What's Buzzin' Buzzard
What's Buzzin' Buzzard? is a 1943 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery, produced by Fred Quimby, and musical score by Scott Bradley.[2] The short pokes fun at the food shortages common at the time. The plot focuses on two turkey vultures struggling to find food in the desert. It was released to theaters on November 27, 1943 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Producer Fred Quimby disliked the cartoon but was surprised when it was put under the preservation in the Library of Congress. It is currently available on the Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 Blu-Ray.
| What's Buzzin' Buzzard? | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tex Avery |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by | Rich Hogan |
| Starring | Patrick McGeehan Kent Rogers[1] Frank Graham John Wald William Hanna (all uncredited) |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by | Ray Abrams Preston Blair Ed Love Irven Spence (uncredited) |
| Layouts by | Claude Smith (uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | John Didrik Johnsen (uncredited) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8:13 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
The short begins in the Painted Desert as a Jimmy Durante sound alike vulture (voiced by Patrick McGeehan) complains to his friend Joe (voiced by Kent Rogers) about his hunger that his stomach literally starts to talk back to him, "Send down one hamburger! Everything on it!" Joe opens his mouth where there is a spider web with a sign that reads Closed for the duration . The Durante Vulture expresses his desire for a T-bone steak. A picture of a steak is shown on the screen for a couple seconds followed by a sign that reads 3 minute intermission for drooling.
They later spot a jackrabbit (voiced by Frank Graham) and fight over him. They get caught up in their fight and the rabbit gets away. The vultures then start to plot against each other and try eating other. The Durante vulture sits next to a rock and Joe sneakily makes a sandwich with his hand. The Durante vulture lets out a yelp (voiced by William Hanna), and when he questions Joe's actions he lies and explains he has a toothache. He asks him to examine his tooth while and tries to bite his head. Joe begins to salt the Durante vulture's tail before he hits him on the head with a mallet. The Durante Vulture starts to read a book on cooking and is unknowingly being cooked in a pot by Joe. The Durante Vulture soon realizes this and runs into a log cabin. Joe tricks him into coming outside by pretending to see a beautiful woman. The Durante Vulture comes out and Joe hits him on the head and then covers him and mustard before Joe gets up and runs. The two vultures chase after each other until The Durante Vulture pretends to be a rattlesnake which causes Joe to faint. However, right after Joe faints he sees a real one and faints himself.
The Durante Vulture later paints a rock to look like a steak and calls Joe over to eat it. Joe eats perfectly and as if it were a real steak. The Durante Vulture tries to do the same only to break his teeth. The vultures get in a scuffle that turns into a whirlwind. Joe escapes and pulls a pot under Durante Vulture only to notice that he has disappeared. The Durante Vulture is revealed to have put a pot under Joe and closes it and puts in an oven. The Durante Vulture sits on top of the stove which is revealed to be a conveyor belt to a meat slicer. The Durante Vulture runs into a hole and Joe uses a pickaxe to get to him. The Durante Vulture pops up from the hole behind him and proceeds to chop the cactus. The Durante Vulture grows tired and surrenders. He goes over to have himself beheaded and Joe almost does but the Durante Vulture runs after Joe with the butcher knife. The vultures chase each other with various weapons around a rock until the Durante Vulture notices that the rabbit has returned. They capture the rabbit and fight over him only for the rabbit to reveal that it is Meatless Tuesday, much to their anguish. As a final gag, an announcer says that due to popular demand from the audience, the steak from earlier was shown again.
References
- ""Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 146–147. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.