. . . a blue bird chick half a day after Little Audrey shoots it stone cold dead with her pellet rifle to close out SONG OF THE BIRDS. If your family is at all like the one in which I grew up, the first trip under the Golden Arches after a SONG OF THE BIRDS viewing will be marked by one or more sobbing tykes trying to resuscitate the chicken nuggets in their Happy Meals. Even Today, if I go to Mickey Dee's by myself, there's usually at least one nuclear unit suffering these media-induced pangs of remorse, second-guessing and even wailing recriminations--all brought on by the perfidious SONG OF THE BIRDS!
5 Reviews
The Man in the Moon weeps a river of magic tears to revive . . .
pixrox110 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Audrey (don't) get your gun
Horst_In_Translation12 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Song of the Birds" is a color cartoon from 1949, so this one will soon have its 70th anniversary already. This was directed by Bill Tytla and if you take a look at his work and his co-writer Bill Turner's body of work, then you will find out some films that are still fairly well known today. Admittedly, this one we got here is not among these as you will see by the quantity of votes. The character of Little Audrey is mostly forgotten today and same is true for production company Famous Studios even if they made some good cartoons and were also pretty prolific back in the day. As for this one here, it is a very touching little work. The anti-gun message comes second as it is much more about the respect all the animals pay to each other, even if they are entirely different species and how they stand with the one mourning a beloved. Of course, the ending with the lesson learnt by Audrey also adds nice closure, but this really was not the core of it all. It is pretty fitting that Audrey is not mentioned in the title. Even early on the lady in the chair has more entertainment potential when she turns white all of a sudden. How racist! Not. My favorite moment is probably when the rabbit parents hugs the young rabbit happy he's alive and this was a perfect mix of comedy and emotion as the former is brought in too by the child's confused reaction. But there are more scenes that stay memorable like when the bird parent finds the little bird or when it cries for her child. And completely aside the great story, this was also a really beautiful film to look at visually. Of course, it is from the Golden Age of Animation, but we should not take that for granted, especially looking at how mediocre most animated (short) films were in the following decades. This is a marvellous little film, 7 minutes I highly highly recommend and it really should have been nominated for an Oscar.
Still very powerful
pmsusana21 February 2001
The argument that it's wrong to kill or injure animals just for the fun of it could hardly be made more effectively or powerfully than in this simple, short film. Despite its age, it's lost none of its power to grip the emotions.
The darkest and most poignant Little Audrey cartoon
TheLittleSongbird18 January 2017
'Song of the Birds' is not just the darkest or the most poignant of the Little Audrey cartoons (or at least from personal opinion), but also one of her best cartoons (of the cartoons she featured in so far up to this point, would go far to even say it's the best).
Much of Famous Studios' output boasts very good animation, more so their early efforts all the way through to the mid-50s before their cartoons started suffering from lower budgets and tighter deadlines. As to be expected, the animation is rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds and well-rendered character designs that don't look too stiff. Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset).
Love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action. The main song is very infectious too.
Here in 'Song of the Birds' there is a different tone to that of 'Butterscotch and Soda' and 'The Lost Dream', instead of the funnier and cuter approaches of those cartoons 'Song of the Birds' is darker and more mournful. Approaches that are conveyed powerfully but also incredibly movingly (will openly confess to being reduced to tears). It has a very important message too, and it is a message that doesn't feel over-didactic in delivery or trivialised, it's delivered simply but it makes its point.
Little Audrey herself is an adorable and charming character that remains on the right side of sweet thankfully while also looking like she's learned from her actions and feels affected by what she's done, and the birds really break the heart.
In summary, a wonderful and very moving cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Much of Famous Studios' output boasts very good animation, more so their early efforts all the way through to the mid-50s before their cartoons started suffering from lower budgets and tighter deadlines. As to be expected, the animation is rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds and well-rendered character designs that don't look too stiff. Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset).
Love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action. The main song is very infectious too.
Here in 'Song of the Birds' there is a different tone to that of 'Butterscotch and Soda' and 'The Lost Dream', instead of the funnier and cuter approaches of those cartoons 'Song of the Birds' is darker and more mournful. Approaches that are conveyed powerfully but also incredibly movingly (will openly confess to being reduced to tears). It has a very important message too, and it is a message that doesn't feel over-didactic in delivery or trivialised, it's delivered simply but it makes its point.
Little Audrey herself is an adorable and charming character that remains on the right side of sweet thankfully while also looking like she's learned from her actions and feels affected by what she's done, and the birds really break the heart.
In summary, a wonderful and very moving cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Darker than Max Fleischer's Version
talfonso-227 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Max Fleischer's timeless and endearing cartoon, "The Song of the Birds," teaches kids a lesson about the dangers of carelessness with even toy guns. Ditto for Bill Tytla's remake, with Little Audrey in the boy's role.
Both plots involve the kids shooting everything in the house via air rifles, eventually going too far as shooting a baby bird (Fleischer uses a robin, Tytla uses a bluebird) down. Both are appalled that they killed them, and they ran into their bedrooms.
The birds in the versions stage funerals for the baby birds, and both protagonists cry in grief and remorse as they watch them from their bedroom windows. During the funerals, rain falls. The birds in their leaf-biers are revived by the rain. Grief turns to joy, and the kids go outside and break their rifles. They feed them bird seed as a gift for forgiving them what they did to the baby birds.
But Tytla's account of the guilty conscience scene is more elaborate in the remake of Fleischer's 1935 classic. While the latter's funeral for the baby bird involves all robins, this version involves the moon, sky, flowers, trees, and various woodland creatures.
Tytla amps up the levels of the pathos meter by adding dramatic touches to the scene. It opens with lilies besides the baby bluebird's leaf-coffin, but that doesn't stop there. He added shots of birds hanging a bow of black ribbon at the edge of the nest. Hummingbirds fly in "missing man" formation. Even the moon, tree (a weeping willow), and flowers (here, pansies) cry for him.
An owl, metaphoric for a minister or pastor, leads the funeral procession as the crows bear the baby bluebird's corpse, scattered with flowers in his leaf. Birds form a wreath in mid-air. As a side note, a YouTuber who commented on the cartoon hugs and kisses her dog whenever she sees an animal abuse ad, just as the rabbit does so with her bunny likewise in the cartoon.
Winston Sharple's music accompanying the scene revs up the emotional blackmail. A haunting, mournful score of a women's chorus emulates the birds cooing and crying for the bird. Add the effect of the tremolo violins accompanying the hummingbirds flying and the birds forming the wreath. That scene will even make the person who only likes cartoons of today or even the toughest man cry.
While the boy silently cries during the funeral in the Fleischer's cartoon, Little Audrey weeps and sobs openly in Tytla's remake. She confesses that she didn't mean to shoot the bird and bewails him.
The ending is also different in the remake. Instead of being delighted to see Little Audrey (with rifle in hand) outside, the birds fly and hide in the nearest tree, fearing that she might kill one of them off for real. She smashes the gun in pieces and scatters bird seed, but they refuse. Just as she sadly walks back inside, the baby bluebird flies to her and cuddles up with her. Then, she feeds him the seeds from her hand and the birds come out and circle around her.
Compared to Fleischer's original, Tytla's remake is much better visually and emotionally. I love the poignancy of the guilt trip taken by Little Audrey as the woodland creatures hold a funeral for the bird. It's so deep that I get choked up whenever I see a close-up of the bird's leaf-coffin filled with flowers or a pair of birds hanging a black bow on the nest's edge.
This animated tearjerker is so brilliant that I should really advocate anti-violence groups to show kids this cartoon in gun safety presentations. Really powerful stuff indeed.
Both plots involve the kids shooting everything in the house via air rifles, eventually going too far as shooting a baby bird (Fleischer uses a robin, Tytla uses a bluebird) down. Both are appalled that they killed them, and they ran into their bedrooms.
The birds in the versions stage funerals for the baby birds, and both protagonists cry in grief and remorse as they watch them from their bedroom windows. During the funerals, rain falls. The birds in their leaf-biers are revived by the rain. Grief turns to joy, and the kids go outside and break their rifles. They feed them bird seed as a gift for forgiving them what they did to the baby birds.
But Tytla's account of the guilty conscience scene is more elaborate in the remake of Fleischer's 1935 classic. While the latter's funeral for the baby bird involves all robins, this version involves the moon, sky, flowers, trees, and various woodland creatures.
Tytla amps up the levels of the pathos meter by adding dramatic touches to the scene. It opens with lilies besides the baby bluebird's leaf-coffin, but that doesn't stop there. He added shots of birds hanging a bow of black ribbon at the edge of the nest. Hummingbirds fly in "missing man" formation. Even the moon, tree (a weeping willow), and flowers (here, pansies) cry for him.
An owl, metaphoric for a minister or pastor, leads the funeral procession as the crows bear the baby bluebird's corpse, scattered with flowers in his leaf. Birds form a wreath in mid-air. As a side note, a YouTuber who commented on the cartoon hugs and kisses her dog whenever she sees an animal abuse ad, just as the rabbit does so with her bunny likewise in the cartoon.
Winston Sharple's music accompanying the scene revs up the emotional blackmail. A haunting, mournful score of a women's chorus emulates the birds cooing and crying for the bird. Add the effect of the tremolo violins accompanying the hummingbirds flying and the birds forming the wreath. That scene will even make the person who only likes cartoons of today or even the toughest man cry.
While the boy silently cries during the funeral in the Fleischer's cartoon, Little Audrey weeps and sobs openly in Tytla's remake. She confesses that she didn't mean to shoot the bird and bewails him.
The ending is also different in the remake. Instead of being delighted to see Little Audrey (with rifle in hand) outside, the birds fly and hide in the nearest tree, fearing that she might kill one of them off for real. She smashes the gun in pieces and scatters bird seed, but they refuse. Just as she sadly walks back inside, the baby bluebird flies to her and cuddles up with her. Then, she feeds him the seeds from her hand and the birds come out and circle around her.
Compared to Fleischer's original, Tytla's remake is much better visually and emotionally. I love the poignancy of the guilt trip taken by Little Audrey as the woodland creatures hold a funeral for the bird. It's so deep that I get choked up whenever I see a close-up of the bird's leaf-coffin filled with flowers or a pair of birds hanging a black bow on the nest's edge.
This animated tearjerker is so brilliant that I should really advocate anti-violence groups to show kids this cartoon in gun safety presentations. Really powerful stuff indeed.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
