It's Tough to Be a Bird

Last updated
It's Tough to Be a Bird
ItsToughToBeABird.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ward Kimball
Story byTed Berman
Ward Kimball
Produced byWard Kimball
Starring Ruth Buzzi
Richard Bakalyan
John Emerson
Jim Swain
Ann Lord
Hank Schloss
Walter Perkins
Rolf Darbo
Edited by Lloyd J. Richardson
Music by George Bruns
Animation by Eric Larson
Art Stevens
Layouts byJoe Hale
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Release date
  • December 10, 1969 (1969-12-10)
Running time
21 minutes
LanguageEnglish

It's Tough to Be a Bird is a 1969 American animated educational short film directed by Ward Kimball and produced by Walt Disney Productions. [1] [2] The short won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons in 1970 and was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Animated Film in 1971. [3] [4] This was the last animated short film produced by Disney to win an Academy Award until Paperman (2012) and thus the final animated cartoon short released by Disney in the golden age of American animation. [5]

Contents

Summary

In the short, a red bird (voiced by Richard Bakalyan) explains how birds have contributed to human culture, even as people often try to kill them. He claims this may be because humans were jealous that birds can fly but people cannot, mentioning the legend of Icarus and featured films of early unsuccessful flying machines.

In Disney's D-TV in the 1980s, clips from this short were set to Bobby Day's cover of "Rockin' Robin". [6]

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931–32, to the present.

<i>Dumbo</i> 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney

Dumbo is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., an elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo", as in "dumb". He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ward Kimball</span> American animator and jazz trombonist

Ward Walrath Kimball was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored with two Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Frees</span> American actor (1920–1986)

Solomon Hersh Frees, better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation, and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Frees was known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", though the appellation was more commonly bestowed on Mel Blanc.

<i>Robin Hood</i> (1973 film) Disney film

Robin Hood is a 1973 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it is based on the English folktale "Robin Hood". The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian. The film features the voices of Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Peter Ustinov, Pat Buttram, Monica Evans, Terry-Thomas, Roger Miller, and Carole Shelley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ollie Johnston</span> American animator (1912-2008)

Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.

Robert Fred Moore, was an American artist and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Often called "Freddie," he was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Despite limited formal art training, he rose to prominence at Disney very quickly in the early 1930s, due to his great natural talent and the tremendous appeal of his drawings. His drawings are still greatly admired by animators and animation fans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floyd Norman</span> American cartoonist

Floyd E. Norman is an American animator, writer, and cartoonist. Over the course of his career, Norman has worked for various animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar.

Charles August "Nick" Nichols was an American animator and film director, who worked in animation for over 50 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Hanna-Barbera. At Disney, he worked on various short subjects and films from the 1940s into the 1950s, including the Academy Award-winning short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953). Nichols co-directed Charlotte's Web (1973) while at Hanna-Barbera.

<i>The Reluctant Dragon</i> (1941 film) 1941 Disney film directed by Alfred L. Werker and Hamilton Luske

The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American live-action/animated anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 27, 1941. Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars Algonquin Round Table member, film actor, writer and comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Bakalyan</span> American actor (1931–2015)

Richard Bakalyan was an American actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents in his first several films.

Arthur Stevens was an animator, director and producer for Walt Disney Productions.

Richard Huemer was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation.

Events in 2002 in animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney's Nine Old Men</span> Core group of animators for Walt Disney Productions in the mid-20th century

Disney's Nine Old Men were a group of Walt Disney Productions' core animators, who worked at the studio from the 1920s to the 1980s. Some of the Nine Old Men also worked as directors, creating some of Disney's most popular animated movies from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Rescuers. The group was named by Walt Disney himself, and they worked in both short and feature films. Disney delegated more and more tasks to them in the animation department in the 1950s when their interests expanded, and diversified their scope. Eric Larson was the last to retire from Disney, after his role as animation consultant on The Great Mouse Detective in 1986. All nine members of the group were acknowledged as Disney Legends in 1989 and all would receive the Winsor McCay Award for their lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation.

This is a list of events in animation in 2015.

<i>Escalation</i> (1968 animated film) 1968 American film

Escalation is a 1968 animated short film, directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. It is an anti-Vietnam War cartoon mocking U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Events in 1953 in animation.

Events in 1941 in animation.

Events in 1936 in animation.

References

  1. D23
  2. "Dick Bakalyan, Character Actor Who Appeared in 'Chinatown', Dies at 84". Variety. 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  3. ""Escalation": This 1968 anti-war animated film by Disney legend Ward Kimball is as timely as ever". nightflight.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  4. "Richard Bakalyan, Tough Guy Character Actor and a Cop in 'Chinatown', Dies at 84". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  5. Cone, Nathan. "Disney Draws On Young Talent For New Collection" . Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  6. DTV Bobby Day Rockin' Robin by Rayzor-YouTube