Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935)

Admirable film.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

"Silly Symphony". I groaned whenever the cardboard popped up instead of the face of Donald, Goofy or Pluto. As an adult, I can see how the series -starting with the unbearably mawkish "Flowers and Trees" but culminating with the heart-pounding masterpiece "The Old Mill"- allowed Walt Disney to sweep many Oscars and make his bones before the groundbreaking "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Still, even as a child, I was never drawn into the whole lyrical imagery driven by cutesy songs I didn't even understand, so I used to tape over these darn cartoons whenever they were caught on my VHS. Two exceptions though: "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" and its catchy 'Rats, Rats, Rats' and the classic of all the classics, the gripping and captivating "Who Killed Cock Robin?", and while I'm writing these lines, I have the ominous melody playing in my head and that simple but riveting interrogation mark on screen. I was eight when I first saw it, and after "Hello" and "Goodbye", one of the first sentences I learned in English was "Who killed... ?" closely followed by "I don't know".This is a case of love at first sight that the passing of years never soiled, I loved it as a kid, I love it even more as an adult. It's a combination of factors... but first, there's the story, built up like a real mystery thriller. Whistling a sweet and hypnotic melody, Robin calls his beloved Jenny Wren out of her balcony, she makes her entrance with these words "Oh Robin, you're fascinating me!" and says it like she means it. Verbal lyrics might have overplayed the sentimentality, but Robin's repetitions of "Ba-ba-boo" and "Ba-ba-bee" indicates the smart angle taken by the animators, it's a romance sure, but smartly coated with dark comedy.Speaking of the dark, the mysterious shadow of an bow-wielding bird is slowly approaching until the serenade is literally cut short by the arrow, hitting him right in the heart. Robin looks overwhelmed with love before a long fall. As he hits the ground, three agonizing "Ba-boo" come off his beak then three faces come out the saloon, if you pay attention, they'll be the three suspects. What we've got after is your archetypal crime's aftermath except that it's set is an anthropomorphic universe occupied by birds, so the Police are coming, followed by an ambulance. Robin is nonchalantly put on a stretcher (you can't tell from the carriers' expression how routinely it is) and cops move away the bystanders but take the three suspects out of the bar. "I done nothing" repeats one of them, then the Cop, with an unmistakable Irish accent tells him to keep that for the judge, he hits him several times in the head and a remarkable ellipse cuts from the stick to a courtroom gravel hammer. Naturally, the Judge is an owl he sounds like James Earl Jones. "Who killed Cock Robin?" he gravely asks. The Jury plays like a Greek chorus and repeats all the lyrics with the smoothness of a Barbershop quartet. In two minutes, the tone is set, it's dark, subversive and yet funny. The film was made in 1935, where I believe three of the finest Disney cartoons were made: "The Band Concert", "Pluto's Judgment Day" and this one. Interestingly, the one with "Pluto" also featured an unfair atmospheric trial. Was it the context of the Stalin purges or a pure coincidence? What I know is that it's a unique case of Disney showing a form of justice as zealous as incompetent, when a poor black bird is getting hit because "I don't know" and "I saw nothing" are no acceptable answers and where a big shot is only sitting on the accused' nest because he "looks guilty", according to the parrot-prosecutor. The portrayal of the Black bird can be deemed as politically incorrect but is he not a victim after all and aren't the representatives of the legal system getting a worse deal? Think of the scene where Jenny Wren comes in and after a melodious and suave call for justice, the Judge who's not the least insensitive to her charm, decides to hang them all, and as the jury jollily chants in my favorite moment, "we don't know who's guilty so we're gonna hang them all". If it wasn't so hilarious, it would be tragic, no wonder, an arrow hits the judge's hat while he's dancing and someone says "stop!". It was time to stop!And then comes the last outrage, the killer was Cupid, and Robin wasn't dead, he just fell in love and Cupid seems to be pretty gay about the whole thing (pun intended). It takes one "Kiss me, tall, dark and handsome" so Robin can slowly resurrect, the umbrella covers his face and Jenny raises her head with the kind of moan that makes you wonder where Robin's beak is, and the jury can only duplicate the sound while waving their hats to make some air, the heat is just too much. "Who Killed Cock Robin" has a set-up, an investigation, a twist and a resolution with quite daring sexual innuendo. That's why as an adult, I naturally learned to appreciate even more.And it wasn't until I became a movie buff, that I realized Cock Robin was Bing Crosby, Jenny Wren was Mae West, the cuckoo a mix of Harpo and Groucho Marx and the whole cartoon a powerful reflection of its time the film, depicting a world of crime with drinking, smoking, killing, brutal arrests, arbitrary justice and sex. To those who believe that Walt Disney is just about political correctness, they should watch this film and reevaluate their preconceived opinions. And ever since I was eight, this has been a favorite of mine, a treasure I'll always cherish, I'm almost three decades older and I still tell my Dad if he remembers "Whooooo killed Cock Robin?". You bet he does!

A rather boring cartoon about a courtroom scene where an owl judge and a bunch of stupid bird jurors try to find out who shot the Cock Robin with an arrow. Most of the time, the character sing their way through the trial, which I thought was quite annoying. And, those abusive bird cops were horrible - glad the leg sparrow punched them a few. The redeeming character of the cartoon is the Mae West-like character. But, overall, this is one of the least entertaining Silly Symphonies.Grade D+

I have always been a Disney fan, and Who Killed Cock Robin is one of my favourite(after re-visiting it after so many years of having nothing but fond memories of it)Silly Symphony cartoons of the 30s alongside Flowers and Trees, The Band Concert, The Old Mill and The Ugly Duckling(1939). It is quite dark with all the interrogating, the perfect capturing of the mood of a detective story and the black and white opening credits, but the characterisation of Jenny Wren, the natural strut of the parrot while interrogating the parrot, the brilliant courtroom sequence and the delightful caricatures of Mae West(Jenny Wren), Bing Crosby(Cock Robin) and Harpo Marx(the third bird) ensure that it is very smart and satirical also(of the criminal justice system that is). The animation is fluid and colourful, each frame looking beautiful, and of the character designs the revelations were the strut of the parrot and the floating nature of Jenny Wren. The music is wonderful, really helping to enhance the action, and all the characters are great. There was a time where I was annoyed by Dan Cupid's high-pitched voice and his Ed Wynn-like laugh, but I am now used to it. Overall, simply brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.A dapper young redbreast trilling his song to his lady love is shot with an arrow. WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN? The judge at the murder trial gets a rather surprising answer...A very colorful and amusing cartoon, highlighted by caricatures of a few Hollywood stars: Bing Crosby, Harpo Marx, the Keystone Kops and, in the unedited version, Stepin Fetchit. The character of Jenny Wren is a splendid spoof of Mae West.The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most interesting of series in the field of animation. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.