A Broken Leghorn (1959) User Reviews

Foghorn Inadvertently Produces A Protégé

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 14 February 2007]

This animated short is about a minute shorter than most of them.

The hens are gossiping and needling poor old "Prissy" about trying to lay an egg again. Apparently, she had never been successful.

Foghorn Leghorn is nearby resting up against a tree, and he overhears the conversation. "Why do those cackling old biddies have to be so mean to that skinny old hen," he wonders. He decides to help her, so he finds an egg and puts it "under her britches." The old hen sees the egg and shouts in ecstasy! The other hens come running.

The egg hatches and it's a rooster, and Foghorn does not want any competition, especially after the newborn says to him, "Hey, you must be that rooster I'm taking over for!"

Foghorn gets permission to tutor the little one, and does what he can to eliminate the competition, but that baby rooster is amazing!

Overall, very clever and fun to watch.

Decent, if lacking

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 28 June 2011]

I do like Foghorn Leghorn a lot, but A Broken Leghorn while decent in its own way is not one of his best. The cartoon is too short, the story is formulaic(like a lot of Foghorn's cartoons) and the landslide gag I agree was very predictable. Also, while the little rooster is amusing, his character design does have a tendency to be a tad unattractive, and some of the pace could have done with a kick. That said, the animation mostly is not bad, I did like the colours, how Foghorn Leghorn was drawn and the background art had its fluidity. The music gives the cartoon some energy, and the dialogue with Foghorn's faring best is witty and funny. There are some gags that do work, especially the why the chicken crossed the road one. Mel Blanc excels with the vocals too. So overall, it was decent, but something was missing. 6/10 Bethany Cox

No matter how much time one spends poring over the Loon Tunes Concordance . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 8 January 2021]

. . . it is hard to find any Fog Horn Leg Horn film that mentions the "Mexican Border" other than A BROKEN LEG-HORN. As all Pandemic survivors well know, the contemporary American who has mentioned the USA's southern edge the most is the mastermind of the Jan. 6, 2021 treasonous attack upon the U.S. Capitol, now revealed as a brazen cop killer guilty of more devastation to the the bedrock of American Democracy than the nefarious Redcoats who torched the Executive Mansion in 1814. It's high time for a caravan of donkey carts to convey this Foghorn reincarnation South toward permanent exile in Mexico.

"Well, back, I say, back to the old drawing board."

[slymusic · 20 September 2006]

Under the direction of Bob McKimson, "A Broken Leghorn" is a funny, uncomplicated Warner Bros. cartoon starring our favorite overstuffed, overbearing rooster: Foghorn Leghorn! After the opening songs "Camptown Races" and "Old MacDonald," this short gets down to business. A baby rooster is born, which infuriates Foghorn because he arrogantly feels that he himself is the only rooster that the farm really needs. What he ultimately decides is that this junior rooster needs to be instructed in the art of "roostering," and who better to educate the young lad than Foghorn?

The biggest laughs from "A Broken Leghorn" are derived from Foghorn's secret attempts to get rid of the junior rooster by fair means or foul; as expected, all of Foghorn's schemes backfire. Specifically, he receives a great deal of physical punishment from a rifle, a land mine, a stick of dynamite, and speeding traffic.

And finally, let us not forget Foghorn's famous catchphrase as he instructs the inattentive young rooster: "Eh, look at me when I'm talking, son."

"He's so dumb he thinks a Mexican boarder . . . "

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 23 September 2015]

" . . . pays rent," says Foghorn Leghorn, the giant rooster featured in Warner Bros. animated short, A BROKEN LEGHORN. The minute I heard that, I muttered, "That sounds like something Donald Trump would spew." Then it struck me like a Bolt out of the Blue: game show host Trump, the leading contender for America's White House Residency next year, has totally modeled himself upon the Leghorn template. (Presumably Don Knott's estate still holds a copyright on "Barney Fife," and Jim Nabors retains his grip on "Gomer Pyle," so Mr. Leghorn's wide wings are Trump's Refuge of Last Resort.) Besides the fact that the sayings of Leghorn and Trump are virtually interchangeable, rooster Leghorn's head is the only real world pattern available for Trump's hair style. I'm sure that Leghorn has many fans, and current polls prove that Trump does, too. One must remember that right now Trump isn't running AGAINST Leghorn. If Foghorn throws his comb into the ring, watch the fur fly!

doesn't really suit Foghorn

[movieman_kev · 6/10 · 2 November 2005]

Foghorn Leghorn has to help the self confidence of an unattractive hen, but when the egg hatches it's a rooster, whom Foghorn fears will take him job one day. So he sets out to get rid of it. I'm a fan of Foghorn Leghorn, but this is one of his lesser outings and feels more like a Bugs Bunny/ Elmer Fudd short, which is fine for those characters, but doesn't really jibe well with this one. Oh well, they can't all be clear cut winners. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 and also has an optional music only track.

My Grade: C+

"Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go . . . "

[tadpole-596-918256 · 8/10 · 20 June 2021]

. . . exclaims the title geezer rooster to conclude A BROKEN LEGHORN. Anyone familiar with the interminable tinkling scene in the coed locker room toward the beginning of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN well knows that tears are not the only bodily fluid of uncertain output in baseball. Now that M. L. B. Is a major player in the fight to curtail prostate cancer, it is nice to note that a male-dominated team sport finally has climbed aboard the coattails of a 1959 fowl ball player.

Nice kid, but he doesn't listen to a word you say (he just sees through it).

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 16 January 2007]

Poor Foghorn Leghorn. That blustery yokel of a rooster always tries to be the most important character on the farm, but someone always outsmarts him. Usually, Henery Hawk and Barnyard Dog enjoy this luxury, but "A Broken Leghorn" features neither of them. Instead, there's a newborn rooster who Foghorn thinks is going to replace him. Sure enough, every attempt to eliminate the little guy results in Foghorn getting maimed somehow.

OK, so we can probably predict what sorts of things are going to happen to FL, but it's neat seeing how for some reason he always finds a reason to keep going (sort of like Wile E. Coyote). A pretty funny cartoon.

Roostery. Foghorn makes up neater words than Stephen Colbert does.

Changing of the guard little baby roster takes over for Foghorn!

[blanbrn · 8/10 · 8 April 2021]

This "Looney Tunes" short from 1959 called "A Broken Leghorn" is one that was well done and fun to watch as it's like a new baby roster is waiting in the wings on the farm to replace the top bird! Set on "Old Macdonald's Farm" where eggs are being hatched however the elder Miss Prissy hen is having trouble hatching however a clever plan from Foghorn shows an egg that hatches a baby roster.

And the little guy has in his mind he's going to take over the farm and do jobs being done by Leghorn, so Foghorn trains the little guy on basic things like road crossings and searches only nothing goes as planned as the training is a rough go for Foghorn proving the title really lives up to it's name! Overall well done memorable cartoon.

"Just one of those days I guess."

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 7 August 2016]

The last Foghorn Leghorn short of the 1950s is this middling effort from Robert McKimson. This one's about Foghorn being jealous of a baby rooster he's afraid will take his place. So Foghorn tries one thing after another to get rid of him but everything predictably backfires. Not much fun. The little rooster is no Henery Hawk or Egghead, Jr. He's kind of annoying actually. Miss Prissy is wasted after an opening that made it look like she would be a bigger part of the cartoon. The music and voice work are solid. The animation is nice. Not terribly impressive, mind you, but not bad either. There are a couple of amusing lines but it's not a very funny cartoon. The biggest problem is that you see the outcome of every gag and situation coming from a mile away. Maybe if the little rooster had been more interesting it would've made up for the predictability, but he isn't.

A Broken Leghorn is another funny Foghorn Leghorn cartoon

[tavm · 9/10 · 9 January 2008]

In Robert McKimson's A Broken Leghorn, Foghorn feels sorry for Prissy being teased because she can't lay an egg. So he puts one under her which gets hatched right away. He turns out to be a little rooster. Feeling jealous since he was the lone rooster for such a long time, this Southern loud-mouth then offers to give this little guy lessons on his trade in order to get rid of him. They all backfire, of course. While the idea of a grown-up attempting to kill a child sounds gruesome here, knowing Foghorn will always be the fall guy erases most doubt of the entertaining value of this short. While the ending lacks oomph, just about everything that happens to Mr. Leghorn was nothing short of hilarious to me including seeing his beak fall off at one point just like Daffy Duck! So, for that, I highly recommend A Broken Leghorn which is on disc 4 of The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1.

Nothing special

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 5/10 · 9 December 2004]

Here's my problem...I like Foghorn Leghorn but I hate the characters he is constantly lumbered to work with. They are all crap. Give us a Foghorn Leghorn and Bugs/Daffy team-up. All these chicken hawk stories down on Old MacDonald's farm are boring.

In this one old Miss Prissy is a hen who never lays an egg until Foghorn tries to make her feel better by nicking someone else's and puts it in her nest. Well the egg hatches and a chick is born. A rooster chick who is determined to take Foghorn's place.

Foghorn tries to off the little chick in various ways, all backfiring of course, before being kicked off the farm by Old MacDonald. Foghorn is funny, the rest isn't.

A late and lifeless entry into the Foghorn Leghorn series

[phantom_tollbooth · 3/10 · 18 August 2008]

Robert McKimson's 'Broken Leghorn' is a late entry into the Foghorn Leghorn series and it shows. A lumpy, ugly and largely unfunny cartoon, 'Broken Leghorn' is one of the rooster's lesser films. Beginning with Foghorn making a gallant gesture to stop the other chickens taunting the austere Miss Prissy, 'Broken Leghorn' pulls a u-turn when a newly hatched rooster drives Foghorn to repeatedly attempt infanticide. It's a nice (if slightly harsh) little idea but there's so much wrong with the execution. For one, the baby rooster is obviously a feeble recreation of Henery Hawk but unattractively designed and nowhere near as amusing. The gags are often painfully predictable (the landmine gag in particular) and even Mel Blanc's voice characterization seems a little off as if even he could tell the cartoon was a dead loss just by reading the script. With none of the energy of the best Foghorn cartoons, 'Broken Leghorn' is a disappointingly lifeless entry in the series.

Should not have been too hard to fit the title into the story

[Chip_douglas · 19 February 2004]

This cartoon finally proves that Foghorn Leghorn does live on Old Macdonald's farm, where the egg business is booming. Except for Prissy, of course. Foghorn takes pity on ‘old square bridges' and sticks another hens' egg under her. As luck would have it, this egg hatches a cute little baby rooster ready to take over Foghorn's job. In fact, this chick's head is so large, it's a wonder it ever fitted into such a tiny egg.

Foghorn senior tries out several tricks (disguised as instructions in the ancient art of roostery) to get rid of the young clucker. Lesions include eating corn, searching for worms, how to learn patience and most important of all: why the chicken crossed the road. But the little one instinctively sees through every dirty trick and knows how to counter them.

The young rooster turns out to be so much trouble for Foghorn that he has no time for the Barnyard dog at all. There is another variation on the old blown off beak bit (usually reserved for Daffy), and that always works. I guess in the end the Leghorn did get broken after all.

6 out of 10

Decent Short

[Michael_Elliott · 19 April 2009]

Broken Leghorn, A (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Old McDonald's Farm is the setting for this Merrie Melodies short, which features the ugly Prissy delivering a baby rooster who wants to steal Foghorn Leghorn's job. This is a pretty good short with some jokes that work extremely well and others that fall flat on their face. To me the best sequence in the film is the "why the chicken crossed the road" because of the rather violent thing that happens to Foghorn. I won't spoil what happens to him but when it does you can't help but feel his pain. Other jokes like the shotgun don't work but overall this is a mildly entertaining film.