Release Date:

September 30, 1944

Main Character(s):

Sniffles

Summary:

A hawk’s egg rolls out of its nest all the way into Sniffles’ home. When it hatches, Sniffles believes the baby hawk is a chicken and names him “Orville”, deciding to raise him as his own child. As time goes on, Orville grows to be a massive, dopey giant hawk. When they both discover that Orville is a hawk who preys on rodents, Orville turns against Sniffles and tries to eat him. Fortunately, Orville eventually realizes he can’t bring himself to eat the mouse who raised him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1-14, the first Merrie Melodie in the 14th release season.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Time Waits for No One” played under the opening credits:

Direction: Charles M. Jones

Story: Tedd Pierce

Animation: Ben Washam

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

This is the penultimate appearance of Sniffles and the only time he wears a blue shirt.

Two bottles are labeled “Grib” and “Roek” respectively. This is a reference to layout artist Robert Gribbroek, who replaced John McGrew as Jones’ layout artist in 1943. Gribbroek would be Jones’ layout artist until 1953 and then briefly in late 1955 and early 1956 before he became Robert McKimson’s layout artist from 1956 until the original studio’s closure in 1964.

What I Like About This One:

The mother hawk snoring to the tune of “Rock a Bye Baby” (animated by Ray Patin).

Orville’s egg rolling into a hollow tree and under two birds. Thinking the other bird touched him inappropriately, one bird slaps the other off the branch they were sitting on. The egg then goes into a flower, which deposits it onto the dirt road on a cliffside where it narrowly avoids getting squashed by an oncoming truck, onto a wooden bridge where it falls off onto a log in the river, getting off once it reaches the waterfall, and finally into Sniffles’ home (animated by Patin up to here) where it stops underneath him (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

Realizing something’s not right when he sees an egg underneath him, Sniffles consults his reference book which opens up to a page saying, “No, silly. Mice don’t lay eggs” (animated by Vaughan).

When the egg hatches, baby Orville starts making strange baby-like coos. Thinking this is a chicken, Sniffles questions him why he makes those noises before deciding he’ll have to mother Orville but since he’s a male, he decides he’ll have to father him instead (animated by Robert Cannon).

During a montage of each season, Sniffles takes Orville piggyback riding outside. During spring, Orville is still a baby. In the summer, Orville has started talking and is now saying in a dopey voice, “Duh, whee. Giddy up. Giddy up. Hi-ho, Sliver!” (in reference to the Lone Ranger) In the fall, Orville is even bigger. By winter, he is fully grown and his weight causes them both to fall back into Sniffles’ hole (animated by Ken Harris).

Deciding “there’s something awfully strange about you, Orville. You’re an awful big chicken. I’m sure chickens don’t get as big as you are, Orville, but maybe you’re some special kind of a chicken. We better look it up in the book and see what kind of a chicken you are”, Sniffles opens up his reference book and stops on a page saying that hawks eat rodents, with a picture of a hawk that looks like Orville and a picture of a rodent that looks like Sniffles (animated by Ben Washam).

Seeing Orville give him an evil stare, Sniffles nervously chuckles, “The silly things they do write in books nowadays” (animated by Washam).

Sniffles trying to satisfy Orville’s appetite with a bowl of mush and also giving him a bottle of Worcestershire sauce (since he can’t pronounce “Worcestershire”, Sniffles instead says “tomato sauce”; animated by Cannon). Orville pours it on Sniffles’ arm, but Sniffles flees leaving Orville only smacking at the Worcestershire sauce in mid-air (animated by Washam).

Orville then pretends to go to bed so Sniffles does as well holding a large stick pin to defend himself. Orville’s legs then do all the action to get cutlery and then walk over to Sniffles. One of the legs trips, alerting Sniffles, so the legs are forced to do an offstage dance in tune to “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” (animated by Harris).

Sneaking out of bed, Sniffles turns on the radio to a rousing rendition of “Frat”, drinks about 12 cups of coffee, and sits in his chair reading the magazine, “Wake Up and Live”. Orville switches it to the Brahms lullaby, gives him a magazine advertising a mattress for beauty sleep, and gives him some opaltine to lure him into a bed-like sandwich (animated by Washam). Just before he takes a bite, Orville suddenly remembers all the fond memories he had of Sniffles raising him (animated by Cannon).

Feeling ashamed, Orville puts Sniffles down in his actual bed (animated by Washam) before crying, “I can’t do it!” against the table. His pounding on the table causes the reference book to open up to a page that says a certain hawk doesn’t eat rodents. This hawk is identified by a red spot under his arm. Overjoyed, he wakes Sniffles up and tells him he doesn’t have to eat mice, showing him the red spot under his arm (animated by Harris)

With their friendship reinstated and with it being spring, Sniffles gives Orville another piggy back ride while Orville again acts like the Lone Ranger. As they turn a corner, a jar of red paint is shown in Orville’s back pocket, implying that Orville put the mark under his arm himself (animated by Harris).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½