Release Date:

April 1, 1950

Main Character(s):

Beaky Buzzard

Summary:

A mysterious egg is left on the doorstep of Monte and Gwendolyn Sparrow. This egg hatches into Beaky Buzzard, with Monte attempting to teach him about the facts of life to no avail.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1111 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. When it was restored for the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 Blu-ray set in 2012, the original opening and closing rings were put back in.

Shortly after he was brought back and made a lot more intelligent in “The Lion’s Busy”, Beaky is reverted back to the dopey personality he’s known for.

This is also Beaky’s final appearance in the Golden Age.

This is the first cartoon since “Hobo Bobo” to feature animation from Rod Scribner, who had returned to Warner Bros. after a three-year hiatus due to being diagnosed with tuberculosis. Scribner would animate solely for McKimson up until leaving his unit and the studio altogether in 1955 (all of McKimson’s other animators at the time, which also included his brother Charles and Phil DeLara as well as Herman Cohen, who returned in 1951, had all left the studio at the same time so McKimson ended up with an all-new team of animators from 1956 up until the closure of the original studio in 1964, with those mostly being Warren Batchelder, Ted Bonnicksen, and George Grandpre).

The title is a pun for “Life with Father”.

Tedd Pierce voices Monte (although Mel Blanc voices him when he yells, “GIVE IT TO HIM!”).

Monte and Gwendolyn are based off of Ronald and Benita Colman. Incidentally, Monte’s closing line, “If I were king….” was the title of a 1938 film Ronald starred in. His line, “Not while I’m eating” is also a reference to the Jack Benny Show where Ronald’s character wouldn’t like his wife talking about a fellow cast member while he’s eating.

A narrator who sounds like Ronald Colman (voiced by an actor named Ben Frommer) would appear in Jones’ “I Was a Teenage Thumb” (1963).

This is one of Jerry Beck’s least favorite Warner Bros. cartoons, mostly because he finds Monte to be a very poor foil for Beaky.

Part of the animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here (unfortunately, there are a few McKimson animator drafts that aren’t fully available to view online).

This is the only cartoon where Beaky gets his name above the title.

This is one of three Warner cartoons to have been released on April Fools Day with the other two being “Chicken Jitters” (1939) and “Birds of a Father” (1961).

What I Like About This One:

Late at night, a mysterious figure leaves a basket by Monte and Gwendolyn’s door (a tree home) and departs (animated by Phil DeLara). When Monte opens the door in the morning, he finds the basket and a note in it that reads, “Mr. and Mrs. English Sparrow: Please take care of my little Beaky. Signed, Big Beaky”. He calls Gwendolyn out, where she finds a blue egg in there and tells baby Beaky still inside the egg to not cry as she’ll hatch him out and “Monte will build you a nest”. Monte retorts while referring to himself in third person, “Monte will do no such thing!” (animated by Charles McKimson)

In the next scene, Monte is building it anyway but he is very annoyed about it as he sulks, “Monte do this and Monte do that. Yackety, yackety, yackety”. After he’s finished, Gwendolyn puts the egg in the nest and sits on it while knitting and humming “Rock a bye Baby” before it begins to hatch. Beaky hatches out of it and immediately refers to Monte as “Papa”. Monte takes offense to this and threatens, “Why you blighter! I’ll give you what for!” but Gwendolyn stops him from slapping Beaky (animated by Emery Hawkins). “You remember the fable of the Ugly Duckling. When a baby is homely when it’s little, it will grow up to be beautiful”. After they walk back in to their home, the narrator explains, “And so this little ugly bird grew up to be a BIG ugly bird” as Beaky grows bigger and begins squawking (animated by Charles).

While they are having breakfast, Gwendolyn tells Monte, “I was thinking of Beaky”. Monte spits out his coffee upon hearing the mention and says, “Gwendolyn. Not while I’m eating”. Gwendolyn decides, “But Monte, if Beaky won’t eat his greens anymore, it’s time you to taught him to, uh, forage for himself. Er, teach him to snare a barnyard fowl”. While she’s talking, Monte forms his napkin into a miniature noose before giving in (animated by Hawkins).

Monte walks out to where Beaky is and starts informing him about how “there comes a time when a chap must shoulder his own responsibilities. And by jove, prove his mettle by overcoming his introverted tendencies”. While smiling, Beaky lets out a somewhat astonished “No” before he adds, “Gosh, what’ll they think of next?” When Monte tells him, “It’s time to leave the nest and learn to obtain your own sustenance” (animated by Hawkins up to here), Beaky questions, “Uh, ya mean, uh, out there where everyone can see me?” (animated by Charles) Monte confirms with “Brother!” before Beaky hides his head and chuckles in embarrassment that he’d rather not. Monte kicks him in the rear to come out of the nest (animated by Rod Scribner).

Monte then tries to teach him “the principles of airborne flight” (animated by Charles). After Monte demonstrates, he asks Beaky to try. Although Beaky follows all the instructions to flap his wings, he hides his head in the nest instead of taking off. He then sees (animated by Scribner) Monty sawing off the branch with Beaky failing to fly when said branch gives way (animated by DeLara). “Gosh. Flyin’ sure hurts a fella’s head!”, he remarks (animated by Hawkins).

Monte takes Beaky with him to a chicken yard in order to teach him how to catch a chicken (animated by Charles). Before Monte goes into the henhouse, he instructs Beaky to count the chickens as they’re tossed out. Monte gets thrown out instead with Beaky counting him as “one”. Annoyed, Monte asks Beaky in an irritated tone, “Beaky, what makes you so incredibly stupid?” Beaky humbly chuckles, “Oh, shucks. I get around” (animated by Bill Melendez). Monte then tells Beaky that he will get a “chicken chap” to chase him out of the henhouse, instructing Beaky to strike him once he comes out. “Is the plan comprehensible?” When Beaky enthusiastically answers that he’s got it, Monte gives him a large mallet before he enters the henhouse as Beaky questions, “Oh, what have I got? I must have somethin’” (animated by DeLara)

An angry chicken chases Monte out with Monte repeatedly ordering Beaky to strike him. Beaky ends up hitting Monte instead. After Beaky lifts up the mallet after the hit, he wonders, “Now where did Papa go?” before peeling Monte off of the mallet upon seeing him stuck on one of the mallet’s ends. While doing so, Beaky scolds, “We won’t catch any chickens if’n ya fool around like this” (animated by DeLara).

Monte reverts from angry to calm as he tells Beaky, “Now look Beaky old fellow. Don’t swing the mallet until I give you the word. When I say ‘okay’, you swing (animated by Charles). Remember, wait until I say ‘okay’”. Beaky takes Monte literally and immediately hits him (animated by Melendez). Monte decides to reword his instructions, “Well. We’ll try again. Don’t swing the mallet until the chicken chap comes out AND I say ‘okay’. Remember” (animated by Charles). Monte goes into the henhouse again and upon getting chased out, yells to Beaky, “OKAY, GIVE IT TO HIM!” Beaky instead hands it to the big rooster, who mallets Monte after the latter yells, “GIVE IT TO HIM!” Beaky replies, “I let him have it alright, alright, alright-” but realizes his error upon seeing (animated by Melendez) Monte pop up from the ground, having been buried from the hit (animated by Charles).

Having Beaky stay out of this next scheme, Monte throws a grenade into the henhouse, which is immediately tossed out (animated by Hawkins). Beaky thinks it’s an egg and attempts to give it to Monte: “Here’s an egg for ya, Papa”. Thinking this is some sort of game, Beaky keeps trying to give it to him, and finds him praying for mercy while hiding under a tin can. Monte attempts to hide in a secret tree hideout (with a large key hidden under the grass) only to find Beaky already there and telling him, “You win. Here’s your egg” but Monte runs off in fear. Puzzled, Beaky figures, “Gosh. I guess he doesn’t want it. I’ll bring it home to Mama” (animated by Scribner).

While she’s doing the laundry, Gwendolyn sees Beaky with the grenade and demands, “Beaky! Quickly! Give me that quickly!” and she tosses it out right before it explodes. She explains, “I learned that in London, Beaky, during the Blitz. That way no one gets hurt”. It’s revealed that the grenade exploded on Monte after all, as he enters bruised and bandaged. He says, “If I were king…” before collapsing. Beaky chuckles, “That’s no king. That’s Monte!” (animated by Hawkins)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕