Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935 film)
| Who Killed Cock Robin | |
|---|---|
| Silly Symphonies series | |
| Directed by | David Hand |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Story by |
William Cottrell Joe Grant Bob Kuwahara |
| Music by | Frank Churchill |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Language | English |
Who Killed Cock Robin is a Silly Symphonies short released on June 26, 1935 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by David Hand. It is based on the nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock Robin?. An extract from the cartoon was featured the following year in Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage.
"Who Killed Cock Robin? Who caught him with a shot and put him on the spot? Who Killed Cock Robin? And vanished like a phantom in the night? WHO?"
While Cock Robin (caricatured after Bing Crosby) serenades the Mae West-esque Jenny Wren, an unseen bird shoots an arrow into Cock Robin's heart and he falls to the ground, giving the other birds in the tree the impression he has been shot. The police arrive at the scene and arrest a Harpo Marx-like cuckoo, a gangster sparrow (possibly an homage to the story) and a Stepin Fetchit-based blackbird as suspects.
The next day a trial is held over who killed Cock Robin, with a parrot serving as the prosecutor, interrogating the suspects and showing Cock Robin's body as evidence. The blackbird confesses he hadn't done it, seen it, or known anything about it. The sparrow refuses to say anything. The cuckoo doesn't know either, continually pointing to the owl judge and the parrot ("Your honor, this bird's cuckoo! He don't know a thing!"). Everyone is astounded that no one knows who killed Cock Robin.
At that moment, Jenny Wren arrives and demands that she see justice done for her Cock Robin. Eventually, the judge declares that all three suspects be hanged as they don't know which of them is guilty. Just then, an arrow strikes the judge's hat, and its owner, Cock Robin's supposed killer, is revealed to be Cupid. He reveals that Robin isn't dead at all; he simply fell for Jenny Wren and landed on his head, the arrow he was shot with missing his heart. Robin and Jenny then kiss, to the excitement of the jury.
Who Killed Cock Robin? was released on the Walt Disney Treasures line of Silly Symphonies Vol. 1.
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