Summary
In this 1925 avant-garde marriage of live-action and hand-drawn cel animation, Alice and her feline overseer, Julius, orchestrate a frantic industrial poultry operation. The narrative takes a sharp turn into socio-political satire when an agitator from the Soviet Union, the formidable 'Little Red Henski,' infiltrates the flock. Representing the I.W.W., she galvanizes the avian proletariat into a full-scale industrial strike, demanding concessions that threaten the factory's output. Faced with a looming deadline and a barren production line, Alice and Julius pivot from manufacturing to entertainment, staging a gladiatorial rooster bout to extract the necessary eggs as admission fees. The film concludes on a nihilistic note: despite their tactical success in gathering the tribute, a mechanical failure results in the total destruction of their fragile cargo, rendering the entire capitalist endeavor a tragic, yolk-stained futility.
Synopsis
Little Alice and Julius the cat operate an egg factory. The hens are a bit lazy, but Julius cracks the whip. An out-of-town chicken arrives, only she's a labour agitator, Little Red Henski from Moscow, Russia, who comes courtesy of the I.W.W. Soon she has the hens striking for "shorter hours" and "smaller eggs". Alice and Julius need to fill an urgent egg order. They spot two roosters fighting. They organize a pugilistic event, and charge each hen one egg admission. Alice and Julius fill their order and drive away ... but the load slips off, breaking all the eggs.
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