Of course, before we dive in, I have to confess I have a more-than-normal love for Scrappy cartoons, and the best of them I’m more fond of than the most beautifully animated Technicolor Disney short (with The Old Mill (37) being an exception). I know some of you are Scrappy die-hards like myself – so you’ll understand. While I’ll admit this isn’t one of the most rounded-out cartoons of all time, it’s an enjoyable effort, and one we haven’t ever talked about here.
Dick Huemer really should be considered one of the great writers of early animation, even if he didn’t think much of his Scrappy cartoons in the years following their release. The Great Bird Mystery (1932) may or may not be a classic, depending on your opinion, but if one does a slightly deeper dive, you can observe some pretty complicated themes being explored: bullying, philanthropy, overpopulation, the unfairness and indifference of the US court system and being framed for murder. What I especially love about the Scrappy’s from this period is that they’re both really dark in themes and, at the same time, enthusiastically happy. While I really enjoy the other better-known films that have the theme of birds being killed by arrows — Disney’s later Who Killed Cock Robin (1935) and Fleischer’s Song of the Birds (1935)— both cartoons don’t approach the denseness of story elements included in this otherwise innocent-seeming 6 minutes.
Scrappy and Oopy merrily build a bird house, with one particular little bird trying to get first dibs. Sadly, as soon as the house is finished, a gaggle of home-seeking birds take it over, destroying it- but still populating its now exploded husk. Our little hero bird, still homeless, is continually harassed by a large, mean, Simon-Legree-esque bird with a top hat (I can relate!) who threatens to kill him with an arrow. Scrappy comes to try and save the day, so the top-hatted bird bends the arrow and pretends he’s been shot dead by it, placing the bow in the confused little bird’s hands. Scrappy screams “Who Killed Cock Robbin?!?!” And hauls the framed little bird off the court, with the bird on the bent arrow in tow. I won’t give away the ending, but I wonder what world Scrappy and Oopy are now living in where they can walk into animal court and be first up for trial. Sometimes I wonder if all the adventures Scrappy and Oopy are having are all in their imaginations. It would make a lot of these plots make a lot more sense.
Fleischer’s Popeye cartoons have, at times, had as much going on in terms of human tragedy, and UPA’s Rooty Toot Toot (51) also has a lot of mature themes going on in story ideas, but Huemer sure knew how to pack a lot into a plot. This sort of feels like three different cartoons in some ways. The animation is top-notch in this one, with well-executed camera moves and lots of action. While there’s a few Fleischer-esque details in the picture, it’s not so densely populated with gags as some other cartoons are, but it’s really pretty interesting to see a cartoon with so many plot turns in the space of just over half a reel.
Hopefully there’s less Simon-Legree Cock Robins in all our lives. I think I’ve managed to rid my life of them at the moment, and I hope yours aren’t requiring you to be properly dressed.
Have a good week everyone!
Steve Stanchfield is an animator, educator and film archivist. He runs Thunderbean Animation, an animation studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has compiled over a dozen archival animation DVD collections devoted to such subjects at Private Snafu, The Little King and the infamous Cubby Bear. Steve is also a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
The great mystery here is, why does the bird in the top hat have it in for the little guy? If the flock of birds who move into the birdhouse are the top-hatted bird’s family, then obviously they need a home worse than the little one does; but if they’re not, why should he care who’s at the head of the queue? I’m aware that the United States was suffering a housing crisis during the Great Depression, a crisis that the New Deal’s FHA was later set up to alleviate. Does the top-hatted bird represent slumlords, mortgage lenders, or what? If Dick Huemer was as great a writer as you say he was, then the motivations of his characters should be a lot clearer.
While Huemer’s birds are nothing to write home about, he was unparalleled at designing cartoon goats, horses, cows, and other barnyard animals, and the courtroom scene is a real tour de force. For me, the biggest laugh came from the bird at the tail end of the procession, suspended aloft by a balloon and hobbling through the air on crutches!
“While I really enjoy the other better-known films that have the theme of birds being killed by arrows —” was high on my list of Things I Did Not Expect To Read This Morning.
I had thought that was a tennis racquet with the broom on the outside of his bundle of worldlies as a whimsical touch, but the close-up at a slightly different angle shows it to be a skillet. Does that make more sense; you wouldn’t want a welk-seasoned skillet tumbling around with your lamp, stool, etc.
Great piece on a great cartoon!
Years ago, my mom gave me an old Excel 16mm short (about 4 minutes) of a Scrappy cartoon called, “Scrappy In Slumberland”. It’s long gone, of course, but I was wondering if it might have been an excerpt of a longer cartoon with a different title, maybe? I haven’t been able to find “Scrappy In Slumberland” mentioned in any list of the Scrappy films. Any ideas, anyone?
Probably “Sandman Tales” (1933).
I think you’re right! I remember that old man running down the hill! Thank you soooo much!
I remember you talked about this cartoon before sometime in 2023 ( https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/some-thunderbean-news-pooh-and-the-great-bird-mystery-1932/ ), but even if a Cartoon Research article talks about a cartoon they’ve already covered, it’s still worth going over.
“and one we haven’t ever talked about here”
As Jay said, you DID already cover this.
Gee Steve, ya really like this cartoon so much you covered it twice and gaslit us into thinking it was new! 😉
(Just pulling ya leg about the “gaslighting” buisness Steve, I love ya)
“and the best of them I’m more fond of than the most beautifully animated Technicolor Disney short (with The Old Mill (37) being an exception). I know some of you are Scrappy die-hards like myself – so you’ll understand”
Yep. Just like how I like to rewatch the Aesop Fables sometimes more than some sound Golden Age cartoons
I don’t think Steve is gas-lighting” anybody here. He just probably forgot. That happens to me all the time! Look, sometimes the “filing cabinet” in your mind can get a little “rusty” that’s all.
Paul, all I can figure out about the evil “top-hatted” bird is that he’s just nasty – for no particular reason. We’ve all run into people like that in our lives – haven’t we? At least I have!
Great to be able to see Scrappy in action again. I would race home after school every afternoon to watch Scrappy and others on our black and white TV. I recall being sad that they all remained black and white even long after we were able to afford color. Our TV was in the living room and had problems in its horizontal adjustment. the picture was skewed to the left of the screen and we would howl with laughter when Scrappy cartoons came on. The intro music would start playing and all we saw was “crappy Cartoons”. How funny was that?.