giant baby wanders away near the end and steals the literal “Brown Derby” exterior from the restaurant of the same name, wearing it as a hat.

What Happens in This One:

We begin with opening narration, “Through the ages, the stork has been symbolically represented as the bird that delivers newborn babes to their future homes. The storks are jealously proud of their heritage. At “Stork Inc.” atop a high rock in the middle of nowhere, the Drunk Stork is recounting his recent delivery to a fellow and far more sober stork as he laughs, “Oh, brother! What a party, that last delivery! Their first baby. (hiccup) Champagne all over the place! Oh, buckets of it! Y’know, I tried to break away, heavens knows, but no dice. (hiccup) It was ‘give the stork another one!’; ‘one for the road!’ (hiccup)” He continues laughing as he elbows the other stork in the chest hard, “Oh, you missed a good drinkin’s that time, buster! (laughs and then hiccups) What a party! (he also slaps the other stork on the back while saying the latter)” The intercom then calls for “Stork 672”. The Drunk Stork walks out realizing this is him, “Hey, that’s my number! 549! Yes sir! 321 coming up!" (animated by Ken Champin)

The Drunk Stork is seen with an address card as he confirms, “Yes sir. Delivery to Mr. and Mrs. Giant. Top of the beanstalk Yes sir”. He then takes his bundle out and realizes how huge this baby is. “Say! He’s a heavy one, isn’t he?” The Drunk Stork then staggers out of the manager’s office while mixing up his words, “Yes sir. Delivery to Mrs. Bean; Top of the Jackstalk. Yes, sir (hiccup)” (animated by Arthur Davis).

The storks all take off with their respective bundles, while the Drunk Stork struggles to fly due to the weight of the giant baby in his sack. “Ooh! He IS a heavy one!” Shortly, he is seen standing on the sidewalk next to a street lamp and tired, “Let’s face it. I can’t fly any further”. He then removes his hat to take a look at the address card which was in there, “Let’s see, uh, where’s this supposed to go?” After reading it aloud, “Mrs. Giant; Top of the Beanstalk”, the Drunk Stork remarks, “Well, that’s preposte-that’s pre-that’s ridiculous. I couldn’t get this load to the top of a dandelion! I gotta deliver this load someplace”. He carries the sack with him while straining before dropping it off at a random house. “And this place looks as good as any. Never saw a house yet that a baby wasn’t welcome”. The Drunk Stork then walks away staggering (animated by Davis).

Narrator: “And so, the giant’s baby was welcomed as their own by the unsuspecting parents”- with those being John and Ethel. “They were overjoyed that the baby had a healthy appetite”. Several empty milk bottles appear on the doorstep one by one, leading up to a total of 18. These fade away and are replaced by 6 large milk cans. “And as time passed, the bouncing baby boy grew bigger and bigger”. John is seen playing “horsey” with the giant baby by bouncing him up and down on his knee, only for the giant baby’s weight to break John’s leg (animated by Virgil Ross).

“It wasn’t long before Baby outgrew his bassinet”. He is seen resting on John and Ethel’s bed, fitting perfectly. Ethel begins to worry, “John, I’m afraid Baby might fall out”, but John dismisses it, “Don’t worry, Ethel. He can’t hurt anything but the floor”. The narrator continues as John gets ready-mix pabulum from a cement mixer full of it, “A new baby requires a lot of care. There is always the problem of feeding. And the little things that go into making Baby comfortable and happy”. They also use a tanker truck of baby oil and a “Diaper Service” truck with two men carrying in a giant diaper. “The problem of Baby’s bath was soon solved by the ingenious parents”. The giant baby is having a bath in the swimming pool with Ethel scrubbing him with a push-broom (animated by Manuel Perez).

“Necessity is the mother of invention. And the young mother solves one of her problems quite simply”. While the narrator is saying this, John is seen walking out yawning while in his robe and carrying the paper before reacting in shock at something and running towards it. The giant baby is seen using the tires on John’s car as teething rings. “Ethel! Please! Not my new white sidewalls!” Ethel scolds John, “Alright, you can have your darn old tires, if you can show me where I can get a teething ring big enough!” (animated by Perez)

“Baby’s first steps are a big event in the young parents’ lives”. Ethel gives the giant baby a push to help him walk towards John, “Go to Daddy, darling!” The giant baby ends up falling front-first atop John, much to Ethel’s shock. John is then heard screaming, “Help! Help!”, where it’s revealed that the giant baby is only sitting on John, “Ethel! Get him off of me!” (animated by Ross)

A few days later, John’s car fails to start, so he instructs, “Oh, Ethel! Send out Junior! This thing won’t start again!” The narrator states, “A well-trained child can be taught to be helpful around the house”. Ethel tells the giant baby, “Be careful. Don’t hurt Daddy, darling”. The giant baby moves John’s car around like a toy before letting it go, causing John to go very fast and make it safely to work. John is impressed, “Hey! Junior’s getting stronger! I made it all the way to the office today” (animated by Perez).

John comes home from work whistling before he stops and begins to walk slower upon seeing the giant baby’s “toys”- life-sized vehicles that are seen all over the yard. He decides, “Ethel, that boy’s just GOT to learn to put his toys away!” Ethel answers, “Yes, John” albeit somewhat reluctant (animated by Ross).

“In spite of all regiments, children will usually take advantage of a careless moment. Such as a gate thoughtlessly left open… and a baby innocently wanders away.” The gate in John and Ethel’s yard is shown to be open while the giant baby wanders down the street. At the “Bureau of Missing Persons”, Capt. O’Brien is heard answering a call from either John or Ethel, “Eh, your baby is LOST? Well, uh, can you describe him? Eh, 42 feet tall, uh-huh. Eh, a-a-are there any marks that would help identify him?” The giant baby then walks past his window causing him to groan before walking off and stammering, “42 feet” (animated by Champin).

The restaurant, “The Brown Derby” is missing its exterior, which turns out to be a literal large brown derby. The giant baby is the culprit as he has taken it and is seen wearing it as a hat as he continues down the street. The police drive out to search for him before a newspaper headline reads, “Giant Baby Disappears. Police Baffled” (animated by Champin).

The Drunk Stork is flying through the air and looking for the giant baby somewhat amused. “Oh, brother, did I make a mess of things! The office cancelled all flights till I find that giant baby!” He ends up finding him sooner than expected. “Oh, boy! (hiccup) Am I in luck! There he is now!” The giant baby is revealed to be sleeping in the left arm of the Statue of Liberty- the one not holding the torch (animated by Ross). As the Drunk Stork flies up to the top of the beanstalk with the giant baby, he says to himself, “I hope that giant isn’t sore at me for giving him the wrong baby” (animated by Davis).

The giant is shown to have gotten the normal-sized baby that was supposed to be John and Ethel’s and is using a jeweler’s glass to help him diaper. The Drunk Stork flies in and informs the giant of the mix-up, “Hold everything, buster! (hiccup) There’s been a slight mistake! Your youngster’s right out there! (hiccup) And I’ll have to return this one to its rightful owners” (animated by Davis). As he flies away with the normal-sized baby, the Drunk Stork remarks, “Swell fella, that giant. (hiccup) Yes sir, swell fella”. Later, the Drunk Stork staggers away from the seemingly correct place, “Well, (hiccup) thank goodness things are straightened out at last. To each his own (hiccup), I always say”. The camera pans upward to reveal that he just walked out of the zoo. It turns out that he delivered the normal-sized baby to a mother kangaroo (animated by Champin).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕