Beaky Buzzard
I’ve always liked Beaky Buzzard, the character created by Bob Clampett, whether it be in his few cartoons, or in the issues of Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny, especially those drawn by Vive Risto (not the artist of the comic page at left, taken from Looney Tunes #54. Thanks, Andrea, for the scan!). He became a sort of Gus Goose-type bumpkin in those stories.
But apparently the other Warner directors weren’t too enthusiastic about the character, and the two cartoons I’ve posted here, Friz Freleng’s The Lion’s Busy and Bob McKimson’s Strife with Father (both 1950), were pushed onto them by management to get more Beaky cartoons in theaters, since the character was so heavily used in merchandising and advertisement. So in essence, they were cartoons they really didn’t want to do.
Freleng made Beaky into some vulturous Droopy-like character, and while it’s not him at his best, it still contains some excellent animation by Virgil Ross and Art Davis, beautiful scenics by Paul Julian, and an outstanding brogue for Leo the Lion provided by Mel Blanc. (Note: When the cartoon was reissued, for some reason they felt it necessary for Leo to read the book title and page aloud. You can tell by the change in the deepness of Blanc’s voice.)
McKimson’s Beaky short, however, is one of his funniest ever, retaining the really stupid Beaky persona. There’s a long stretch of near-brilliance animated by Emery Hawkins (”Not while I’m eating!”, “Nooooo!”) and some great work by Bill Melendez (”If I were king!”).
Interestingly, Sniffles was also like Beaky fairly prominent in merchandising and comics in the 40’s, and yet management never forced the crew to do more Sniffles cartoons.
I’m guessing since Sniffles already had a bunch of cartoons, the Blue Ribbons eliminated the need for more shorts.
Friz’s distate for Elmer Fudd’s stupidity in the Bugs Bunny series almost made it a given he wasn’t going to use Beaky in the way Clampett or McKimson (both working with Warren Foster) did. Both Freleng and Jones preferred characters like Leo, who were not as smart as they thought they were, to be the butt of their gags.
Still a good cartoon, and the timing of Leo’s plunge and his expression as he’s being “helped” down from the tower of poles by Beaky is hysterical.
The McKimson Beaky is, indeed, a great cartoon. Warren Foster gets the right tone of dry humor throughout. I’m fond of McKimson’s one-shot characters from this era. They’re strange in the way that one-shot Famous characters (Kitty Kuddles, e.g.) are strange. They don’t have “star quality” in any way. It’s cool to see non-alpha characters in cartoons such as this one.
The Freleng one’s OK. McKimson and Foster approached the project with some enthusiasm. Freleng’s effort screams “made under duress,” with some good timing and a generally nice look. Freleng’s heart was not in this particular film.
“Strife with Father” has always been one of my favorite Beaky cartoons. The scene where Beaky literally gives the chicken the mallet is hysterical.
“The Lion’s Buzzy” on the other hand-really isn’t my favorite Beaky cartoon. Beaky’s behavior was really bizare in this one-he was actually incredibly brilliant. Also-is it just me or does one of the birthday guests at Leo’s party look like Bugs Bunny?
I like him very much,and his debut in “Bugs Bunny gets the Boid” is my favorite Bugs’ by Clampett.
That Irish lion kills me every time!